As the holidays approach, much time and effort is placed on finding the perfect gift. If you have a wine lover on your short list this may cause some concern. What does that oenophile really want? Glasses? Decanters? Battery-powered corkscrews? What wine people really want is more wine.
This can present huge problems. Unless you are aware of exactly what they desire and covet, the choices, both good and bad, are endless. Surely, there is always a place in one’s cellar for a good Bordeaux or a Napa cabernet, but this is complicated. What are the good vintages? What can I, as a devoted gift giver, afford?
And as this is the season of giving and sharing, we would all like a taste of this bounty, not wait for years as the bottle matures in a cellar.
The best gift wine is dessert wine. Sauternes is France’s most famous sweet wine. Its origin is the Bordeaux region, where the Sémillon grape is primarily used to make the wine. It is gold-colored, strong and luscious, the perfect end to a meal or even alone.
Another golden dessert wine is Tokaji Aszu from Hungary. It is a wonderful rich quaff that has graced the tables of the crowned heads of Europe for centuries. Louis XIV called it, “the king of wines and the wine of kings.” What Tokaji Aszu and Sauternes have in common is the occurrence of a fungus known as “noble rot.” The grapes are attacked by botrytis cinerea which causes the juice in each fruit to be concentrated while keeping the sugar content quite high. Fermentation and bottling are the next steps before the wine finds its way onto the table of a very fortunate recipient. Both these wines are available locally.
Another dessert wine that deserves our attention is Ice wine. This type of beverage originated in Germany. The grapes are allowed to freeze on the vines where they shrivel and allow the natural sugars to concentrate. Riesling is used most commonly, with other grapes finding less success.
In order to harvest bunches, workers go out in freezing temperatures after dark to cut the fruit from the vines. It is very labor intensive and that is reflected in the price. But I can assure you there is nothing quite like it for its fine balance between sweetness and acidity. On the positive side, this wonderful liquid has found its way into the wineries of Ontario and New York. This can only be a windfall for all of us as the availability improves.
So, for the wine person on your gift list, don’t bother with trinkets. Get her a gift that can be considered rare, exotic, and perfectly matched for goodies after dinner or alone. If you are generous enough to give, perhaps the recipient will be generous enough to share. If my relatives or friends are reading this; make mine cognac please.
Keep sipping, Steve
