Randy Sanders on Wine & the Good Life: Winter Solstice Comfort Wine

Posted @ Dec. 31 2011 11:09PM by Susan - food-drinks

It's time to hunker down around a toasty fire . . . with a wine like 2009 Walla Walla Valley Holiday Paintbrush Red

Story and photo by Randy Sanders

This is the time of year when cultures recognize some common traditions like Christmas, the Christian tradition recognizing the birth of Christ, or the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. As I sit in my study looking out over a lazy fog loitering in the foothills of the Coast Range, I am reminded of a melancholy time when we realize we’re at a sunset of a period of time in our lives, but yet await a new beginning of another.

Wine: the common denominator
This is also the time of the Winter Solstice when we experience the shortest days of the year coupled with the coldest and darkest. Many, many old pagan traditions have been born from this time such as mistletoe and bonfires. From Nordic celebrations to Asian, from Argentinean to Gaelic, they all had one thing in common: wine. This was the time when they enjoyed — literally — the fruits of their labor.

The fermentation of their summer fruit was now to be enjoyed. With the days grey and bleak, winter winds howling and snow piling up outside the caves, cabins and yurts, people from everywhere had the right idea about hunkering down with family around a toasty fire, eating comfort foods and drinking wine without paying mind to the outdoors.

As a lover of wine — every day of the year — I particularly love the Winter Solstice because I get to break into our family stash of better wines, reserved for just this time. What I refer to as “Solstice wines” are the best in your cellar, be it literal or figurative. In keeping with that tradition, I want to suggest a great Washington wine from Isenhower Cellars called Holiday Paintbrush Red.

This Bordeaux (meaning a blend of grape varieties) is an astounding experience of all that the Columbia Valley has to offer. It’s a scrumptious blend of Cabernet (47%), Merlot (44%) and Cabernet Franc (3%). Wine enthusiasts will attest that this particular blend designs a deep, toasted, oak, cherry, plum experience best paired with some of our favorite winter comfort foods like steak (this wine also works well with teriyaki sauce), mutton, pheasant, beef stew and beef pot pies.

Taste explosion
The 2009 Paintbrush is ready to drink now, never mind the three-year lay down rule. Unlike inferior and cheaper red wine blends, this one doesn’t have that “tongue burn” or a “palate scorch” that leaves you running for antacids and finds you waving off a second glass. No, no, the tannins are very soft and chewy, allowing the taste of fruit to explode inside your mouth. Eastern Washington has wonderful long, warm summer days and cool dry nights that make it the best place in the Pacific Northwest to grow varieties like Cabernet and Merlot. Some would even argue that this region is just as wonderful as the Napa and Sonoma regions of southern California. I have no problem putting this bottle next to any Bordeaux of those California areas or even next to comparable French or Italian Bordeaux or table reds.

Swallow the car keys along with the wine
Isenhower Cellars is a high quality, low yield wine; this particular bottle is very affordable at $19. But these are tough times, so why not buy three or four bottles of Paintbrush and have a glass with your cheese plate before dinner, another glass or two with dinner and then a third after dinner (great with rich chocolate). Of course you are not the one driving, OK?

If you are of the 1%, or just want to live like it, I recommend an incredible Super-Tuscan: Saffredi IGT Maremma Toscana (45% Cabernet, 45% Merlot, 10% Syrah and Alicante), which should set you back about $100 a bottle.

The difference between them? The Super-Tuscan will be about four times as deep and rich with very pronounced cherry-tobacco-rasberry and extremely firm tannins that will immediately seep into your senses and slowly drip to the back of your palate and remain there for about five or six times longer than the Paintbrush will, so that you may keep tasting the fruit and smelling the rich Mediterranean soil while you listen to small talk from a friend or relative and prepare for that next adventurous sip!

Old World / New World
It’s important to note that while these grape varieties are native to this area of Europe, they are new to America. Both are great wines, it just boils down to how much you want to spend, how much you want to drink (or how much you can afford to drink) and how driven you are to brave the elements and go searching for these bottles.
Another way to put it would be to imagine two fine Mercedes Benz automobiles; one with cloth seats and the other with fine, soft, supple leather seats. You can find them both local wine shops (though not in any grocers); however, the Saffredi Super-Tuscan will be much more of a challenge.

What's your favorite comfort food or drink to enjoy during the time of the winter solstice? Some people say that fine wine represents the fruits of our labors and the bounty of the Earth. Do you agree? Please comment in the space below.

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Randy Sanders is the founder and original publisher of Columbia River Reader. He operated Wayne’s Chicago Red Hots in St. Helens and until recently in Portland. A drummer by profession, he loves music, photography, travel and, of course, wine.