Ahhh, Christmas time. When you’re a kid it’s all about presents. When you’re a teenager it’s all about presents and no school. When you’re an adult, it’s all about no work and food.

Which is where we come in.

That’s right, we’re reviewing some Christmas wines for you at Wine Welfare. These two reds and two whites are sure to pair perfectly with whatever fattening grub you’re throwing on that table this year. So light a nice warm fire, cozy up next to that Christmas tree, and enjoy your family becoming slightly blurry as you polish off a bottle of one of these wines with your favorite uncle.

Neyers 2006 Zinfandel Pato Ranch – $17.98 at WineLibrary.com or available at most wine stores or BevMo!

The Holidays are not complete without a delicious California Zinfandel. Sure, you could go with a Primitivo (basically Zinfandel in Italy), but American Thanksgivings and Christmases tend to call for the big, juicy California fruit bomb that is Zinfandel.

Neyers is one of California’s best wineries, working out of Sage Canyon in the Napa Valley. They are consistently earning 90-point scores and astounding wine-lovers everywhere. Their Pato Ranch Zinfandel is no exception, with delicious tobacco and cherry flavors swirling around a foundation of moist, stinky soil. Sounds good, right? Trust us, this should be on your table with that turkey or prime rib, especially at this price.

Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend – $11.99 at WineAnthology.com or at BevMo!

Never even heard of this one before we tasted it, but the Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend is both delicious and available in most wine stores. Deep, dark opaque color, like ink-infused Welch’s grape juice. The grapes keep coming as well, in the form of Nerds candy flavors. This is an Australian Bordeaux blend: Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Chocolate and plum jam come through like gangbusters, but the acid fights back to balance it all, leading to a cakey, long finish. Delicious with duck.

Big House White – $6.99 at WineLibrary.com or available pretty much everywhere!

Shockingly good for less than seven bucks. The Big House White is a rather odd blend of Malvasia Bianca, Muscat Canelli, Viognier and Rousanne. We’d never had any blend like it before, but this didn’t mess around. The funny thing is, you can taste elements of all of those varietals, but you taste more flavors of varietals that are not in the wine. Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay (big time, buttery and creamy) and the like. Big pina colada flavors and spiced apples. Serve this one only slightly chilled before the meal or with appetizers. Might not hold up to the likes of turkey, gravy and stuffing.

Fleur Des Pins Graves Sauternes – $12.98 at WineLibrary.com!

If you’ve never had a Sauternes, now is the time to try one. Holiday sweets go magnificently well with Sauternes, no matter if they’re cookies, cakes or candy. Sauternes makes everything better. We’ll go into more detail about Sauternes later on, but for right now, if you can’t find the Fleur Des Pins Graves, just pick up any one you can find. You may find it difficult to locate one under $20 (we did), but rest assured, even a $30 375ml bottle of this stuff will put a smile on your face. This is solid 50/50 Bar, with delicious lemon picking up as well. Very sweet, but with that smokey characteristic often found in botrytis wines (moldy grapes; again, more on this later). The result is you enjoying a magnificent flavor explosion and then passing out on the couch watching A Christmas Story. ‘Tis the season.

One last thing and, we didn’t really want to mention anything because we’re so embarrassed, but…well, this is post number 100 for us here at Wine Welfare. That’s all we’re going to say. Feel free to maybe, we don’t know, leave a comment, compliment or congratulate us. Whatever you like. Really. We don’t need validation or anything. But one last time, just to clarify:

100 POSTS!!! WOO HOOOO!!!!

So that’s it. We sincerely hope you check out at least one of these four bad boys, and slap some serious enjoyment onto that Christmas of yours.

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Happy Holidays and Cheers!

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2008 Adega De Pegoes Dry Muscat

Short and sweet today: The 2008 Adega De Pegoes Dry Muscat from Portugal.

Good News

Fantastic nose. This wine, as many Muscats tend to be, is extremely floral and filled with citrus. Muscat wines tend to have a perfume about them, very intoxicating. Pale in color, which makes the smells even more remarkable. Since this is a Dry Muscat, the flavors are crisp and the mouthfeel is very light. The finish is not lengthy, but when the flavors are there, they are unmistakable: melon, green apple and a touch of honey.

Bad News

The only thing that we felt was lacking in this particular Dry Muscat was some length. The wine smells delicious, tastes wonderful and then…stops. Dead in its tracks; almost as though you never even had it in your mouth. Some people might prefer that, but we here at Wine Welfare like some things to stick around for a bit.

With Food

Spicy foods would work well with this, though not Mexican (still trying to discover a decent enchilada wine). Spicy on the Asian side is what we mean. Muscats, particularly Dry Muscats, are sometimes similar to one of the other few wines that actually stands up to spicy foods: Dry Riesling. So order up some Thai curry and pop open a bottle of Adega De Pegoes Dry Muscat.

On sale for $5.98 a bottle at Wine Library!

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Get Drunk Off of One Glass

First, some helpful information concerning port. Port wine was first made in Portugal (duh) and is fortified, thus making it ridiculously rich, sweet and rather high in alcohol. There are generally two types of Port sold: Tawny and Ruby. Tawny Port has a reddish-brown color, generally has a more caramel style flavor profile, and is not over-the-top sweet. Ruby Port, on the other hand, is a dark, rich red and usually packs more sweetness and alcohol. As such, Port should really be enjoyed with something that can combat that type of strength, or else it is better to just enjoy it alone. By “something,” we not only mean strong, rich foods, but we also mean things other than food: as in a delicious, dark cigar. That’s right, folks, even cigars can go with wine. What a wonderful world.

Bad News First: Not much. We at Wine Welfare love both kinds of Port, but when Kalyra says that this is in a “Tawny” style, boy do they mean it. Not for Ruby lovers.

Now The Good: Holy crap. This is something we have never tasted before: Australian-style Port made from a Muscat grape. Kalyra is run by Mike Brown, who chooses to make classic varietals with an Australian touch to them. Basically what that means for us poor, under-$20 slobs is: “Delicious.” This is no Ruby beast, but rather just a rich, smooth, delicious dessert wine with smells of coffee, chocolate and burnt sugar.

With Food: Like we said in the beginning, either alone or with foods that can step up. This means sharp fruits and extremely smelly cheese. We suggest Stilton, which you can find in most stores nowadays, particularly Trader Joe’s.

$16.00 direct from the Kalyra Winery

Visit the Kalyra Winery website

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Not to be indelicate, but fellas, this is the wine to give to a date. We could be somewhat narrow-minded and say that because it’s both bubbly and sweet, any American girl will love it, but we tend to think that any woman will absolutely love this wine and look for it from the moment you hand them the glass. From the Piedmonte region of Italy, this is a wonderful dessert wine that comes with accessories included; those accessories being bubbles. The Muscat grape (“Moscato” in this case) is known for its sweetness and 9 times out of 10 comes in the form of dessert wine. The “D’Asti” part essentially means “bubbles.” However, be warned, this is nowhere near champagne, but rather an absolutely delicious dessert/party/newcomer wine that will liven up any gathering, including New Year’s.

Bad News First: The only thing we could really find that counts as “bad” about this brand of Moscato D’Asti is that if you are looking for straight-up Moscato dessert wine, this is not it. While very sweet, and made from the Muscat grape, this wine is subtle….with bubbles. It’s not going to be syrupy. More understated than anything else.

Now The Good: Uhh…based on what we said to begin with ( that it will impress the ladies) we really don’t have to say more. But, seeing as how this is a wine suggestion site, we will break it down a bit more. Sweet champagne minus the dryness and acid pretty much says it all. Apples, peaches, pears, apricots. It all depends on how cold you serve it and how long it has been open. Savoring it will be hard, but know that having too much will have the same effect on you as too much champagne. “Perfume going in, poison coming out” as Tom Cruise said in Cocktail.

With Food: This is not really a food wine, but since we have suggest something, we will say basically any cheese or fruit. This is not for consumption with dinner by any means, and to have it with a dessert might be pushing the sugar limits a bit. Like we said above: Pop a bottle open on New Year’s and you won’t be disappointed.

$8.95 at NapaCabs.com

NOTE: This can also usually be found at most BevMo’s, and at a decent price (less than $12) so stock up if you can; it goes fast.

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