Wine

The miracle of Christmas spirit shows itself in many ways; silent Santa gift drops, letters of thanks to deployed military personnel, turkey dinners for folks who need a good dinner and Christmas bonuses.

Even little acts of kindness register on the spirit scale. Holding the door for a present-endowed shopper, holding the door for a well-endowed shopper and lighting trees along your sidewalk. Who would have thought the birth of Jesus would have such strange and wonderful repercussions?

For that matter, who would have thought that wine, made from grapes, would taste like cherries, apples, peaches, pears, raspberries, blackberries, plums and grapefruit? It is no stranger than having a fat guy with a white beard dressed in a Belgium barmaid dress with fuzzy tights ceremoniously violating our chimney space in pursuit of cookies and warm milk.

We could turn this into a scientific discussion about flavors and chemical formulas, but I’d prefer to drink my eggnog and open my presents. I’ll touch on some of the different types of wine that might just taste like your favorite fruit.

Cherries have good acidity, with a bright intense flavor. Other fruits that might resemble cherries are pomegranate, rhubarb and cranberry. Pinot Noir will usually taste like cherries, sometimes even like black cherries! Sangiovese, the grape most often associated with Chianti, is also a good source for cherry-flavored wines. Tempranillo is also a good source of cherry-flavored reds. Rose and Sparkling Rose made with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Grenache. Some wines will taste like Cherry Coke, Cherry pie, Cherry pit and Cherry liqueur. Yummy.

Apples and pears also have high acidity, and their flavors are echoed in dry wines from cooler climates. Crisp Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc will often offer these fruits in varying doses. Don’t be surprised to find some peach, lemon and lime flavors as well. When Chardonnay is aged in new oak, it often obliterates many of the lighter fruit flavors, leaving only the hardiest traces of lemon, ripe apple and sometimes fig. German Rieslings offer these same flavors in a not-so-dry style I find delectable.

Grapefruit lovers live on easy street when it comes to finding wines echoing flavors of their favorite fruit. Sauvignon Blanc makes wines with zip, and power. Expect to find the most intense grapefruit flavors from New Zealand, while the Loire Valley gives a good dose of grapefruit with an underlying minerality. Warmer vintages will lean towards ruby red, while cooler vintages will revel in pink and yellow grapefruit.

Blueberries, packed with iron and vitamin C, offer an intensity and sweetness new world winemakers love to emulate. Blueberry flavors often share palate space with black cherry, raspberry, blackberry and plum. Look for high alcohol wines made from Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Shiraz, Grenache and Cab Franc. Now that I think about it, I love all the wines in the blueberry category.

Blackberry enthusiasts only need to know the name of one grape; Cabernet Sauvignon. The flavors might stray to raspberry, plum and cherry, but blackberry is almost always right there in the middle of it. Much like mistletoe adorns a mantel, hints of mint, eucalyptus or menthol often add the finishing touch to a blackberry flavored Cab.

Regardless of your favorite fruit, make sure to put aside one special day during the holidays to share a special bottle of wine with a loved one. After all, without loved ones to share it with, the hustle and bustle of Christmas would be a nice bottle of vino without a glass to drink it in.

Contact Matt Devan at wineguy@lagniappemobile.com.

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