Embracing the holiday spirit this year is easier than it was last year (when the newest Covid variant was at the tips of everyone’s tongues). The trees on the Upper West Side are finally lined with bright lights and every shop smells like cinnamon and pine (or, what I refer to as the Williams-Sonoma special). To at least feign recovery from Thanksgiving and preparation for more holidays, I’ve compiled a few magnums to open this week from established holiday destinations to, at least briefly, escape.
First, we’ll open a few magnums of Fenouillet’s Cuvée Yvon Soard, an ode to winemakers Vincent and Patrick Soard’s father. Hailing from a rich familial history of winemaking in Ventoux and Beaumes de Venise in Southern France, the two brothers farm organically and with great care. “Yvon Soard” is made only in top vintages, comprised of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, and aged in concrete vats. With a bit of bottle age, I expect it to remain a concentrated, albeit mature wine.
After visiting the Rhône, we’ll head to Sicily to open a crowd-pleaser: COS’s 2018 Cerasuolo di Vittoria. A vivid and structured Sicilian wine (grapes are Nero d’Avola and Frappato here) masterfully made by three Sicilian legends (Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti, and Pinuccia Strano). Vittoria is a commune highly influenced by Mediterranean, African, and European cultures, and COS’s wines are made in tribute to Sicily’s rich cultural history.
For the weekend, we have a stunning Agiorgitiko (a grape variety) from Nemea, Greece. An important winemaking region in Greece and just southwest of Athens on the Peloponnese peninsula, Nemean wines are detailed thoroughly in ancient myth. King Agamemnon reportedly favored Nemea over any other Peloponnesian wine and Hercules famously drank it before (or after, some historians argue) he successfully killed the Nemean Lion. With millennia of history to reference, Erifili Parparoussis uses the mild, Mediterranean climate to her advantage in the creation of such unique and elegant wines.
I’m excited to explore this week!
Monday 11.28.22 – Tuesday 11.29.22
Domaine de Fenouillet « Cuveé Yvon Soard » Beaumes de Venise Rouge 2017
$21/glass
Poured out of 1.5-L Magnums
Wednesday 11.30.22 – Thursday 12.1.22
COS, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily 2018
$22/glass
Poured out of 1.5-L Magnums
Friday 12.2.22 – Saturday 12.3.22
Parparoussisk Nemea Reserve, Peloponnese, Greece 2012
$28/glass
Poured out of 1.5-L Magnums