What wine to drink at Christmas - making a connection.

Each year at Christmas time, I am faced with a dilemma, what wine to drink with Mrs. WineRamble’s roast beef and yorkshire pudding feast?  It used to be that I had a special corner of the cellar set aside for Christmas wine.  When we encountered a particular red that we both really liked, it would be purchased and set aside.  Previous Christmas Wines have included; Turnbull, Bonny Doon, Heitz, Mondavi and Jim Law’s Linden.  Occasionally, an old world wine will slip in perhaps a Crozes-Hermitage, a CNP even a proper Bordeaux.

Over time my desire to serve the very best of the best has waned, and instead the Christmas wine selection is about remembering where the wine came from and cherishing the memories of good friends or good experience.  For example, this year on Christmas Eve, Mrs. WineRamble served my favorite home made lasagna.  I knew EXACTLY what I wanted, 2006 Heitz Grignolino!  This bottle was actually a two memories for the price of one!  I have been going to Heitz and enjoying their Grignolino for as long as I can remember.  It was the favorite of my Dad’s absolute best friend Frank P and I can’t look at a bottle without lovingly thinking of them both.  I came to find those two bottles looking for wine from a Mendoza Bodega Ruca Melen.  Carolina, the wife of one of my Harvard Executive School Cohort friends, Juan Carlos is the public relations and tourism director for Bodega Ruca Melen, and the only place that I could find the wine was in New York City.  While purchasing Carolina’s wine I stumbled on my fave Grinolino!  Fond memories both.

On to the Christmas feast.  This year I looked at many great wines and even better memories.  I passed over South Africa wanting to stretch those bottles out over a few future Christmas’.  The Oregon Pinots were full of fond memories and I was tempted by the Eyrie, but in the end passed them all by as well.  I didn’t even look at the Old World wines, not a lot of memories there - yet.  I did open my wooden box of Bonny Doon hoping that there might be a Cigare Volant or an Old Telegram left, but alas that well was dry.  Fortunately, the memories were still intact, and I truly enjoyed meeting Randall Grahm this year, what a class act. 

This year I went with Virginia wines.  A 2004 Linden Claret and a 2006 Rappahannock Cellars Cab Franc.  The wines paired extremely well with the Roast and the memories were special for different reasons.  Jim Law taught me how to make wine.  In his seminar, Jim said that winemaker’s need taste lots of different wines and work to develop their palette.  So, in some ways, Jim set me off on this journey and I have never thanked him, so I will now, “thank you Jim”.

My Rappahannock Cellars memories also relate to wine making.  The entire crew at Rappahannock went out of their way to accommodate me, a small home winemaker, with grapes this fall.  It didn’t come together in the end, not because of them, but because Mrs WineRamble took ill and had to be hospitalized.  That took me completely out of the picture for a while.  (She is better now)  I never really thanked them for their support and patience or apologized for dropping out of sight, so please let this blog serve as both now, apology and thanks.

I hope that wines will come to you that bring you wonderful memories as well as please your palate.