The Spirit Merchant’s Christmas Wish
Every year it seems to me that the holiday spirit takes a little bit longer to face the reality of what lies ahead. To be honest, this year, I have barely given it any thought – between the torrential rains, the freezing weather, the hole in my roof, the tax bill extensions etc. etc. where would I find the time to settle into the Christmas Spirit? Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and I don’t yet have grandchildren (MP if you are reading this do not get any ideas….soon), and maybe it’s because I really don’t like going to the Malls and maybe it’s because I think we should probably celebrate Christmas on January 3rd when all the Malls sell everything off they didn’t sell the week before Christmas, and if we have to spend money on gifts why not simply wait a week and save some money. Maybe it’s because I identify with the Grinch? Who knows? What does get me excited though is the thought of preparing three days of great food without having to invite the turkey in for dinner. First I get the late, late Christmas Eve festival – late because we have to keep the shop open to accommodate all the customers for whom the Christmas Spirit also came late! Christmas Eve is all about the cold cuts – for my mother, being German, Christmas Eve was the real ‘Christmas’ – I even remember that we would clip actual candles onto the branches of the tree! Really…how stupid were our parents? And on the dining table would be all the cold cut trimmings – gravalax, hams, sausages, pate’s, a sort of Germanic Smorgasbord. Copious quantities of champagne flowed and of course the ubiquitous bottle of sherry to keep grandma from falling asleep and snoring and worse. Christmas morning was just about cleaning up from the night before, gathering all the wrapping paper and sorting out which pieces could be used again next year, looking to see if there were any unopened presents that would keep the spirit of receiving still alive, then Christmas Dinner. A spread of rich meats and gravy slathered vegetables and all the trimmings – usually a rib roast, sometimes a goose, never lasagna or spaghetti Bolognese. And then Boxing Day, that wonderful British invention that allowed everyone to take another day off in the name of Royalty. For those who don’t know the tradition, the Royal Palaces were always open on Christmas Day since the King or Queen invariably had friends over for a glass of port or two. The poor staff, throughout the Kingdom had to work whilst everyone else enjoyed the Spirit of Christmas, so one day the King of the land decided to reward his staff by giving them a shilling (or something of equal or lesser value!) in a box on the day after Christmas when they weren’t so busy. And so it became Boxing Day. For us of course, who didn’t work in the Royal Palaces it just meant another day off – which was good for the citizens of the land. And so we cooked again on Boxing Day.
Of course, as we got older we embellished these good traditions by adding large quantities of booze. In order of age we probably started off with lager, a few years later we progressed to pints of ale, older still we might have had jug wines of Barefoot and other delicacies (Gallo and Yellow Tail spring to mind) and then, once we were fully ensnared in the whole Spirit thing we finally laid out large quantities of good wine. Very often there was nothing better and more enjoyable than opening a gift that looked like a bottle, or a box that was filled with bottles and indeed, since the Christmas Spirit lasted three days, to receive a bottle on Christmas Eve, followed by more on Christmas Day followed by even more on Boxing Day was the true light of Christmas. And I hope that you will all ponder this idea as we head into Christmas – if the spirit hasn’t touched you yet, come into the store and we’ll see if we can’t help it along; and if we can’t find your spirit, not to worry, we have lots of them in the store – brandy, cognac, Armagnac, calvados, Marc de Bourgogne, single malt, aged malt, straight, bent, crooked – you name it, we probably have it.
This may also be helpful. Assuming that you are going to prepare three days/nights of festivities I have put together some suggestions and pairings for foods you may cook.
For Christmas Eve – usually quite a gentle meal, cold cuts, smoked salmon, maybe a tub of Caviar depending on where on Wall Street you work; but generally a relaxed sort of food night. Champagne is always a good start. It’s a pick-me-up, hell if the Italians hadn’t called their favorite dessert Tiramisu I would have suggested renaming champagne, tiramisu (Italian for pick-me-up). We have some lovely ones at the shop – the Billecart Salmon Rosé – still one of the greatest champagnes ever; less expensive but really good is the Billiot Rosé. We have Gaston Chiquet, one of my favorite tiny producers, in big magnum sizes (Vintage 2000 Magnum), we have the absolutely beautiful Pierre Gimonet 2004 Special Club Brut champagne and we have plenty of the Cristal look-alike bottle from Vranken, owners of Pommery, Heidsieck and Desmoiselle champagne houses, at the very affordable price of $40.00 – that’s a $15 discount to the street price. For the rest of the evening you really don’t have to pour anything else, just keep the champagne flowing – but maybe this year pretend that you had never heard of Veuve-Cliquot, or pretend that you just want a better champagne; one that isn’t charging you for all those little yellow travel boxes or is free to the bling bling set!
For Christmas Day – Personally I would start with some more Champagne, maybe a Prosecco if I felt that I had overdone the expense account the night before. But as the day draws on and the aromas from the kitchen become more intoxicating I would move into California possibly. On the table I would pre-open a bottle or two of our new Hunnicut Zinfandel (266 cases produced from Kirke Venge – son of the legendary Nils Venge, Venge Winery, and partner Justin Stephens of D.R. Stephens renown). It’s from the Moskowite Ranch in Eastern Napa and has that lovely bright cherry, strawberry and cinnamon pie crust flavor. This isn’t one of those typical, in your face, mushed up fermented fruit and grain spirit sort of zin. It’s good zin! Whilst that’s breathing I might hang around a bottle of our latest find from Sleight of Hand’s Trey Busch (possibly the most exciting new wine-maker to hit the grape scene this year), his Levitation Syrah. It comes from the Les Collines and Lewis vineyards, is aged in barrel for 18 months and tastes of roasted meats, raspberries, purple fruit – delicious. This is also the time to bring out some really good, as opposed to just boring, chardonnays. I don’t usually go for the ‘lift the skirt’ bare all, oaky, buttery, vanilla infused Californian chards, but there are some that I would gladly accept in the Spirit of receiving – Frank Family Chardonnay or even the slightly richer, Davis Family Chardonnay. For those who, like me, do prefer the more complex chardonnays I would suggest my newest find (at an absurd price), the Clos du Chateau Puligny Montrachet from Chateau de Puligny Montrachet – it’s from the great 2007 vintage and costs a mere $34.00. Higher in the food chain you could sip on Roger Lassarat’s famed Clos de France Tres VV Pouilly Fuisse; an almost sublime chardonnay that is one of the few that I might decide to decant before drinking. (2008 – $42.00). And if the caviar really is coming out then slip on over to Bernard Moreau Chassagne Montrachet 2008 – subtle and creamy in texture, flavors of lime, white peach and red berries, unctuous levels of waxy juice just make this a standout of Burgundian chardonnay from this great vintage. (2008 – $67.00)
For Boxing Day – Read above…I would start with some more champagne. Boxing Day was usually about the ham – roasted with cloves and honey and lashings of rum infused pineapple juice. It was also a day to snack on all the leftovers from the prior festivities. With this in mind I’m more in favor of going over to some pinot noirs. In the US camp I would favor our Thanksgiving favorite – the Norton Ridge, but others may decide to go out on a limb and pick up some of my favorite Californian Pinot – Road 31 (the one I found at a trade show in the fall and chose as the best pinot from all the tastings). Failing to entice with the Californian pinots, head over to France and pick up some Burgundians – Frederick Mugnier’s Nuit Saint George is to die for (and your bank manager probably will). Or closer to a reality price check, try the Chateau de la Malatroye Chassagne Montrachet rouge or the even better valued Dominque Laurent Nuit Saint George at $61.00
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Whatever you choose to pair with whatever food you are eating, get into the Christmas Spirit now and open some wine. Have a wonderfully debauched time, be safe, do not drink and drive – please, and may all your gifts be bottles of wine wrapped in our trademark gold tissue, with the Wine at Five oval sticker artfully placed on the front!
All good cheer from all of us at Wine at Five
Cai, Marina and Bruno
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