four beautiful wines for holidays...

It's that time of the year again... The holidays and our birthdays are approaching very fast and we already started to discuss which wine to uncork for which occasion. I was collecting bottles from our trips throughout the year one by one and saving the special ones to share with friends and family at dinner parties this holiday season. I have four seriously fantastic wines waiting in my rack. Oddly enough only one of them is red though... I have to take care of this problem by bringing back a nice bold red from Toulouse next month.

Domeniul Coroanei Feteasca Regala 2007: Feteasca Regala is a white grape variety from Eastern Europe. It is mostly cultivated in Transylvanian and Moldavian regions of Romania and in Moldova. This beauty was waiting to be uncorked since we brought it back from Sibiu, Transylvania all the way back in May 2010. It is fresh, crisp and acidic. I am hoping that this particular bottle will be a little bit oaky and earthy on top of it's freshness since it had spent some good time in oak barrels. Great wine to share at early afternoon before you sit around the table for dinner.

Domaine Fabien Coche-Bouillot Meursault Les Luchets 2006: Now this is a bottle I am very excited about. Since we came back from our trip to Cotes de Beaune, Burgundy it's been countless moments when I was about to pop it open but somehow I managed to stop myself every time and here we are... It's a beautiful Chardonnay from Cotes de Beaune I tasted during our wine tasting tour in the region last May before I purchased it. Amazing salted butter, bread crust and warm brioche aromas on the nose and damp cellar notes with fresh walnuts, salted almonds and macadamia nuts on the palate. This is an incredible wine I don't want to waste by drinking recklessly. I hope to pour it when everybody can take their time to taste and talk about it. Maybe after dinner when enjoying a good old movie on TV with light desserts.

Nodus Shiraz 2009: Every year during my visit to my hometown Istanbul I stop by at my favorite wine shop La Cave in Cihangir to chat a few minutes with it's amazing owner Esat Ayhan about the news of wine industry in Turkey and new released wines. At the end of this yearly short conversation he always picks a bottle for me to bring back to NY and I purchase it without questioning. It is kind of a game we are playing every year. He knows that I will be offering this bottle to my friends during a special occasion and he is also aware that I really want to impress them with a good Turkish wine. Didn't fail once... This summer he chose a Shiraz for me from one of my favorite regions but from an unusual city. Nodus comes from Denizli, a lovely small city from Western Anatolia region. Only 3900 bottles have been made available. I am expecting a peppery and spicy wine with lots of berry and red fruit notes accompanied with beautiful toasted oak influences from the oak barrels the wine was resting before it got bottled. It will be a perfect choice for a meaty dinner. Cannot wait...

Maddalena Muscat Canelli 2009: This is a completely different category we are about to enter. We are talking about a sweet Muscat wine right now. I purchased it from San Antonio WineryLos Angeles after an early morning tasting during our visit last December. After the tasting this bottle was the one which impressed me the most. I didn't plan to get a dessert wine, actually I was planning to choose a Californian red. Maybe because it was 10AM in the morning or maybe I really couldn't find any other better bottle but I ended up with this Muscat to bring back all the way to NY. I am looking forward to taste it again and figure out if I was right about it. It has a great nose with honeysuckle and candied orange peel aromas. The palate is quite sweet but yet crisp with ripe soft fruits. Some baby banana, grape juice and cake frosting notes. Perfect to serve with pecan and berry pies, christmas cakes and cheese cakes. A nice Christmas treat.

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