Crypto News: Do they know it's (OK to drink rosé at) Christmas?

Hi there, it's Elin McCoy, Bloomberg's wine critic.

I'm pleased to report I've recovered from flipping through my tasting notebooks to pick the most compelling, memorable wines of the year, and zeroing in on those that are bargains. It was intense and time-consuming, but I had fun tasting a few of them again just to be sure.

Now I'm ready to party, and am fixated on my favorite end-of-year topic: what to pour for the holidays.

I picked out the 50 best wines under $50, which includes these delightful sparklers, which are perfect for the yearend festivities. Source: Vendors

If harvest season (the topic of my last newsletter) is all about making wine, this season is the ultimate time to enjoy it. That means pulling out my best and most interesting bottles, like those in my Top 10 and others almost as fabulous to share at traditional family celebrations and to indulge as the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve.

What I choose to pour, of course, depends on the occasion and who's coming. Parties at my house aren't just free-for-alls. I do have rules, after all. (See below.)

But let's start with what to drink when gift wrapping, or when sitting by the fire as the snow falls outside with while listening to Christmas music, from the classics (Handel's Messiah) to the smooth (Ella Fitzgerald's Winter Wonderland) to the retro (Elvis's Blue Christmas). My ideal wine is a rich, tangy, aged tawny port, like the just-launched, spicy-sweet Sandeman 50-year-old with notes of caramelized fruit; or, if I really want to splurge, Taylor's new, complex yet subtle Very Very Old Tawny.

My top 10 bottles of the year ranged in price from $35 to $35,000. Cheers! Illustration: María Medem

My family's main holiday tradition is focused on Christmas Eve, with recipes from my Swedish grandmother—she grew up in Gränna, the town where candy canes were invented. My smorgasbord table includes tiny meatballs, gravlax, pickled herring and cucumbers, ham with mustard sauce, rice pudding and lingonberries, and much more. Over the years, we've made additions (for vegetarians) and jettisoned others, like lutefisk (don't ask), which I have always loathed.

Matching wine is tricky, so the drinks are potent Swedish glögg and reasonably priced sparkling wine or Champagne, like those in my annual 50 under $50. (For kids, it's cranberry juice with seltzer.) No Swedish vin yet, but wine grapes are now thriving there because of climate change, so perhaps one day.

Christmas Day dinner leans toward my family's British side: turkey and Bordeaux-style reds, with everyone snapping Christmas crackers to access the flimsy paper crowns inside. Yes, we wear them and look ridiculous.

When it comes to holiday entertaining, don't stop with wine. Experiment with a wide variety of alcoholic—and nonalcoholic—tipples! Source: Vendors

This year I'll pour new and old: 2017 Retrato por Jean-Claude, a stunning new Argentine cabernet blend crafted by Jean-Claude Berrouet, former winemaker of Chateau Petrus; Chateau Lafite Rothschild's brand-new third wine, 2018 Anseillan; and the rich, suave 2010 La Conseillante, a grand Pomerol.

And finally, New Year's Eve. One of the best parties I ever attended was at a house with an indoor swimming pool surrounded by red and green candles that gave a shimmery glow as we danced. Individual blue and pink mini bottles of Pommery's Pop champagne, complete with straws, sat in big tubs of ice.

But during the pandemic, my husband and I watched the Metropolitan Opera's New Year's Eve Gala virtually and drank great Champagne from our own cellar, a tradition we've vowed to continue. This year we'll open a silky-textured 2012 Rare Rosé Millesime and drink to peace in Ukraine and to every one of us being kinder and more tolerant in 2023.

Connect with Elin on her website or via Instagram.

An employee of Chateau De La Tour participates in the wine harvest not far from Chateau du Clos de Vougeot (back) in Vougeot, Burgundy. Despite a tough year globally for the wine harvest, Burgundian producers are optimistic about quality. Photographer: Jeff Pachoud/AFP

At the end of the year I also like to take stock of the wine stories that most intrigued or surprised me and the ones that suggested which regions, bottles and topics I should explore next. The eclectic mix below reflects my fascination with every part of the wine world. In 2023, I'm most looking forward to visiting to Burgundy's new Cité des Climats et Vins de Bourgogne, opening in Beaune, Chablis and Macon next spring.

Tasting wine in extreme locations, like Antarctica, can affect the way you see the world.

Natural wine finds an unexpected home in bars and nightclubs.

These are the Bordeaux innovators I'll be watching next year.

Everything you want to know about trendy hybrid grapes.

The ongoing saga of why old vines are important, covered deeply.

Choosing the wines for the White House State Dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec. 1 was a highly diplomatic process. Three American wines are always poured, but these also have a French connection: Roederer Estate Brut Rosé; Napa's Newton Unfiltered chardonnay (LVMH owns the winery); and Sonoma's Anakota cabernet, whose winemaker is French.

In New Mexico, Vara Winery & Distillery is experimenting with blends, both Old and New World, while others still prize single vineyard wines. Source: Vendors

I'm more flexible, but I, too, have my rules:

Yes, you should serve rosé, even when snow is three feet deep. Face it: Pink wine is now a year-round thing, and the color looks festive in a glass.
Provide nonalcoholic wines for the ever-growing number of mindful teetotalers. Two attractive ones: Cordorniu Zero Brut Cava sparkler; Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Riesling.
Everyone, especially me, loves the generous spirit of big bottles, whether magnums, double magnums or jeroboams.
Bubbly is essential, and not just for New Year's Eve. Well-priced party fizz now comes from everywhere, even Armenia. The Roederer Brut rosé served to Macron is a yummy, creamy-textured choice.
For whites, zippy New Zealand sauvignon blanc can't be beat for the price. For a red, I'll go with the 2016 Ronan by Clinet, a fruity merlot-dominant Bordeaux from Pomerol star Chateau Clinet, which you can find for as little as $13 a bottle.

The year's top wine books

First, two essential guides. In the third edition of The Wine Bible, renowned expert Karen MacNeil brings her lively, entertaining one-volume tour de force up to date. To understand natural wine and the culture around it, The World of Natural Wine by Aaron Ayscough is a must-read.

Two memoirs remind me how much wine has the power to connect us with humanity and the Earth. Encounters with a serial killer and one with singer-songwriter Nina Simone are two of the captivating tales in To Fall in Love, Drink This, by natural wine expert Alice Feiring. Drinking with the Valkyries: Writings on Wine by Andrew Jefford is a brilliant collection of essays that impress with their wisdom and quiet poetry.

On Champagne, edited by Susan Keevil, compiles articles on the most famous holiday drink from a variety of writers including Evelyn Waugh, Jay McInerney and yours truly.

The Wine Conversation podcast

Listening to conversations with the wine world's most interesting personalities gives me surprising insights into the lives of those behind the wines you drink. That's why I love podcasts and have had so much fun interviewing people for this one. My latest was with Bruno Borie, owner of Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, a noted chef and contemporary art collector, for the series Great Wine Lives.

Perfume and terroir

I never thought perfume could evoke a geographic place the way wine does until I discovered Aria di Sicilia, a line of 12 fragrances that aim to do just that, at a shop in the city of Noto. Right now, I'm loving No. 4, Mare delle Eolie, which smells like sea spray on a summer beach on the Aeolian islands. All are shipped only in Europe. On my next visit I'm loading up.

Here are some answers! Whatever the topic, keep them coming for next week via our Bloomberg Pursuits Instagram and e-mail.

If you've cooked a steak to perfection, don't ruin it with the wrong wine. Photographer: zoranm/E+

Is Champagne or sparkling wine the best all-purpose wine you can bring to a dinner party?

Yes. Here's why. Unless it's an everybody-bring-a-bottle dinner, chances are your hosts have already picked out the reds and whites they want to serve. A bottle of bubbly won't intrude on their plan—it can be popped open alongside cocktails or aperitifs. And if they do want to pour it with dinner, fizz goes with just about everything. The rosé version is even good with red meat.

If not, it can be a very nice gift for them to enjoy later. Whatever, it's a win.

Have you ever drunk a bag-in-box wine you liked?

Yes, many. The first attractive one was From the Tank red, made from organic grapes by natural wine importers Jenny & Francois and a winery in the Rhone valley. It's still good.

My favorites are produced by artisanal wineries who've added a 3-liter boxed version to their lineup, though they're more expensive than big brands. Many more good ones will be coming next year.

Sonoma's Ryme Cellars makes a savory, refreshing Malbec Rosé packaged in a 3-liter box. Check out Tablas Creek winery's red, white and rosé Patelin de Tablas. Test runs of the boxed versions sold out in hours. Get your name on the list for 2023.

New York-based importer Wineberry partners with French wineries on bag-in-box wines (the box is wood). Try the Wineberry Chateau du Chatelard Beaujolais.

What are the most underrated wine regions in the US?

I'd pick two: First, Washington state. The second-largest wine-producing state in the US has about 1,000 wineries. Yet despite the quality of the wines, especially cabernet sauvignon and syrah, it's still in the shadow of California and Oregon. Top names are hard to find. My two bargains: DeLille Cellars D2 merlot/cabernet blend for $40 and certified biodynamic Hedges Family Estate Red Mountain cabernet blend for $30.

Next up: Michigan, with 4,000 acres of more than 50 varieties of wine grapes. Best bets are rieslings and sparkling wines from the area around Traverse Bay, and Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas. Try those from Left Foot Charley.

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