holly jolly holiday wines vol 1 luxe

rafael palacios is the youngest of 9 children born into a famous winemaking family from rioja. his brother alvaro achieved worldwide recognition for his wines produced in priorat and bierzo. rafa left rioja in 2004 for the green, atlantic influenced northwest to focus on white wine production using godello ("go day oh"), and he is considered one of the leading white wine producers in spain today. as quaffable and enjoyable as godello can be from valdeorras, it rarely reaches the level of richness, balance and complexity as it does in the hands of rafael palacios. louro, which means "blond", is made from 10-40-year-old godello (~90%) with some treixadura. it’s a delicious, textural wine with citrus and white floral notes and beautiful saline minerality!

yves’ wines are known as the ‘rolls royce’ of corsican wine, a reputation earned after nearly 30 years of making consistently elegant and sophisticated wines. raised in a small village in the heart of patrimonio, yves worked alongside his father in the vines and cellar at the earliest age he could. the leccias have been making wine from some of the finest terroirs of patrimonio for countless generations, and there was never the least doubt in yves’ mind that he would continue the tradition. leccia is corsican for oak, and the name is ironic if you look at yves’ wines, given that he’s never had his wine touch a single oak barrel and has never allowed wood to enter his cellar. this beautiful mineral driven red is made from grenache—called elegante in corsica— offering fragrant notes of lavender spiced with balmy mediterranean brush. a splash of the indigenous niellucciu completes the blend, adding some muscle to this savory, floral red.

cerbaiona was founded by retired alitalia pilot diego molinari in 1977. the winery has remained one of the most sought after and historically important brunello wineries from their very first bottling in the early '80s. the cerbaiona vineyard had been a legend for nearly 200 years but with the advent of the brunello docg it immediately began to shine on the world stage gaining cult status, sought after by collectors and connoisseurs. consistently listed in the top five by brunello collectors and critics alike, the secret to the success of cerbaiona was in the terroir and vineyard microclimate as well as the traditional interpretation in the cellar. the cerbaiona wines are very limited as the estate owns a mere 4 hectares of vines. this 100% sangiovese is lush, fruit driven and with a dusty earthiness.

carlisle is a small 'mom n' pop' producer in sonoma county. although owners mike and kendall officer have been making ‘garagiste’ wines for most of their life, the winery was not officially founded until 1998. the winery owns an estate in the russian river valley that has zinfandel vines that were planted in 1927, and they have become the unofficial soul of the winery. with the addition of winemaker jay maddox’s attention to detail, carlisle is producing some of its best old-vine zinfandel as well as focusing heavily on syrah, grenache, and mourvèdre that are opulent and characteristic to their specific vineyards. this wine is made from old vines planted between 1895 and 1922. it has crazy depth of flavor and is all about black fruits – blackberry, black cherry and mulberry – with notes of rich earth and black pepper this wine goes down way too easily!