{"id":464,"date":"2012-12-04T16:25:40","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T23:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=464"},"modified":"2012-12-09T16:33:23","modified_gmt":"2012-12-09T23:33:23","slug":"warm-up-with-a-red-wine-during-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=464","title":{"rendered":"Warm Up With A Red Wine During December"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m officially declaring December to be \u201cred wine month.\u201d<\/p>\n

With winter on the horizon and the prospect of even colder weather ahead, December just seems like the perfect time to enjoy a glass of red wine.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying you should abandon all plans to serve a chilled white wine this month. But if you think about yourself with a good book, a warm fire or a bowl of hearty stew, a glass or bottle of robust, flavorful red wine could be just thing to complete the picture and take the edge off a cold winter\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019ll start you off with a few red wine recommendations from local wineries, and during the next several weeks offer plenty of other suggestions from Washington, Oregon and California.<\/p>\n

San Juan Vineyards <\/strong>has a couple of big, bold reds among its current releases. Try the 2009 Red Wine <\/strong>(about $14), a well-priced blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese. It\u2019s dark and brooding with compact flavors of espresso, black currant and dark plum and it begs for a pairing of pepper-encrusted beef.<\/p>\n

Another candidate for a beef entr\u00e9e is their 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon<\/strong> (about $19). Aromas and flavors of black cherry, blackberry and touch of anise lead off, followed by a nicely structured, slightly woodsy finish.<\/p>\n

\"null\"Bellingham\u2019s Dynasty Cellars<\/strong> has a trio of truly remarkable red wines that are running in short supply but still available and highly recommended.<\/p>\n

The 2008 DC3 Meritage<\/strong> (about $25) is loaded with intense dark berry flavors and hints of baking spice that melt into a pliable finish with nuances of black olive and toasted oak.<\/p>\n

Powerful, yet gorgeous, the 2008 DCC Les Collines Cabernet <\/strong>(about $33) displays dark, inky overtones of black cherry and coffee followed with a lovely bit of milk chocolate on the finish and flawless tannins.<\/p>\n

And the 2008 DCQ Red Wine<\/strong> (about $35) is a four-varietal red blend that includes cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, cabernet franc and zinfandel. This is another dense wine with chalky tannins that\u2019s perfect for the cellar or enjoyable now with venison or lamb.<\/p>\n

Finally, be sure to try the Dakota Creek Winery 2009 Petit Verdot<\/strong> (about $35) with beautiful flavors of black plum and dark berry that melt into a big, round finish with just enough texture to remind you that you\u2019re drinking petit verdot.<\/p>\n

This limited-supply wine, along with the 2009 Petit Sirah, will be featured at the winery\u2019s Christmas Open House celebration in Blaine on December 7, 8 and 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m officially declaring December to be \u201cred wine month.\u201d With winter on the horizon and the prospect of even colder weather ahead, December just seems like the perfect time to enjoy a glass of red wine. I\u2019m not saying you should abandon all plans to serve a chilled white wine this month. But if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald","category-syrah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}