What wine club selection to drink for Christmas dinner?
Wine Club Insider here.
With only five days to go before Christmas, you re rapidly running out of daylight to get those wine club gifts to your special oeniphiles! You may be down to the beautifully wrapped postcard announcing that “your wine club gift is on its way.”
Even if you don’t plan on doing the whole wine club gift, there are plenty of very nice single bottle gifts that will make any wine lover’s heart go pitter patter, and we’ll talk a bit about those over the next couple of days.
Today, we’re going to kind of set the stage…
Christmas, of all the holidays, is really Cabernet Sauvignon’s Big Day. It is the day, with the rich, savory meals that adorn the Christmas table, that the King of Wines shines, and so, for the next 5 days, Cab is King, and we’ll create a “Top 10″ list of great cabs that will be fitting adornments to any holiday table.
Okay… a couple of house rules…
1) It has to be a wine that someone can actually buy (even if it might take a little work)…
2) Without having to get a second mortgage, which eliminates some of the “cult” big names like Screaming Eagle, which cost more than some college tuitions.
3) Ideally, it should be availble through a wine club.
4) It has to be a pure Cab, or at least a majority Cab blend.
(FYI, on the 24th, I’ll post my list of “dream” cabs, which ignore the above rules… this will be a dreamer’s paradise! Stay tuned!)
With the house rules in mind, let’s get started on our list with the Number Ten selection on the Wine Club Insider’s Christmas Cab list!
…and the survey says…
Number 10: Sterling Vineyards 05 Diamond Mountain Ranch Cabernet. $65/bottle. Available as a special request through the Sterling Vineyards Cellar Club.
Voted “Year’s Best,” by WIne and Spirits, this 92 point beauty has the cool feel of Diamond Mountain Reds, as well as a taste of Cherry. It’s been in oak for 3 years, which has mellowed the tannins slightly, and given it a nice, approachable feel, even though this remains a huge wine! Decant this baby for a couple of hours, and enjoy!
See you tomorrow with numbers 8 & 9! This is going to be fun!
Cheers!
Wine Club Insider
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