22 affordable wines for holiday entertaining or gift giving

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The holidays are just around the corner and, for many, that means gift-giving or in-home entertaining.

Our gift to you is an intriguing list of affordable wines for entertaining and an equal number of stellar wines you can wrap up and gift with the confidence that they will never be re-gifted.

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The real art of gift-giving is to match up taste, style and, most significant, the cost for each person on your gift list. It takes a bit of work but, with a little research and some help from a talented salesperson, you should be able to match the right bottle to the right person.

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Keep in mind that you should only spend what you can afford.

The following guide is themed for gift-giving, but as mentioned, consider some the perfect pick for entertaining at home.

Big, rich and red

This is a favourite wine style for many, especially in the fall and winter. The go-to grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, malbec and shiraz or any red blend that contains some mix of any of these grapes. Think California, Australia, Chile or Argentina and spend $25-$50.

• Giant Steps 2021 Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley $43.99

• Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone Valley, France $46.99

• Penfolds 2019 Shiraz Bin, South Australia $48.99

Earth-friendly picks

These are for the vegetarian/vegan/health-conscious crowd that demands wines made with little or no intervention, grown organic, biodynamic, wild-fermented and with no animal products.

• La Jara N/V Prosecco Brut Biologico, Veneto, Italy $22.99

• Mouton Cadet x Mathilde 2022 Rosé, Bordeaux, France $21.99

• Domaine de Cébène 2017 Les Bancèls, Faugères, Languedoc, France $33.99

• Emiliana 2018 Coyam, Valle del Colchagua, Chile $35.99

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Wines for a sparkling occasion

These are all the rage, so it is a must to have a bottle or two in the refrigerator that you can pull out at any time. Here is a trio you can serve at your whim — all of them taste better with food.

• Evolve N/V Pink Effervescence, Okanagan Valley $21.99

• Blue Mountain Brut 20219 Rosé R.D. Méthode Traditionelle, Okanagan Valley $39.90

• Garnet Valley Ranch 2016 Traditional Method Sparkling, Summerland, B.C. $49.99

• Champagne Pierre Paillard N/V Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru XVIII, France $80.99

Gifts for the host

Host gifts are always a challenge. If you are thinking about a wine gift, consider what you might spend on flowers or chocolates and use that as a guide. If you know the style of wine your hosts prefer, let that be your lead, but do consider something on the edge of their comfort system.

• Taylor Fladgate 2016 Late Bottled Vintage, Douro Valley, Portugal $26.99

• Bottega N/V Rosé Gold Brut, Veneto, Italy $34.99

• Tantalus 2022 Rosé, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $29.99

Wines with a sense of place

These bottles are best given to the curious drinker, but you don’t have to be a wine geek to explore terroir. You only require an open mind and a sense of discovery.

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• Gérard Bertrand 2019 An 1886 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Les Aspres Côtes du Roussillon Villages $27.

• Clos de los Siete 2018, Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina $29.99

• Descendientes de J. Palacios 2018 Pétalos Mencia (Jaen), Bierzo $37.99

• Freemark Abbey 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California $88.99

Sweet endings

These abound at Christmas events, so a bottle or two of sweet or fortified wine on standby, ready to open, is a good thing. Serve solo or with dessert or with a fireplace and a book.

• Chateau Dereszla 2017 Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos, Hungary $52.99 (500ml)

• Mission Hill 20216 Riesling Icewine Reserve 2016, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia $46.99 (375ml)

• Penfolds Grandfather Rare Port, South Australia $67.99

• Taylor Fladgate 2016 Vintage Port, Douro Valley, Portugal $149.99

Weekend wine picks

Bottega Gold Prosecco Spumante Brut N/V, Treviso, Verona, Veneto, Italy

$30.00 I 89/100

UPC: 8005820230333

Bottega Gold is distinctively decked out in its baked-on gold packaging, but do not let its shiny exterior throw you off; the wine is as impressive as its packaging. The fruit is all glera from the hills of the Treviso DOCG region in the Veneto. It gets a lengthy primary ferment with some important lees contact before it undergoes a secondary ferment via the Charmat tank process. Its 10-12 grams of residual sugar gives its peachy, pear and melon fruit a ripe demeanour that is quickly balanced off by its lightly fizzy palate. It is a perfect holiday wine to serve with appetizers and drop-in guests.

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Poggio Civetta Governo all’Uso Toscano Sangiovese — Cabernet Sauvignon 2020, Tuscany, Italy

$29.99 I 89/100

UPC: 08027603005395

The first thing you notice about this wine is its luscious, ripe, almost sweet fruit character. It results from “Governo,” a Tuscan winemaking process where grapes are left to dry on the vine and added to the fermented wine to re-ferment a second time. It begins with a boisterous nose of ripe Bing cherries mixed with licorice and forest floor notes. Similar flavours mark the palate with a streak of dark chocolate and umami notes. Silky, smooth, and open with generous but soft tannins, his red has a lot of curb appeal — a delicious red best with rich dishes like osso buco or mushroom risotto.

Torres Purgatori 2020, Costers del Segre, Catalunya, Spain

$51.99 I 92/100

UPC: 8410113007476

Expect a soft, inviting nose of smoky blueberries, pipe tobacco, and ground coffee. The attack is dense, the tannins sweet, and the textures smooth and long. More black fruits with a twist of forest floor, medium acidity, and spice finish off an attractive red for the dinner table. You can drink this now, and any grilled meat dish would be perfect, especially lamb. As for the name Purgatori, the Torres family found an ancient building adorned with the shield of the Abbey of Montserrat, who sent less than motivated monks to the area to grow olives and vineyards.

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Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny Port 2022, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia

$67.99 I 94/100

UPC: 012354071544

The Grandfather moniker refers to the age of the oldest Tawny in the blend, which was launched in 1915. Each subsequent vintage supplied best-of-the-year varietal batches aged individually in seasoned oak casks before blending at the 14-year mark. This blend is then introduced into the “Grandfather Solera” over six stages designed to integrate all components, leaving a minimum average age of 20 years. Some 13 varieties have made their way into Grandfather, but the backbone of the blend is shiraz, Grenache, mataro and cabernet. In all, 44 vintages from 1960 to 2004 are in the current bottling. The colour is a mix of tawny walnut brown with green edges. The nose mixes buttery, rancio, nutty notes mixed with caramel, vanilla, sweet raisins and brown spice. It has a rich, sweet, supple texture, pitching licorice fruitcake, toffee and orange peels perfectly balanced. This is a top-quality bottle of fortified wine and certainly one of the best made outside Spain or Portugal.

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Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Napa Valley, California, United States

$179.99 I 97/100

UPC: 00080696324444

Georges de Latour Private Reserve cab is back in a big way. The opening is wonderfully fragrant with plenty of dark, ripe, black raspberry, red currant, and black cherry aromas streaked with dried herbs and mint. The style is far more nuanced, with layers of black fruit flavours and oak that support but never intrude. The finale is a supple Rutherford dust affair that goes on for minutes. It’s surprisingly drinkable now, but its best days are a decade down the road and beyond. Kudos to winemaker Trevor Durling for bringing this iconic label back to life. The grapes come off the finest Cabernet Sauvignon vines located on the western bench of the Rutherford AVA in BV Ranches No. 1 and No. 2, originally planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. This would be an excellent gift for a collector.

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