At Thanksgiving this year, our adult children surprised us with an Advent Wine Calendar, a collection of 24 half-bottles of wine from the many of the world’s best wine regions. Those 24 bottles, each behind its own door of the wine calendar, represent the 24 days leading up to Christmas.
We will be working our way through them in order, then sharing our thoughts about each day’s offering.
Yesterday was December 1, the first day of Advent, and the first wine was Le Champs D’Or, a 60/40 blend of merlot and cabernet from the Bordeaux Supérieur wine region of France. Wines from this region are known for being fruit-forward but balanced by “supple” tannins.
The wine profile on the distributor's website describes it this way:
I was once told by a wine steward that the more pretentious verbiage you could work into your description of a wine, the better, and this is clearly an example of that practice. But I digress.
This wine is recommended for pairings with grilled and roasted foods like lamb chops and duck, mushroom risotto and hard cheeses. We decided to go with grilled lamb chops, mashed Yukon gold potatoes with garlic and buttermilk, and sauteed spinach.
Today, we’ll be reminiscing about our spring trip which included a visit to Budapest when we tuck into Nightfall, a white blend from Königliche, a Hungarian winemaker. More on that tomorrow.
We will be working our way through them in order, then sharing our thoughts about each day’s offering.
Yesterday was December 1, the first day of Advent, and the first wine was Le Champs D’Or, a 60/40 blend of merlot and cabernet from the Bordeaux Supérieur wine region of France. Wines from this region are known for being fruit-forward but balanced by “supple” tannins.
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| Merlot/Cab blend for Day One of Advent |
The wine profile on the distributor's website describes it this way:
"Big, bold and warm-hearted, this Bordeaux Cabernet is a wine of soul and structure, driven by a fruity minerality cutting through a firm, dense core. Full bodied, ripe and juicy, this wine evolves with layers of complexity - spanning the gamut from cassis and fig flavors to cigar box and graphite tones, with a long, expressive, vivid finish."
I was once told by a wine steward that the more pretentious verbiage you could work into your description of a wine, the better, and this is clearly an example of that practice. But I digress.
This wine is recommended for pairings with grilled and roasted foods like lamb chops and duck, mushroom risotto and hard cheeses. We decided to go with grilled lamb chops, mashed Yukon gold potatoes with garlic and buttermilk, and sauteed spinach.
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| Dinner on the first night of Advent |
We found this to be just slightly fruit-forward but not in an annoying, jammy way. I didn't pick up on the "cigar box and graphite tones" but it did have a long and pleasant finish. It was not as full as a straight cab sauv but in no way thin and watery. A very pleasant wine, better with a bite of the rare lamb chop (thank you, Costco!) but very drinkable on its own.
Today, we’ll be reminiscing about our spring trip which included a visit to Budapest when we tuck into Nightfall, a white blend from Königliche, a Hungarian winemaker. More on that tomorrow.
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Photos by Carl Dombek
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