Julie and I rang in the new year by putting Dylan to bed and playing a game of Carcassone* while sipping Chandon.  This crisp, tart sparkler from the French Champagne house's Argentine property is a favorite of ours.  This is the wine we served at our wedding, and we still find excuses to drink it from time to time.  It's not very expensive, but tastes great...  so in that way it's very much like most wines from Argentina I've reviewed in 2002.  A good one to finish out the year.

*For the record, Julie beat me by a wider margin than I have ever seen 

Here's a true curiosity.  David Garvis is a Houston wine enthusiast turned wine maker.  His wife is the real estate agent who helped Julie and I buy our new house, and she gave us some of her husband's wine a as gift to celebrate closing.  I have to admit that we were a little cautious; we've both had bad experiences with home brewed beer made by friends.  But this was a really good bottle of Cab.  David's "Good, Better, Best" philosophy (described on the label!) made clear his goals: high alcohol content, low sulfides, good flavor, no hangover.  Lots of fruit!  Raspberry and tart blackberry flavor, but still a Cabernet's earth and texture.  Very smooth drinking.  We also have his Syrah; be watching for the review soon. 

Second of two birthday bottles of this admirable Merlot, a great gift from Aaron and Angelique.  I won't go into detail, I've already reviewed it twice (March 9 and October 18), but I will say this one more time:  while most Merlot is crap, Rodney Strong proves that it doesn't have to be that way.  

Cory's done it again!  He had us over for another fantastic dinner (beef Wellington) and served this fantastic wine.  Stag's Leap is expensive; I won't pretend it's not.  But in my mind, it's a winery that holds a unique place right at the gateway to truly great Napa Cab.  It's not affordable, but it is attainable (does that distinction make sense?)  It stands in the company of the $60 and $75 bottles without any trouble.  It's a great name, by a great wine maker, from a wonderful place on Earth.  Stag's Leap is a mountainous district that looks down on the southeastern corner of the Napa Valley, and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.  The 98 Cab was rich, luxurious, and had layers of vanilla, oak, spice and fruit that simply can not, can not be gotten without stepping up to the higher price ranges.

Montinore, Gewürztraminer, Southern Oregon.   Recommendation: Drink  A very good bottle that Robert & Norma brought back from there trip to Oregon.  Not too sweet, not too tart.  A refreshing selection for Xmas day supper.

Teal Lake, 2001 Kosher Shiraz, South East Australia.  Recommendation: Drink  Todd and Kathryn Bredbeck served us this bottle with lunch at their place.  I liked it, and did a little research on line (see link above).  Teal Lake is a Kosher label produced by Norman, a large Australian wine conglomerate.  It was the first, a perhaps still the only Kosher wine made in Australia.  It was a very tasty, balanced fruity Shiraz, typical of Australian red in the $8-11 price range.  The highest compliment I can give is that I never would have guessed it was Kosher if I hadn't read the label.

Castillo de las Zaras, 1998 Crianza, Valdepenas, Spain.  Recommendation: Drink  As promised (see Oct. 4 2002 review) I'm on the prowl for more Spanish reds.  This one was very good.  I'll try to grab another bottle and give it better attention soon.

Stonington Vineyards, 2001 Fume Vidal, Connecticut.  ~$12 at the vineyard.  Recommendation: Drink  Another bottle we brought back from our trip to Connecticut, and a visit to Stonington Vineyards  (see the Nov. 12 review of their Gewurtz).  Vidal is a French hybrid varietal, not often used on its own.  But this "Fume" Vidal had a smooth, mouth filling feel, very similar to a good Viognier (vee on yay).  Yummy.  

Vampire, 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, Transylvania, Romania.  $9.  Recommendation: Don't Drink  We bought this bottle to drink on Halloween, but didn't get around to it until late Nov.  Pity...  I might have been more forgiving.  This is a novelty wine from a former Soviet republic...  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's thin and bland.  The most remarkable thing is that some winery in Romania scored the URL vampire.com.  How did that not get snatched up in the first month of the internet?

Infinitus, 2000 Malbec Syrah, Patagonia, Argentina.  ~$14, not currently in TX distribution.  Recommendation: Drink  The last of the wines sent by Mark Spatz of Bodegas De Mendoza (see Oct. 6 news and Nov. 5 review).   This was a delicious, complex and wonderfully mature red.  I don't know why everyone isn't blending these two varietals; they were beautiful together.  Julie and I hated to finish the bottle, especially knowing we may not be able to find another.  Hurry Mark!  Get this wine into Houston retail!

Yellow Tail, 2002 Shiraz, South East Australia.  Recommendation: Don't Drink.  Not bad, just a little weak.  And there are so, so many good Aussie reds at all price levels right now.  There's really no need to suffer a thin, timid one.

George Duboeuf, 2002 Beaujolais Nouveau, France.  Recommendation: Go ahead...  and hurry!  How could you enjoy Thanksgiving turkey without a bottle of Nouveau?  Sure, it's fermented Kool Aide.  Sure it's the perfect recipe for a bad headache.  But once each year you just got to celebrate the harvest by quaffing a glass, and it might as well be on Thanksgiving day, because it tastes just like cranberry juice.

Chandon Napa, NV Brut Sparkling Wine, Napa, CA.  Recommendation: Drink  A great sparkling wine from one of the most beautiful wineries in CA.  Always a hit.

Egri, 2000 Bikaver, Hungary. $3.33.  Recommendation: Don't Drink.  I have such conflicted feelings about this wine.  It is not good enough for a Drink recommendation, but it is much better than the price suggests.  I found it in Fiesta's "3 for 10" bin, and couldn't resist.  It's thin and puny, but hey...  it's three bucks and change!  It's worth twice its price.  Trouble is, a bottle worth $6.66 still isn't worth drinking.

I swear, this is the last Pinot Noir from my trip to Oregon (well, there's just one more, but it won't get opened for a couple of years) that I'll be reviewing.  But it's a good one to go out on, because it was fabulous.  Even better than the Blue Moon (see Oct. 13) which was the best-so-far at that time.  Very Burgundian, very mellow and wonderfully spicy with earth and burnt raspberry.  The best part is that we have two more bottles that came back with Norma after her trip to Portland.

As mentioned in my Oct. 6 wine news, Mark Spatz of Bodegas De Mendoza was so appreciative of my writeup of his Alta Vista Malbec that he sent a couple more Argentine wines for me to try.  Of the two that arrived, this Fabre Montmayou is the first one opened.  It is a very, very yummy Malbec.  The fruit is lush without being jammy, there is good tannin without being acidic, and the texture is full, not gritty.  I hope Mark has some success getting this one out in the Texas market, because I'd love to buy another bottle for myself.

On our recent trip to Connecticut we toured the Stonington vineyards and winery.  Stonington is the north western part of Connecticut, and it is postcard New England: winding country roads, stone walls, farm houses, autumn leaves...  gorgeous.  The winery makes four whites and a blush.  We brought back a Chard and Vidal, and will be reviewing them in time.

Scott and Paula picked up a bottle of the Gewurzt, and served it that night with dinner.  A surprisingly mature wine, or I was surprised anyway.  I don't know a thing about New England wines, but just sort of assume that anything that isn't from CA, WA or OR will be kid stuff.  Stonington avoided the temptation of making a syrupy sweet wine, instead playing to the citric and tangy floral side of the Alsatian grape.  Very nice, and wonderful when served with borsht and potatoes (no, really!)