One of my favorite things during December, besides work and the actual holidays themselves, is the food and wine. We upgrade both, and it helps make the month more memorable.

 One of my favorite things during the month of January, oddly, is that we come back down to the ground, getting back to regular food and everyday wines. As wonderful as it may sound, I think I would become numb to the actual quality if I were to consume top flight wines all the time. Enjoying everyday wines is fun too, and it reminds you to appreciate the better wines even more when you do find a good reason to open them!

Some terrific everyday wines to try this month might include  Cave de Tavel Lirac “Les Acanthes” 2010.  Brad Lewis, our wine guru, reviewed this one in his January newsletter, commenting "We tasted this wine last June before Vinexpo and were impressed by the quality level for the price.  The blend is 45% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 15% Mourvèdre.  The high proportion of Syrah and Mourvèdre creates a wine with deep purple color, blackberry and spicy pepper notes, a richness in the middle that is rare at this strata and a bright, lively finish." At around $13, it's a good value.

Our Alliance wines--French red and white--blended by Brad Lewis with one of our French winery partners, are terrific Bordeaux values that are around $10 a bottle (750ml). The Alliance red is 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, with forward fruit of currant and plum with medium body and a balanced, round finish. The white is 72% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Sémillon, and 8% Muscadelle cold-fermented in stainless steel with no malolactic fermentation. It gets tropical fruit notes from the high percentage of Sauvignon Blanc, some roundness from the Semillon and a bit of flower in the aroma from the Muscadelle.

Shayne Hebert, Central Florida Wine Supervisor