Last night, I provided most of the wine for Bob and Jen's New Year's Eve dinner party. (I'll write more about my Christmas in South Jersey and New Year's here in Brooklyn in a later post.) I was pleased with all of my selections: the 2006 Trumpeter Malbec, the 2007 de 2 (de Dos) Mencía from the Bierzo region of Spain, the 2005 Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and, for midnight, François Pinon Vouvray Pétillant Brut.
I bought a couple of the Trumpeter Malbecs for Dad for Christmas, among a few other kinds, because malbec is still his go-to red wine and he's taken up the trumpet again in his retirement. And I got one to try for myself, too.
I'd put Bierzos (and/or aglianicos and/or malbecs) on my Christmas wish list for Dad and Tracey. From Dad and Jean, I got a couple of bottles of 2007 Bodega Norton Malbec, which I know I'll enjoy, but there weren't any Bierzos under the tree.* Admittedly, they aren't terribly easy to find. I went to a few wine shops in the Slope this past week, and the only Bierzo I found was de 2.
Nashville, Tennessee, wine merchant Will Motley selected Bierzo as his "best value region" in this article in Food & Wine, and I think that's what really lodged Bierzos in my brain. In addition, Ray Isle placed the mencía grape within the Asteroid Belt in the clever Wine Universe he created for F&W's October issue. And Lettie Teague, F&W's executive wine editor, mentioned mencía (and aglianico, too) in this article about reasonably priced wines with great character.
I don't think I tried the Twenty Bench. And we didn't open the sauvignon blanc, but it's from New Zealand's Marlborough region, so I'm sure it'll be good.
I enjoyed the sparkling Vouvray about as much as I've enjoyed any sparkling wine, which I'm not usually a fan of. It tasted of apple, and I learned from the link above that it's organic. I figured a wine made from chenin blanc was a pretty safe bet for us.
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I took the 2006 MacMurray Ranch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir down to South Jersey to enjoy during my Christmas visit. I liked it just fine. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm a sophisticated enough wine drinker yet to be able to ascertain why MR thinks it should be worth about $10 more at retail than its other pinots. I guess I'll have to keep drinking lots of all three of them to try to figure it out. :-)
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I have a love/love-to- ... well, "hate," is definitely too strong of a word. Maybe love/love-to-roll-my-eyes-at. Yeah, I have a love/love-to-roll-my-eyes-at relationship with Sweet Melissa, the neighborhood bakery/cafe that's closest to my apartment. I complain about the prices, but I'm usually there buying something every weekend day—and sometimes on weekdays, too, on the way home from work, if I need a caffeinated pick-me-up. SM sells coffee it says is both organic and fair trade. The service is often pretty slow because it seems like there are never enough employees to keep up with the demands of both walk-in and table-service customers. One woman who works there, though, is particularly sweet, and the store has such a nice atmosphere.
At Christmastime, SM offered Bûche de Noël in two sizes. The smaller one, which serves 6–8, was $55, and the larger one, which serves 10–12, was $78. You could also get a Golden Almond Fruitcake—which contained marzipan, golden raisins, apricots, sour cherries, currants, and dried pineapple in addition to the almonds—for $18. I say meh to both of those.

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