Be a Holiday Hero: A Case of Wines for Every Occasion

The holidays can be stressful for us wine geeks, as family members usually rely on us to select options for three major events. This year, I built my Case Studies list - a case of wine suggestions for each holiday - with a few parameters in mind:

1. All wines come from the Pacific Northwest. The quality and diversity we find in our corner of the continent require us to look no farther.

2. A diversity of producers and wine varieties. With close to 2,000 wineries operating in the Northwest, there's no reason not to share the love, and we should explore the bounty of the more than 100 wine-grape varieties grown here.

3. Each case should have at least one riesling, dessert wine, cab and bubbly to satisfy the diversity of palates that will gather around your holiday table.

Thanksgiving
Always the most challenging holiday meal for wine pairings because of the diversity of flavors on the table. I solve this by opening several bottles to satisfy everyone from Uncle Joe to Grandma.

Christmas
Christmas dinner typically is focused more on roasted meats than fowl, so that means more pairing opportunities with bolder, dark reds; you'll see more cabs and malbecs here.

New Year's
This is a funny holiday, which we typically associate with sparkling wines, the traditional beverage for sending out the old year and welcoming the next page of the calendar. If you're having a gathering to welcome 2018, it's likely to be a casual affair rather than a formal dinner, featuring appetizers and a bar of open bottles and other beverages.

Read the entire story below for list of Northwest wines for your holiday table.

For the complete story see: The Seattle Times