While there’s a tradition of presenting special holiday gifts, special often just means expensive. A wine gift, for instance, is even more special if it is something distinctive. I’ve tasted two such table wines that fit that description.
2019 Donnafugata “Mille e una Notte” ($91) From a 40-year-old winery and a family with 170 years’ experience winemaking in Sicily; a blend of mostly nero d’avola, petit verdot, syrah. Loads of dark fruits (cherry, currant, plum) meld with olive, spice, cocoa and a hint of licorice in a richly concentrated wine that will surprise anyone.
2012 Bertani Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico ($130) From a benchmark Valpolicella producer (since 1857) and creator of the first Amarone in 1958. Native corvina (80%) and rondinella are dried for 99 days to concentrate the juice which then is aged eight years. The result is juicy dark red fruits – berries, plums, currants, notes of anise, balsamic, dried herb, mineral, smoke, earth, savory spice. A wine of intensity and dramatic richness, but with fine definition and elegant tannins.
After dinner and dessert wines certainly fit the special description.
2016 Dolce ($100, 375 ml) From a premier Napa Valley winery that focuses on (of course) on Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, this late harvest wine (88% sémillon, 12% sauvignon blanc from winery owned vineyards solely dedicated to this wine) is modeled after France’s Sauternes. Aging 28 months in 100% new oak imparts luxurious notes of crème brûlée, vanilla and light cinnamon to balance unctuous, lively apricot, pear, and honeysuckle.
2016 Domaine Sigalas Vinsanto ($100) From one of Greece’s finest producers and the flagship grape variety of the Greek island of Santorini, assyrtiko, along with 25% aidini. While assyrtiko is mostly made into a diverse range of refreshing white wines, its typical texture, acidity, and minerality, make it ideal for Vinsanto, a naturally sweet wine from sun dried grapes. After long fermentation and aging in oak barrels seven years, a succulent mix of fig, raisin, spice, molasses, hazelnut, butterscotch, maple, and honey, emerge with luscious elegance.
Pio Cesare Barolo Chinato ($110) From one of Piedmont’s most highly regarded producers, this is a “digestif”, traditionally drunk after a meal to aid digestion. Though there is little scientific evidence of medicinal properties, digestifs still are widely popular. This one uses an ancient family recipe: an infusion of chinchona (China Calissaja and Succirubra barks that contains quinine), macerated for 21 days in a small amount of Barolo, plus a mixture of aromatic herbs, including gentian roots, rhubarb, cardamom seeds, sweet and bitter orange, cinnamon. The result drinks with impressive purity and definition, at times displaying each of those ingredients. At just 16% ABV, it is sweet, fresh, and rich, it’s delightful neat and served with dark chocolate dessert or ice cream.