About once a year at a wine event, one of my friends will say, “Have you ever heard that the French drink their wines too young, so a socialist government won’t take them. The English drink them too old, so they can show their friends cobwebs and dusty bottles. The American drink them exactly when they are ready, because they don’t know any better.” Though I’ve heard the quote fifty times, it makes me laugh every time.
Why, you say, should you care? It is because we recently did one of our tastings at GiftTree and we tasted two amazing aged fine wines that are drinking perfectly. We only have a few bottles of each left, so snap them up quickly. Your gift recipient will be glad you did.
First, is the Vérité La Joie – the 2006 from Sonoma County is absolutely delicious. This Bordeaux blend from California demonstrates the perfect tension between smooth tannins and the nuance of the renowned winemaker Pierre Seillan. Vérité was built at a partnership between the late, renowned Jess Jackson and the Bordelais wine maker Seillan. Robert Parker has given La Joie 100 points on a few occasions. At GiftTree, our luxury wines like Vérité come with tasting notes cards, ensuring that your recipient will know how special the bottle they are receiving is. Please ask your recipient to tell me how they liked it… I completely adored this wine and hope they do, too.
Second top wine on this list is Lokoya Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. OMG. I had to stand and do miniature happy dance when I tasted this 
wine last month. The buxom tannin, floral nose and unctuous mouthfeel made for one of those quintessential California Cabernet moments of joy. The winemaker said when this wine was bottled that the “Satiny tannins yield on the palate, yet will fully reward cellaring.” Winemaker Chris Carpenter seems like he has one of the coolest jobs on earth making wine for Lakoya, La Jota and Cardinale (another favorite here at GiftTree). If your recipient does a happy dance, I want the video.
Both of these wines are part of our Fine Wine Program at GiftTree. You can send them in one of our luxury boxes, wine vases, chillers or in a gift basket like our Sand Hill Road Luxury Wine Basket. And every keepsake basket in our luxury collection is filled to the brim with an abundance of gourmet and artisan fare, perfectly paired by our sommeliers to complement the fine wine that you choose to include.
Now that I’m a 50-something American, I like to think that I’m drinking my wine when they are just right; perhaps because I don’t know any better. In Vino Veritas. I hope you agree.
