For the UK
So, what to drink with the big festive meal? If you are a serious wine collector and have a majority of fellow wine-iacs around your table, then you have the perfect excuse to pull the corks out of some of your grandest bottles.
If, on the other hand, your table is more like mine, surrounded by an undisciplined mixture of ages, cultures and attitudes to wine, then first-growth claret is not necessarily the perfect choice (sorry, folks). The trouble with red bordeaux is that you have to have learnt to like it, to enjoy its stern rigour, to wallow in its cerebral subtlety.
What you need for this inevitably extended meal is a wine that is obviously appealing, not too alcoholic, not tough but attractively fruity (especially if you intend to eat a bird with lots of sweetish accompaniments), but still a treat. And it would help if it were less expensive than fine red bordeaux too. Arise then, red burgundy – or a really good wine made elsewhere from the Pinot Noir grape of Burgundy.
If you have been stashing away red burgundy from 1995 or earlier, now is the time to share it with your friends and family. If on the other hand you have to go to a store or merchant for your holiday bottles then you are likely to be offered a choice of younger vintages.
Most 1996s are still tasting pretty tart; I am hanging on to mine for the moment. Many 1997s are rather dull but the best, such as those cited below, have aged fast and acquired some rather attractively exotic flavours. The 1998s are by and large decidedly uncharming now, marked by rather chunky tannins but, fortunately for us all, 1999 is the easiest red burgundy vintage to find today – and many of the wines are as plump as a turkey and full of youthful fruit.
Over the last few months I have tasted many young red burgundies with a fine future ahead of them but those listed below, in roughly ascending price order, are my suggestions for wines in this style with immediate appeal. Such is the nature of Burgundy that its best wines are available only in relatively limited quantity, but all of the specialist merchants cited below have a reputation for seeking out top-quality specimens.
If you would rather stick to white wine (no solecism with turkey), see Whites for entertaining.
Côte de Beaune, Mondes Rondes 1999 Poulleau (£8.47 Irma Fingal-Rock of Monmouth 01600 712372)
Chunky rather than fine cut but very honest, dense red burgundy from a young grower in Volnay.
Monthélie Les Duresses 1999 Domaine du Château de Puligny-Montrachet (£10.79 Oddbins)
This is a good price for a premier cru from the Côte d'Or, even if it comes from a village that produces some of its lightest wines. In this case light means pretty, fruity, slightly oaky but decidedly gulpable.
Pernand-Vergelesses 1999 Rollin (£11.55 Bibendum Wines of London NW1 020 7449 4120)
Fruity and gentle if on the light side.
Domaine de l'Hortus Grande Cuvée 1999 (£11.95 Lea & Sandeman of London SW10, W8, NW3 and SW13 020 7244 0522, £10.88 H&H Bancroft of London SE1 0870 444 1702)
It may seem a bit odd to include a Languedoc wine in a collection of Pinot Noirs but this richly elegant blend reminds me of nothing more than a delicious young burgundy.
La Strada Pinot Noir 2000 Fromm, Marlborough (£12.45 Lay & Wheeler of Colchester 01206 764446)
A wine that restores my faith in New Zealand Pinot Noir. This one from a Swiss-owned estate has real savour, structure and depth. Although it is already a pleasure to drink and is easy to like, it should still please in two years. The bottling from the Clayvin vineyard specifically (owned by Lay & Wheeler itself) at £16.75 should drink well 2003-09.
Bourgogne Rouge 1997 Henri Gouges (£13.50 The Winery of London W9 020 7286 6475)
Unusual to find such an old vintage of this humble appellation still in circulation but this is lovely and not, like so many other Bourgogne Rouges, trying to be anything more ambitious. Now is the moment to capture this perfumed wine at its fruity best. It is so obviously alive that it could turn into a pumpkin at any moment though.
Pommard Tavannes 1999 Fernand and Laurent Pillot (£13.95 Lea & Sandeman of London SW10, W8, NW3 and SW13 020 7244 0522)
Broad, rich nose of violets. Sweet, round, quite evolved on the palate with a long, intense flavour. Good price.
Rene Muré Pinot Noir V 1999 Alsace (£15.45 Berkmann Wine Cellars of London N7 020 7609 4711)
For ages Alsace reds were anaemic but this is deep-coloured, rich and flattering, if still slightly oaky. From the Grand Cru Vorbourg vineyard with average yields of 55hl/ha, which counts as very low in Alsace. Respectable alcohol level of 13.5 per cent too.
Gevrey Chambertin Clos Prieur 1999 Domaine Marc Roy (£15.99 Majestic)
Not all Majestic's red burgundies are charming but this exclusivity is exuberantly winning, and even if the oak is still discernible, so is the fruit.
Pinot Noir, Tarraford Vineyard 1998 Metier, Yarra Valley (£16.95 H&H Bancroft of London SE1 0870 444 1702)
Relatively few Australian vineyards are cool enough to produce interesting Pinot but the fruit grown here has clear-cut freshness and real delicacy (without being wimpish). Martin Williams MW makes this, his own label, and Tallarook wines at Tallarook, another Swiss-owned winery. Schoolhouse is Metier's second label.
Volnay Premier Cru 1999 Nicolas Potel (£17.99 large Marks & Spencer stores)
Savoury, well made wine for now or keeping.
Nuits-St-Georges 1999 Alain Michelot (£17.99 Majestic)
Pale, correct, pure, if slightly light. It is already open and enjoyable though.
Vosne-Romanée 1998 Mugneret-Gibourg (£18.35 Haynes Hanson & Clark of London SW1 and Stow-on-the-Wold 020 7259 0102)
Delicious, gentle, ample wine made by all-female team.
Volnay Taillepieds 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils (£21.95 Waitrose Direct 0800 188881)
Scented, correct premier cru burgundy that could already give pleasure (though will keep). Lots of fruit in a well-made corset.
Vosne-Romanée 1998 Domaine Confuron Cotetidot (£21.95 H&H Bancroft of London SE1 0870 444 1702)
This grower tends to pick late and produces ripe wines that show well young. This is gentle, round and well polished with a hint of autumn leaves already. Lea & Sandeman (qv) are offering his Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru 1998 at £25.85.
Savigny lès Narbantons 1997 Maurice Ecard (£21.99 The Winery of London W9 020 7286 6475)
Scented, heady, truffley. Good and firm yet rich enough to enjoy already.
Pinot Noir La Bauge au Dessus 1999 Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Barbara, Au Bon Climat (£21.99 Morris & Verdin of London SE1 020 7921 5300)
Full, sweet and lively with, unlike so many California Pinots, sufficient acid to balance the guts.
Ken Wright Pinot Noir Canary Hill 1999 Oregon (£23.88 Vineyard Cellars of Hungerford 01488 681313 www.vineyardcellars.com)
Aromatic, lively, pretty Oregon Pinot made by the original Panther Creek winemaker. Early maturing but well balanced.
Nuits-St-Georges 1999 and Vosne-Romanée 1999 Sylvain Cathiard (£24.50 and £25.50 respectively, Ben Ellis Wines of Brockham, Surrey on 01737 842160)
A dramatic pair with the Nuits excitingly tarry while also managing to be gentle and the Vosne even bigger and fuller. Unignorable.
Testarossa Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard 1999 California (Harrods £29.95)
The fruit for this rich concoction comes from the Pisoni vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands south of Monterey. Very juicy indeed, though not cheap.
Beaune Bressandes 1997 Albert Morot (£39 La Réserve of London SW3, SW6, NW3, W2 and SW11 020 7589 2020)
The headily exotic nose on this premier cru is followed by gorgeously intense fruit with that mushroomy edge of mature red burgundy. Very alluring contents of an extremely old-fashioned-looking bottle.
Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes 1997 Jean Tardy (£39.95 La Réserve of London SW3, SW6, NW3, W2 and SW11 020 7589 2020)
This is what you want from a burgundy: a truffley, singular nose that is like essence of autumn undergrowth whistling up from a rich, fruity pond. You could keep some for next year too.
Chambertin 1999 Domaine Rossignol-Trapet (£42.30 Caves de Pyrène of Artington, Surrey 01483 538820) Extremely rich, forward, winning grand cru burgundy. Coffee beans and autumn leaves.
And finally, for those planning to eat traditional turkey in high temperatures, poor things:
Seppelt Sparkling Shiraz 1996 (£8.99 Oddbins)
Awful packaging but a refreshingly fizzy, dense mouthful of spice with a dry finish.
For the USA
So, what to drink with the big festive meal? If you are a serious wine collector and have a majority of fellow wine-iacs around your table, then you have the perfect excuse to pull the corks out of some of your grandest bottles.
If, on the other hand, your table is more like mine, surrounded by an undisciplined mixture of ages, cultures and attitudes to wine, then first-growth claret is not necessarily the perfect choice. The trouble with red bordeaux is that you have to have learnt to like it, to enjoy its stern rigour, to wallow in its cerebral subtlety.
What you need for this inevitably extended meal is a wine that is obviously appealing, not too alcoholic, not tough but attractively fruity (especially if you intend to eat a bird with lots of sweetish accompaniments), but still a treat. And it would help if it were less expensive than fine red bordeaux too. Arise then, red burgundy – or a really good wine made elsewhere from the Pinot Noir grape of Burgundy.
If you have been stashing away red burgundy from 1995 or earlier, now is the time to share it with your friends and family. If on the other hand you have to go to a store or merchant for your holiday bottles then you are likely to be offered a choice of younger vintages.
Most 1996s are still tasting pretty tart; I am hanging on to mine for the moment. Many 1997s are rather dull but the best, such as those cited below, have aged fast and acquired some rather attractively exotic flavours. The 1998s are by and large decidedly uncharming now, marked by rather chunky tannins but, fortunately for us all, 1999 is the easiest red burgundy vintage to find today – and many of the wines are as plump as a turkey and full of youthful fruit.
Over the last few months I have tasted many young red burgundies with a fine future ahead of them but those listed below, in roughly ascending price order, are my suggestions for wines in this style with immediate appeal. Such is the nature of Burgundy that its best wines are available only in relatively limited quantity, but the specialist merchants cited below have a reputation for seeking out top-quality specimens.
One thing to bear in mind is that red burgundy is incredibly sensitive to the temperature at which it is served. As for all wines, the fuller and denser it is, the more easily it can take being served slightly warm, but the flirtatious perfume of red burgundy is finicky and fragile. Many of the lighter wines cited below – those marked with an asterisk – will be at their most delicious and refreshing when served pretty cool – say after 15 minutes in a refrigerator if your home is relatively warm. If by any chance you have overdone the chilling, then it will warm up fast anyway.
The wines not marked with an asterisk can be served a bit warmer but will lose their charm if they get too hot. The late food writer Richard Olney was a regular customer when my husband had L'Escargot restaurant in Soho in the 1980s and would routinely order an ice bucket with his red burgundy.
If you would rather stick to white wine (no solecism with turkey), see my selections last week. Below are some of the most impressive wines from my recent tastings of red burgundies and their like that are currently available retail. If you want a wider choice, go to www.jancisrobinson.com and search for Pinot Noir and 1999 red burgundy.
Côte de Beaune, Mondes Rondes 1999 Poulleau
Chunky rather than fine cut but very honest, dense red burgundy from a young grower in Volnay.
*Monthélie Les Duresses 1999 Domaine du Château de Puligny-Montrachet
This is a good price for a premier cru from the Côte d'Or, even if it comes from a village that produces some of its lightest wines. In this case light means pretty, fruity, slightly oaky but decidedly gulpable.
*Pernand-Vergelesses 1999 Rollin
Fruity and gentle if on the light side.
Domaine de l'Hortus Grande Cuvée 1999
It may seem a bit odd to include a Languedoc wine in a collection of Pinot Noirs but this richly elegant blend reminds me of nothing more than a delicious young burgundy.
La Strada Pinot Noir 2000 Fromm, Marlborough
A wine that restores my faith in New Zealand Pinot Noir. This one from a Swiss-owned estate has real savour, structure and depth. Although it is already a pleasure to drink and is easy to like, it should still please in two years. The bottling from the Clayvin vineyard specifically is a bit more expensive and should drink well 2003-09.
*Bourgogne Rouge 1997 Henri Gouges
Unusual to find such an old vintage of this humble appellation still in circulation but this is lovely and not, like so many other Bourgogne Rouges, trying to be anything more ambitious. Now is the moment to capture this perfumed wine at its fruity best. It is so obviously alive that it could turn into a pumpkin at any moment though.
Pommard Tavannes 1999 Fernand and Laurent Pillot
Broad, rich nose of violets. Sweet, round, quite evolved on the palate with a long, intense flavour. Good price.
Rene Muré Pinot Noir V 1999 Alsace
For ages Alsace reds were anaemic but this is deep-coloured, rich and flattering, if still slightly oaky. From the grand cru Vorbourg vineyard with average yields of 55hl/ha, which counts as very low in Alsace. Respectable alcohol level of 13.5 per cent too.
Gevrey Chambertin Clos Prieur 1999 Domaine Marc Roy
Not all Majestic's red burgundies are charming but this exclusivity is exuberantly winning, and even if the oak is still discernible, so is the fruit.
*Pinot Noir, Tarraford Vineyard 1998 Metier, Yarra Valley
Relatively few Australian vineyards are cool enough to produce interesting Pinot but the fruit grown here has clear-cut freshness and real delicacy (without being wimpish). Martin Williams MW makes this, his own label, and Tallarook wines at Tallarook, another Swiss-owned winery. Schoolhouse is Metier's second label.
Volnay Premier Cru 1999 Nicolas Potel
Savoury, well-made wine for now or keeping.
*Nuits-St-Georges 1999 Alain Michelot
Pale, correct, pure, if slightly light. It is already open and enjoyable though.
Vosne-Romanée 1998 Mugneret-Gibourg
Delicious, gentle, ample wine made by all-female team.
Volnay Taillepieds 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils
Scented, correct premier cru burgundy that could already give pleasure (though will keep). Lots of fruit in a well-made corset.
Vosne-Romanée 1998 Domaine Confuron Cotetidot
This grower tends to pick late and produces ripe wines that show well young. This is gentle, round and well polished with a hint of autumn leaves already.
Savigny lès Narbantons 1997 Maurice Ecard
Scented, heady, truffley. Good and firm yet rich enough to enjoy already.
*Pinot Noir La Bauge au Dessus 1999 Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Barbara, Au Bon Climat
Full, sweet and lively with, unlike so many California Pinots, sufficient acid to balance the guts.
*Ken Wright Pinot Noir Canary Hill 1999 Oregon
Aromatic, lively, pretty Oregon Pinot made by the original Panther Creek winemaker. One of his earliest maturing bottlings that is already drinking well.
Nuits-St-Georges 1999 and Vosne-Romanée 1999 Sylvain Cathiard
A dramatic pair with the Nuits excitingly tarry while also managing to be gentle and the Vosne even bigger and fuller. Unignorable.
*Testarossa Pinot Noir, Gary's Vineyard 1999 California
The fruit for this rich concoction comes from the Pisoni vineyard in Santa Lucia Highlands south of Monterey. Very juicy indeed, though not cheap.
Beaune Bressandes 1997 Albert Morot
The headily exotic nose on this Premier Cru is followed by gorgeously intense fruit with that mushroomy edge of mature red burgundy. Very alluring contents of an extremely old-fashioned-looking bottle.
Vosne-Romanée Les Chaumes 1997 Jean Tardy
This is what you want from a burgundy: a truffley, singular nose that is like essence of autumn undergrowth whistling up from a rich, fruity pond. You could keep some for next year too.
Chambertin 1999 Domaine Rossignol-Trapet
Extremely rich, forward, winning grand cru burgundy. Coffee beans and autumn leaves.
And finally, for those planning to eat traditional turkey in high temperatures, poor things:
**Seppelt Sparkling Shiraz 1996
Awful packaging but a refreshingly fizzy, dense mouthful of spice with a dry finish.
* chill these bottles lightly
** chill this one heavily Burgundy specialists in the US
Burgundy Wine Company, New York City (tel 212 691 9092)
Rosenthal Wine Merchant, NYC (tel 212 249 6650)
Sam's Wine Warehouse, Chicago IL (tel 1 800 777 9137)
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley CA (tel 510 524 1524)
North Berkeley Wine, Berkeley CA (tel 510 848 8910 or 1 800 266 6585)
See also WineSearcher
Burgundy Wine Company, New York City (tel 212 691 9092)
Rosenthal Wine Merchant, NYC (tel 212 249 6650)
Sam's Wine Warehouse, Chicago IL (tel 1 800 777 9137)
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley CA (tel 510 524 1524)
North Berkeley Wine, Berkeley CA (tel 510 848 8910 or 1 800 266 6585)
See also WineSearcher
Burgundy Wine Company, New York City (tel 212 691 9092)
Rosenthal Wine Merchant, NYC (tel 212 249 6650)
Sam's Wine Warehouse, Chicago IL (tel 1 800 777 9137)
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley CA (tel 510 524 1524)
North Berkeley Wine, Berkeley CA (tel 510 848 8910 or 1 800 266 6585)
See also WineSearcher
Burgundy Wine Company, New York City (tel 212 691 9092)
Rosenthal Wine Merchant, NYC (tel 212 249 6650)
Sam's Wine Warehouse, Chicago IL (tel 1 800 777 9137)
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley CA (tel 510 524 1524)
North Berkeley Wine, Berkeley CA (tel 510 848 8910 or 1 800 266 6585)
See also WineSearcher