I missed my wine blog last Saturday. I was home visiting my parents for Christmas and they don’t have Internet services so I spent 10 days disconnected. That’s a different feeling. I’m doing this wine blog a few days early because this is the last day of 2015. Tomorrow we embark on another new year full of hope opportunity and great wine. I’d like to take this moment to wish all my readers a very happy new year. And I’d like to share with you some of my favorite wines from 2015 .
I’m going to start with this fantastic wine that I recently tried for the first time while visiting Newfounfland. From Dry Creek Vineyard in Sonoma county Napa Valley comes the Heritage Vines Zinfandel 2012 edition. This well-balanced beauty has great tannins, good structure, lots of great fruit and a persistent finish. I had it twice while I was in Newfoundland and enjoyed it as much the second time as I did the first. To all my friends in Newfoundland at $35 a bottle, this is a great wine to bring in 2016!
I think this was one of the best values I found in 2015. I absolutely love this wine and I love the fact that you can drink it any night of the week guilt free. At $15 a bottle, this Spanish wine is a steal. It is easy to drink, delicious, fruit forward and very food friendly. It was one of my favorite finds from the past year and I always have a bottle in my wine rack.
I went to an Italian wine show in the spring of 2015 and this was one of my favorites from that show. The 2011 Toscana IGT is A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese from the Chianti region of Italy. Another beautifully structured wine with rich flavors of cherries, cedar and tobacco. A great wine to go along with any meat dish you were serving.
This years Nova 7 from Benjamin Bridge right here in Nova Scotia was another favorite of mine from 2015. A hint of sweetness on the palate and crisp citrus and tropical fruit flavours, a great wine that I enjoyed with appetizers, salads and I also enjoyed it on the patio all summer long! Originally designed to be the perfect seafood complement, since I’m allergic I will have to take their word for it! LOL
I think this was my favorite new Merlot that I found in 2015. The Seven Falls Merlot from Washington state was a ripe and juicy wine with notes of smoke and mocha. A true winner at $25 a bottle.
I’m going to feature two wines because they are both Beringer wines and they both top my list of favorites from 2015. The first one is the Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This exceptionally vibrant Cabernet with notes of vanilla and smoke is my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s cousin, the Paso Robles Waymaker red wine is a blend of mostly Syrah grapes with some Cabernet Sauvignon for structure. Paso Robles is a warmer area of California so the wine tends to be richer in the glass. A great wine for a winter barbecue.
And my favorite white wine of 2015 was this beautiful Sancerre from France. Crisp and refreshing with delicious citrus notes, this 100% Sauvignon Blanc is not only a great way to ring in the new year, chances are it will go deliciously with anything you’re planning on serving!
Last year I made the pledge that I would try at least one new wine a week and share it with you! I am proud to say that is one resolution I kept for 52 weeks. Because there were at least 52 new wines, I had many to choose from as my favorites from 2015.
Wishing all of you a very happy prosperous 2016! Here’s to discovering more great wines in the coming year!
Cheers
Darlene
Wine-It’s Just My Opinion 