Our Sommelier's Best Wines to Share for the Holidays

The Holidays are a time of the year when family and loved ones get together to celebrate and create memories. This presents a golden opportunity to share something special from the cellar. It could include a nice aged red wine from one of the world’s most prolific wine regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, or Barolo. Perhaps I might select one of my favorite vintages from Champagne if we are just getting the party started. Nothing denotes a special evening more than toasting a glass of vintage 1990 Krug or 1996 Salon. Seeing that these bottles are luxurious rarities that you might only open once a year (perhaps once a lifetime), they will leave a lasting impression for years to come.

When selecting an ideally aged red wine, I am always looking for something in that sweet spot between youthful fruit and bottle-aged bouquet. This isn’t always easy to determine as there are many factors that can influence this balance of primary fruit and tertiary development. A safe bet is to focus on vintages of great renown and ideally get several bottles from each year. This allows you to check in on these wines several times through out their lifetime to try and find that window when they are peaking.

We don’t all have the time, cellar space, or money to find this moment of glory. Nor does everyone always want to drink a softer, more delicately aged wine. Sometimes, you want a wine from a great vintage with more youthful characteristics but may not know what years that might be. I would like to highlight some of these “great” vintages from my favorite region of Burgundy to help you discover a treasure to share with friends and family during this time of the year.

Burgundy is a region that is highly influenced by so many climatic conditions. Spring frost or hail can decimate entire vineyards. A wet/rainy harvest might spoil or dilute a good portion of the fruit. Not to mention the intense pressure coming from a myriad of diseases. For years, ripeness was a factor which would sometimes lead to a very thin, lackluster vintage. This makes knowing past vintages important as there are many to sift through. Most recently, climate change seems to be creating riper, fuller vintages. Understanding the years that were warmer and fuller than leaner ones, can help you decide the style of wine you are looking to enjoy, if not to avoid.

For vintages found in the last few decades of the 20th Century, there are several in the 80s and 90s which are drinking great right now! 1985 was a riper year which you can still find great success with. These wines can surprise you with loads of juicy fruit and structure that makes them feel a bit younger than they really are. Most are complemented by seductive notes of potpourri and truffles. 1989 and 1990 were back to back great years that offer fresh and dried cherries balanced by nice tertiary flavors of earthy porcini mushroom.

I look to 1993 or 1999 for vintages that resound greater youthful characteristics but with more polish than a current release, especially with 1999. These wines have much more fruit and structure and impart less of the dried fruit or developed earthy flavors. However, having gracefully aged in bottle for the last 20+ years, they have shed a few layers of youth and tannin. They are beginning to coalesce and are starting to have a smoother mouth feel.

Now if you are looking for a Red Burgundy to age in your cellar for several years yet, but maybe you also want to enjoy it before its prime, the 2000’s are chalked full of solid vintages. 2002 is a year that has lots of fresh fruit yet but at the same time has that sense of calm and softness that makes them very enticing. The year of 2003 was extremely hot. So much so that these wines offer notes of raisins and dates which is extremely atypical for Burgundy. If you want some blockbuster vintages that will feel more like somewhere in California than in France, you will be looking at 2005 or 2009. These wines have ripe almost baked fruit flavors with lower acidity and firm tannins. This is your vintage of Burgundy to pair with steak or prime rib.

2010 and 2012 offer riper, rounder elements as well, but tend to offer a bit more acidity for longevity of aging. As we move closer to the present, Burgundy has had a string of full ripe (some just downright hot) vintages: 2015, 2017, 2018, and most recently 2019. I had the pleasure of tasting some 2018 Red Burgundies directly out of barrel. They were so structured that they vibe more like an Italian Nebbiolo or Sangiovese than Pinot Noir from Burgundy!

Of all wine regions on this planet, Red Burgundy is subject to the greatest influence of climate variation year to year. When the stars align and a stellar vintage is kept in the cellar to rest for several years, you can be rewarded with some of the most profound, life changing juice! You should now have a good understanding of some heralded red Burgundy vintages within the last 40 years to find that style of Pinot Noir you want to share with your loved ones this Holiday season!

And, if you are considering selling your wine, WineBid is the world's largest online wine auction, with the best pricing data (which gets you the highest price for your wine) and the quickest payouts in the business. Contact us at (888)638-8968 or submit a wine appraisal request today. We do require a minimum appraisal value of $2,500.