A drop of something special for Christmas

Now’s the time to push the boat out on something really nice, to serve at dinner or as a generous giftChâteau Musar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2018 (from £36, thewinesociety.com; Waitrose) When it comes to choosing wines to splash out on as a gift for a wine lover or as a spectacular treat to elevate your Christmas dinner, the European classics tend to come top of the list. For no-expense-spared red wines, that might mean a gorgeously ready-to-drink topflight Bordeaux such as Château d’Issan, Margaux 2012 (£65, hedonism.co.uk), a suave-textured, intensely flavoured Rioja such as CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva 2017 (from £50, hic-winemerchants.co.uk; thewinesociety.com); a nuanced, silky, peppered-meaty northern Rhône Syrah, such as Domaine Georges Vernay Blonde du Seigneur Côte-Rôtie 2021 (£69.95, yapp.co.uk); or the luxurious cherries, strawberries, oregano and tobacco found in a top-table Tuscan such as Capanna Brunello di Montalcino 2018 (£58.50, thegoodwineshop.co.uk). This year, however, I wonder if a classic and no-less hedonistic wine from another part of the wine world might send out a much-needed seasonal message of peace and goodwill at the festive table or under the tree: the multilayered, sweetly spiced, ethereally-long-finishing Lebanese red of Château Musar.Zuccardi Concreto Malbec, Uco Valley, Argentina 2021 (from £29, laithwaites.co.uk; fieldandfawcett.co.uk; farehamwinecellar.co.uk) Staying in Christmas-treat territory but taking a step-or-two down from the pricing peaks of trad’ European fine wine, the £20 to £30 price range is where I reckon you can find bottles with the highest pleasure-per-pound ratio around right now – a place filled with high-spec wines that have yet to see their prices fully inflated by reputation. They can come from anywhere in the world, but a list of some of the red wines I’ve been eyeing up for my own Christmas list and menu includes a trio from the southern hemisphere: a prime example of the graceful progress made by top malbec producers in the high-altitude Andean vineyards of Argentina’s Uco Valley, in the shape of the elegantly plump and perfumed Zuccardi Concreto; a seamlessly silky Cape answer to St-Emillion, Keermont Merlot, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2020 (£28, swig.co.uk); and a rich, spicy, succulent shiraz-based Barossa Valley red from one of Australia’s most celebrated producers: Henschke Henry’s Seven 2022 (£29, Booths). Continue reading...

Dec 15, 2024 - 10:00

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Now’s the time to push the boat out on something really nice, to serve at dinner or as a generous gift

Château Musar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 2018 (from £36, thewinesociety.com; Waitrose) When it comes to choosing wines to splash out on as a gift for a wine lover or as a spectacular treat to elevate your Christmas dinner, the European classics tend to come top of the list. For no-expense-spared red wines, that might mean a gorgeously ready-to-drink topflight Bordeaux such as Château d’Issan, Margaux 2012 (£65, hedonism.co.uk), a suave-textured, intensely flavoured Rioja such as CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva 2017 (from £50, hic-winemerchants.co.uk; thewinesociety.com); a nuanced, silky, peppered-meaty northern Rhône Syrah, such as Domaine Georges Vernay Blonde du Seigneur Côte-Rôtie 2021 (£69.95, yapp.co.uk); or the luxurious cherries, strawberries, oregano and tobacco found in a top-table Tuscan such as Capanna Brunello di Montalcino 2018 (£58.50, thegoodwineshop.co.uk). This year, however, I wonder if a classic and no-less hedonistic wine from another part of the wine world might send out a much-needed seasonal message of peace and goodwill at the festive table or under the tree: the multilayered, sweetly spiced, ethereally-long-finishing Lebanese red of Château Musar.

Zuccardi Concreto Malbec, Uco Valley, Argentina 2021 (from £29, laithwaites.co.uk; fieldandfawcett.co.uk; farehamwinecellar.co.uk) Staying in Christmas-treat territory but taking a step-or-two down from the pricing peaks of trad’ European fine wine, the £20 to £30 price range is where I reckon you can find bottles with the highest pleasure-per-pound ratio around right now – a place filled with high-spec wines that have yet to see their prices fully inflated by reputation. They can come from anywhere in the world, but a list of some of the red wines I’ve been eyeing up for my own Christmas list and menu includes a trio from the southern hemisphere: a prime example of the graceful progress made by top malbec producers in the high-altitude Andean vineyards of Argentina’s Uco Valley, in the shape of the elegantly plump and perfumed Zuccardi Concreto; a seamlessly silky Cape answer to St-Emillion, Keermont Merlot, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2020 (£28, swig.co.uk); and a rich, spicy, succulent shiraz-based Barossa Valley red from one of Australia’s most celebrated producers: Henschke Henry’s Seven 2022 (£29, Booths). Continue reading...