RAISE A GLASS
5 gift selections for those wine lovers
By Aaron Trujillo
Last-minute Christmas shoppers are frantically looking for that special gift, one which will bring a smile to the face of a close friend or loved one.
How about wine? Not only can wine celebrate a special occasion, but it can commemorate one as well. Not to mention that the lines at your local wine store will be much shorter than the ones at department stores.
When faced with the sometimes daunting task of making a good selection it is easy to just "eeny, meeny, miny, mo" your way through the price tags of expensive trophy wines from Dom Perignon to Kistler chardonnay to Caymus cabernet sauvignon. Great selections in their own right, but how about something off the beaten path?
Here are some wines we recently found which should make that wine gift all the more special.
• 2003 Whitcraft Chardonnay "Bien Nacido" ($35). This is one of our favorite chardonnays out of California. You probably haven't heard of it yet because there wasn't any produced in 2001 and 2002, and there were fewer than 200 cases produced of the 2003. It is one of that state's best-kept secrets. Interestingly, Whitcraft makes chardonnays that are more like those of Burgundy than California. They feature loads of mineral in the nose and mouth, with a very finessed approach which one just doesn't see much out of California. Let me just add, I recently tasted one of Whitcraft's 1998 chardonnays (Tinaquaic Vineyard) and it was absolutely stunning.
• 2001 Bussola Amarone ($60) Amarone is an Italian red wine speciality. It is produced from semi-dried and dried grapes. The good examples have an amazing intensity, concentration and opulence. We have found, however, most renditions we have encountered are not for everyone's palate. They are often quite rustic, sometimes coarse, especially in the finish, and show quite a bit of alcohol. We would like to introduce you to Tommasso Bussola, who happens to be the region's brightest contemporary winemaking star. His amarones are sleek, elegant and suave without compromising any intensity, concentration or opulence. A fabulous wine and well worth seeking out.
• 2000 Sirita Cabernet Sauvignon ($35). Here is a Napa Valley cabernet that is absolutely gorgeous. We are continually amazed at how suave and well textured it really is. Sirita is owned and produced by master sommelier Larry Stone of Rubicon Restaurant in San Francisco. Stone, who visited Hawai'i last summer for the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival, and who was associated with the lamented Winter Wine Escape on the Big Island, is one of the true superstar wine professionals in the country. He also is one of the top winemakers of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon.
• 2002 Vieux Telegramme ($30). The year 2002 was a VERY difficult year in France's Rhone Valley. In fact, most of the top domaines chose to sell off their wines (or most of it anyway) in bulk. This was almost the case at Vieux Telegraphe too. The now-retired patriarch, however, decided the old, old vine grenache from their best parcels was just too good to sell off. Something very special was showing through the vines. It was something rarely seen, as this parcel is never bottled on its own. I don't think this wine will ever get a high rating. It is not crafted to be as such. It is much more about the romance of a great piece of vineyard and its breed, purity and heritage, and a family's prized treasure.
• 2001 Betts & Scholl Grenache ($22). This limited bottling is crafted from some old-vine grenache (some as old as 100 years) in Australia's Barossa Valley. In case you are not familiar with this grape, it is the same one that dominates cuvees in the southern Rhone Valley in wines such as chateaneuf-du-pape and gigondas. The winemaker is Aussie superstar Chris Ringland, who's hotter than hot. This wine is deep, ultra-ripe without any sense of heaviness. It is a superb red.
Enjoy your holidays.
Aaron Trujillo is wine buyer and general manager of Vino restaurant in Kapalua, Maui. Call Vino at (808) 661-8466, or Little Vino on O'ahu at 524-8466.
