As the holiday season approaches, Monthly reached out to certified sommelier Stephanie Skager of Rollers Wine & Spirits for some of her favorite wines of the season and what she’ll be sharing with her family at the dinner table this year. Here are a few choices that will surely help make the holidays special.
OYSTERMAN MUSCADET, LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE
This wine is a collaboration between Casey Davidson, who owns Charleston-based Toadfish Outfitters, which is dedicated to repairing and conserving coastal waterways, and Frederick Corriher, wine importer from Charleston. Corriher shared Davidson’s passion for the ocean, so he sought out winemakers Guy and Jean-Luc Olivier to make a wine to help the cause. Every bottle sold funds the planting of 10 square feet of oyster beds.
The wine is best with the holiday tradition, “The Feast of Seven Fishes,” as it pairs phenomenally with all-things seafood; it's also a lovely aperitif if your dinner plans bring you elsewhere.
MARY TAYLOR SAINT POURCAIN ROSE, LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE
Mary Taylor’s wines reflect her passion, intelligence, and level-headedness. She has worked with European wine for more than two decades and loves the nuance and diversity of Europe’s extraordinary wine regions, from the tiny villages of France and Italy, to the countryside vineyards of Portugal and Spain. She developed a label based on the “place name” or “appellation” which designated the geographical origin of the wine.
This 100 percent Gamay is aged five months on its lees in stainless steel tanks. It shows a light salmon-pink hue and reveals on-the-nose aromas of peach and apricot, along with hints of raspberries and rose petals.
Pair with a spicy or salty dish; holiday ham for example.
JOLIE-LAIDE GAMAY NOIR, SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA
Jolie-Laide is a one-man operation based in a Sebastopol winery. Winemaker Scott Schultz makes only 500 cases of wine a year under his own label. The name Jolie-Laide translates loosely to “Pretty-Ugly,” a French term of endearment to describe something that is unconventionally beautiful.
As beautiful on your table as in your glass, the Jolie-Laide wine labels feature a different artist every vintage. This year’s collection comes from Kate Scott, who takes raw scans of flowers that she then digitally paints pixel by pixel, capturing and magnifying detail often invisible to the naked eye.
This is a red that you can drink any day of the year, with or without food.
Pair it with a turkey this holiday season.
CARNEROS SPRINGS CABERNET SAUVIGNON, NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA
If there is a silver lining for the COVID-19 pandemic here it is. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is consistently excellent wine, but it takes a special skill bordering on art to source and blend these wines to make them truly exceptional. Often the top producers are caught with an excess of stock.
Carneros Springs Cabernet was made for a steakhouse chain in Texas, but since the pandemic hit they have not been able to move through the inventory they expected. With extra wine to sell and no storage for it, a broker approached a South Carolina distributor to help – and it is available at Rollers Wine & Spirits.
Drink up these fantastic, best of Napa Valley wines, while the opportunity is here.
Pairs with beef, but it would also be fantastic with lamb, venison, and hearty tomato sauce.
