Buon Natale! Two Italians Arrive in Time for the Holidays

Break out the panettone because here come two Italians perfect for your holiday fare. This month’s wine club has traveled not only to one of Chianti-region’s smallest towns off the beaten path – Montespertoli – but to one of its smallest communes, Castello Sonnino, owned by Baron Alessandro de Renzis Sonnino, whose winery was supplying Italy’s prime ministers and Secretaries of State with its fine wines back around World War I. Wine reviewers, however, say it is the Baron’s most recent wines, under the watchful and gifted eyes of Winemaker Stefano Chioccioli that are this Castello’s best…thus far. Using a combination of traditional grapes such as Sangiovese, Canaiolo and the rare Ancellotta and international varieties like Merlot and Syrah, most vino-philes believe this estate is headed to new levels of greatness. Like the Baron himself, the wines of Castello Sonnino exhibit tradition, elegance, strong personality and plenty of charm.

Wine Tasting in London: Darjeeling is nice, but I’d rather a bit of Rioja

While England may not be known for its wine making, a trip to a cosmopolitan city like London produces countless options for visiting interesting wine bars with their own special atmosphere and offerings. A recent journey of mine included three wine bars, leading me to believe no wine bar is the same, and yes, I am happily inclined to relish each one’s unique attributes.

Gordon’s
Touted as London’s oldest wine bar, I had read that Gordon’s specializes in fortified wines, straight from casks. And while many may try to capture the ambience of this relic of a wine bar, I strongly believe that pictures and words will undoubtedly fall short. Located close to Charing Cross tube station, this port and sherry repository is fairly tucked away. Steps lead down into the heart of this dark, oaky-smelling place where side rooms look more like caves with no more lighting than romantic candles. Yes, this place could be romantic if not for the table tents, t-shirts and signs everywhere that caution customers of it being a high-crime area. “Please watch your valuables…. pickpockets abound.” Apparently, they provide “security hooks” under your table for when you go to the counter to get your wine – no servers here, at least during the day shift. However, fumbling underneath our well-used wooden table left us merely wiping our hands and leaving one person to “stand guard” rather than abandoning our “stuff.” The good news: we had no incidence of crime. The best news: we tasted some wonderful beakers of white and tawny port, and schooners of sherry. Tickets to a show prevented us from staying longer and experiencing other wines, which I am sure, reading from reviews, are nothing short of remarkable.

1707 Wine Bar
For any foodie worth her salt, a trip to London should also include a visit to the gourmet department store, Fortnum & Mason, where one can bask in the glow of countless tea tins, cheeses, chocolates and other, more decadent items that tease the taste buds. Lucky for wine lovers, they have a wine bar with wonderful “flights” and single glasses of wine to try in addition to a food menu. Here a flight to Spain, Provence, Italy or New Zealand takes you there by way of three representative glasses of wine. With our French whites, we also opted to try a little local fare, ordering some cheddar and Stilton cheese with typical British crackers and oatcakes. The live jazz music in an elegant and intimate environment suited the tasting well. The Maitre D’ proved as humorous as he did helpful in guiding our selections and seeing to it that we received them quickly.

Kensington Wine Rooms
When I think of wine rooms, I think of quiet, reserved, elegant places where a suited sommelier with perfect posture and a white towel over his bent lower arm act as wine maestros for my tasting experience. And at Kensington Wine Rooms, that is exactly what you won’t find. Instead, it is a lively, loud and fun place with tapas fare as well as beautiful plates of fully adorned duck breasts and other substantial meals. The “sommeliers” are several, but dressed in jeans and button-down shirts. Their casual attire, however, doesn’t transfer to their attitude about wine. With that, they are most definitely serious. We sat at the bar, watching so many of them taste (and spit) the wines before serving newly opened bottles to customers. Kensington boasts its special “enomatic” wine system that allows open bottles to stay fresh between customer orders. Best of all, the sommeliers are knowledgeable and eager to share their personal favorites. From our sommelier’s favorite Rioja to a California Zinfandel and then an Argentine Malbec, I found each wine equally impressive. Accompanied by some simple, but appropriate antipasto and the happy fervor of the crowd there (standing room only by the time we left), Kensington proved to be a perfect spot for exploring new wines.

Now, you may wonder how, when there are at least 30 wine bars in London, I decided on these three to visit, and I must credit professional resources. By that, I mean Sean Chaudhry and his enormous network of wine lovers, which includes a cousin, Anjum Iqbal, who lives in London and gave me the low-down on wine bars before my trip. But that is the beauty of a network of wine lovers and the sign of a good wine seller: guiding the exploration of great wines around the world.

A Wine for Great Ideas

Leave it to Davy Crockett aka Daniel Boone aka Actor Fess Parker to provide a great couple of wine discoveries for this month’s Club selections. The actor, who is best known for his portrayals of honest, America-loving frontiersmen, is a family winemaker with several wineries these days, and this month we feature two from his Epiphany Cellars. Appropriately named, this is a winery that seeks and succeeds with illuminating wine discoveries. From a “Gypsy” red that is compared to Chateauneuf du Pape to a lesser-known white varietal, Grenache Blanc, both of these wines have made their mark as winners of various accolades at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, including a gold medal for Gypsy, and “Best White of Show” for the Grenache Blanc. Yes, Davy Crockett was King of the Wild Frontier, so now Fess Parker and his family are producing wine fit for a King.

2008 Epiphany: Grenache Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley
We have all heard of the red Grenache grape that is used so often to make Provencal Rosé, but the Grenache Blanc grape is much less common, partly because it has a reputation for being hard to tame. Low acidity, high alcohol—it needs a little bit of something else to make it sing. And that’s why Parker’s family adds in 4 percent Rousanne. This light golden wine is like a fall fruit bowl with a hint of the tropics. Most note the green apple, late peach and pear flavors with some minerality and spice thrown in. This wine, with 14.1% alcohol, has a dry finish that will go well with your favorite chicken dish.

2005 Epiphany: Gypsy, Santa Ynez Valley
Just like the Chateauneuf du Pape it succeeds at emulating, Gypsy blends together several grapes: half of the wine is made from Mourvedre and Grenache, and Syrah, Carignane and Petite Sirah make up the rest

The result is an intense, aromatic, ruby-colored nectar that recalls dark berries and cherries, currants, sage, pepper, pipe tobacco-y scents that bear out on the palate with robust flavors of dark chocolate, blackberry, black cherry, black pepper and vanilla. The 25 months of barrel aging have produced an elegant, robust wine that is fun to drink and certain to impress those who love an equally rich and aromatic Provencal red. This wine can be enjoyed now and over the next 2-3 years.

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