"Holiday Feasts"

 Norm's Tasting Notes

by Norm Bentley

The North Georgia Wine Advisor

Holiday Feasts

Uno January - 2025

The tradition at our house for the holidays is to serve Seafood on Christmas Eve, and Beef on Christmas Day.  So we had two great feasts, the first was a chilled seafood salad featuring lobster and shrimp, complemented by a wonderful white Burgundy. The second was a French entrée (Chateaubriand) with a Napa Cab!  The French Chardonnay was the 2018 Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Les Setilles, which was excellent with the cold shellfish.  The Cab was the 2019 Pina Napa Valley Cahoots Cabernet Sauvignon which was perfect for medium rare beef!

Opening the Olivier Leflaive Les Setilles broadcast a fragrant bouquet of citrus and floral scents across the dining table.  The flavors of apricot and pear were in the forefront, with a lemony mist in the background.  Good structure, and a solid backbone held the wine in constant harmony with the cold shellfish.  The alcohol content is 13%, and the wine "begs for another sip!"

The Pina Cab was a present from Christmas Past, and was exactly the right choice for our Chateaubriand, which, is of course, Beef Tenderloin with gravy, but the gravy makes the difference. This awesome Cab delivers with flavors of cherry, plum, and a heavy dose of raspberry, followed by smooth tannins, and a finish which sails off into the night!  The alcohol content is 14.7%, and the wine is a great choice for any beef entrée, but I would also suggest it for Rack of Lamb.

score:

French White Burgundy = 92 ($25)

Pina Cahoots Cabernet = 94  ($65)

Now, that's just the way I see it, and you can tell them I said so!

Here's looking at you Kid!

Norm

normwine@bellsouth.net

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