Whether you're having dinner at your boss's house or attending a holiday soiree with friends, a bottle of wine can be a great gift for oenophiles and grape-loving amateurs alike. Instead of sticking to the traditional Cab or even the expected splurge on Dom, why not opt for a lesser-known bottle personally selected to the gift recipients' taste. We asked Don Sritong, co-owner of Just Grapes in the West Loop, to curate a list of his preferred picks for different kinds of drinkers.
Best Bang for Your Buck Under $15
As a general rule, Sritong recommends finding bang-for-your-buck wines (which over-deliver on flavor and quality for their price points) by choosing ones that come from little-known vineyards or regions as well as opting for less popular wines (such as chenin blanc and albarino in the whites and tempanillo and nero de avolo in the reds). For reds, Sritong highlights the 2005 vintage of Garnacha de Fuego, $10 wine from Australia grown at 3,000 feet elevation in 55-95-year-old vineyards. Grown in Napa this wine would cost three times as much. It's meaty, full-bodied and great paired with a burger or pizza. For the white, he selects a blend of 81 percent Chenin Blanc and 19 percent viognier from the Pine Ridge vineyard in Clarksburg, California. The wine has pineapple and peach notes, a nice floral aroma and finishes with a crisp acidity.
For the Know-It-All
While the sparkling shiraz is a hot commodity in Australia, it's a rather unknown animal in the States. Rumball comes from the premier growing region Coonawarra in South Australia. Served cold and a bit bubbly, this bottle is strong in flavor and light in texture—a fun, surprising party pick. Next the Scanavino, a 2000 vintage from Piedmont, Italy and made with the Nebbiolo grape, offers the elegance of Pinot Noir and the backbone, structure and tannin of a Cabernet. Normally you could expect to pay $50-$200, but this one costs merely $22. Lastly, the Catena, a 2004 vintage from Mendoza, Argentina is similar to a Petit Syrrah and offers an earthy, blackberry flavor that's true to the grape. At $25, it's the Malbec for purists.
For some who like it sweet
Sritong describes the experience of drinking Michele Chiorle's Nivole as" drinking a cloud soaked in peach and apricot;." Made with moscato in Piedmont, Italy, it's a bit bubbly, has a low alcohol content of seven percent and is excellent served over vanilla ice cream (chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes, so the ice cream soaks up the flavor). The drink comes in a dainty half-bottle for $10.49. For a darker drink, the Castello di Meleto from Chianti Classico in Tuscany is made from the Vinsanto grape and tastes like liquid gold…for only $30. The drink offers dried peach, apricot, almond, hazelnut and caramel notes, has a clean finish (not the syrupy flavor many dessert drinks conjure) and pairs well with pecan pie.
If you're gonna splurge
It's nearly unheard of that a wine costing $55 would earn 97 points out of 100 from Wine Spectator connossieur Robert Parker. Yet the 2004 vintage Mitolo G.A.M from McLaren, Vale in South Australia defies convention; the bottle pulls off the intensity of ripe blueberries, blackberries and hints of licorice still maintains an elegant touch. Sritong gleans a French Viogniere for his second selection; the 2004 vintage E. Guigal from Condrieu vineyard, which costs $50, is oily in viscosity but racy in acidity, which keeps it all together. The bottle captures hints of citrus–peach, apricot and pineapple–as we;; as violet and minerals. If you're going for a serious splurge, skip the Dom Perignon and upgrade another 20 bucks (amounting to a total of $150) for the Garande Cuve. This blend of three top vintages from the past year has a yeasty, toasty flavor and notes of baked apple pie.
For the open-eyed novice
There are two ways to treat the novice: Stick with the conventional or step out of the ordinary. For the conventional crowd, try the 2005 Sullberg merlot from Sonoma, California, a soft plumy fruit bomb. Katerine's Vineyard in Santa Barbara offers a balanced, medium-to-full-bodied Chardonnay, with hints of oak and melon. For the more adventurous types, Sritong recommends the Citizen zinfandel from the Alexander Valley, a smooth, juicy bottle with concentrated notes of berry, vanilla and pepper that costs $13.49. He also opts for the 2005 Naia from Rueda, Spain, which costs $12.99. Offering a zingy acidity and medium body, the bottle has flavors of ripe apricot, peach, honeysuckle, orange zest and hints of lime.
