December 25, 2012 – Christmas Dinner Wines

For Christmas dinner, I was to bring the wines and a fresh green bean dish.  After staying out too late on Christmas Eve, I dashed off for Christmas dinner sensing that I had forgotten something.  I had set aside the wines to bring two days earlier, but the green beans stayed in my refrigerator (unprepared).  So, we had a medley of frozen vegetables instead.  Fortunately, the rest of the dinner was delicious and nobody missed the green beans.  These are the wines I brought:

2003 St. Clement Progeny Vineyard Syrah

This delicious wine was the middle vintage of a three-year vertical from one of my wine shipments.  After slumbering in the cellar for four years, this wine is entering a phase of poised elegance.  Delicious fruits, exquisite balance, and silky smoothness made this a fantastic treat to pair with the lamb chops for dinner.  Of course, I opened the wine too early and it was gone by the time the lamb chops made their way to the table.

2003 St. Clement Armstrong Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

I remember tasting this at the winery at a special event back in 2009.  It was surprisingly tasty then.  Tonight, it has developed and refined even further, showing its pure red fruits, restrained minerals, and near elegant texture.  For a vintage that has been given a poor reputation, these two wines tell a success story.

2005 Provenance Oakville “To Kalon” Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine showed that it was the youngest of the three, but it also flaunted its superior vintage characteristics.  While still somewhat tannic, the fruits are well presented and delicious with wonderful balance.  But the real gift in this wine is the richness on the finish.  Picking a favorite from these three wines is not an easy task, but I am leaning toward this wine tonight.