Like a lot of people, I waited tables during college, but unlike a lot of collegiate servers, I was lucky enough to work for a company that believed in wine education for all front-of-house staff. Given that, at the time, my drink of choice was California “Chablis” over ice, I clearly needed the information.
Over the course of our training, I learned to serve red wine at a cooler temperature than I thought it should be and white wine a bit warmer; I took in lessons about regions, grapes, and the basics of pairing. But what stuck with me the most was the power of wine to transform a moment.
Although all wine — including Champagne — is food friendly, there’s something almost thrillingly anticipatory about opening a bottle of red just before a meal. The swirl, the aroma, then, finally, the sip…followed by a second, just to be sure. Time slows, and if you pace it just right, you can enjoy the last of the bottle on the sofa or porch after the dishes are done.
Let these reds do the same for you.
2021 Cliff Lede Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Like many Napa Valley producers, Cliff Lede often uses fruit from a single vineyard to craft a wine that tastes of the place — and of that place alone. In 2021, after acquiring land in Carneros and Calistoga, the Cliff Lede took a more global approach, blending those grapes with fruit from Howell Mountain, Oakville, and Rutherford to produce a wine that, with every sip, offers a chance to taste the winemaker Christopher Tynan’s interpretation of the region. The result? Though Cabernet Sauvignon has the starring role in this beautifully structured, garnet-hued wine, touches of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot add structure, silky depth, and expressive complexity. Expect a rich mouthfeel woven through with a ribbon of dark cocoa. SRP $80
Tenuta Sant’Antonio “Antonio Castagnedi” Amarone Della Valpolicella DOCG
This alluring dark knight of a wine is packed with all the things you love about Amarone: deep plums, bitter chocolate, a bit of dirt, a hint of balsamic. But give it a minute in the glass and the wine’s freshness will come to life in the form of firm tannins, a pop of red fruit, and lovely acidity. Tenuta Sant’Antonio is the masterpiece of the four Castagnedi brothers who all worked as wine consultants before building their own brand in 1989, debuting their first vintage six years later. It’s a tribute to their father who left them the family’s original 50 acres of vineyards; today, they’ve expanded their holdings to another 75 acres of limestone-laced land near Lake Garda. Though classically paired with rich stews and game, Amarone offering this kind of addictive push-pull, shines with a fruit element such as apricots or prunes. Try it with fruit-sauced game or a wedge of mature Gorgonzola accompanied by dried fruits and walnuts. SRP $49
2021 JONATA Todos Vineyard Red Blend
On the surface, one of Jackson Pollock’s abstract paintings might seem a bit random, but even a brief closer look reveals that those splatters and drips are anything but random and require not just control but patience. That was my thought when tasting JONATA Todos, the confidently unconventional blend created by Matt Dees, winemaker at JONATA. Without tasting it, JONATA seems like it could be a flighty experiment; one sip, though, and it’s clear that, in the right hands, this wild cornucopia of grape varietals — Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and what Dees calls chaos — can be mixed with such precision that the end result is a cohesive, delicious new thing. Dees’ pedigree, which includes stints at Napa Valley’s renowned Staglin and New Zealand’s Craggy Range, honed his skills more than 20 years at JONATA (which, like Screaming Eagle, is owned by Stan Kroenke), has given him time to get to know what each varietal can do in Santa Ynez Valley. And how does it taste? Full bodied but fresh with blackberry and plum essences, balanced tannins, and a playful wink of cassis. SRP $50
2022 Quilceda Creek CVR Red Wine
Geek wine fact: In the U.S., to be labeled as a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay, or a Merlot, a wine only needs to contain 75% of that grape. The remaining 25% is left to the discretion of the winemakers to create the wine they have in mind. So I was a bit surprised to discover that Quilceda Creek’s CVR blend contains 90% Cabernet Sauvignon (the supporting varietals are Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc). This year’s CVR is luxurious with plum puree, blackberry reduction, and huckleberry pate, all set against a background of toasted oak. SRP $90
2021 Ram’s Gate Estate Pinot Noir
Set on a hill that slopes down into San Pablo Bay and, on a clear day, offers a view all the way to San Francisco, Ram’s Gate Estate is the first Sonoma winery you reach when you’re doing a driving tour of the region. Thinking that a winery this close to the city must not be great, I almost drove by. I’m glad I didn’t. The wines I tasted had all the elements of cool-climate Pinot Noir — elegance, finesse, dryness with a prickle of fruit — that I adore. The 2021 Pinot Noir is all that and more, thanks to the earthy, forest-floor flavors that were allowed to remain and a welcoming richness that renders your glass empty long before you realize it. SRP $85
2021 Kaiken Mai Malbec
I have a love-hate relationship with Malbec. On the one hand, I love the graphite and oyster shells that form the backbone of the wine; searching for the delicious dry fruit that surprises me with every sip is almost addictive. But that leads to the downside: this is a powerful wine, with a high ABV and big, big flavors and aromas. It can easily overpower. In Kaiken Mai, though, fresh blackberry still warm from the sun wove its way through a core of serious fig, tobacco, and black olive, offering a bit of welcome freshness along the way. It was balanced, too, with nice tannins and a mouthfeel like textured velvet. The color, a deep ruby, was as bright and welcoming as the wine. SRP $85
Featured image courtesy of Canva Pro.
