Holiday suggestions from a wine guru
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James Suckling / Courtesy of James Suckling
By Yun Suh-young
It’s that time of the year when we are booked with year-end parties and meetings with friends, family and business clients.
Not to be missed on the dinner table is wine, a mandatory item for celebrating the year’s end.
But for the average Joe, finding a perfect wine for the occasion is a big difficulty, especially when all you know are the basic differences between red, white, rose wine and champagne.
James Suckling, a renowned wine critic who now operates his own wine website (jamessuckling.com), gave advice for selecting wines for year-end celebrations upon his recent visit to Seoul. Suckling worked for 30 years as a wine journalist for the Wine Spectator, the largest-circulation wine publication in the United States.
Wine by occasion
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve (93 points) “You have to have lots of Champagne for the holidays. This is dry and refined.”
Laurent-Perrier Brut Rose (92 points) “Pink Champagne is always festive and works with food. It’s fruity and delicious.”
Errazuriz Chardonnay Aconcagua Coast 2013 (91 points) “A fresh, lively white from Chile. Good before and during dinner.”
Montes Valle de Colchagua Purple Angle 2012 (95 points) “One of Chile’s legendary reds. Rich and flavorful.”
Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Don Melchor 2010 (96 points) “Chile’s answer to great Bordeaux. Fine Cabernet.”
For general holiday celebrations, he recommended that champagne should do much of the work.
“Christmas is a festive time having fun being with friends and family,” he said. “You have to drink champagne because it’s the most festive wine that’s made. Champagne is always the great drink to celebrate something.”
He also recommended champagne as the best choice for romantic dining out, adding that he opened a bottle of Dom Perignon 2004 for his wedding anniversary.
“For business meetings, you want to make an impression so you want to serve wines that have a reputation, are known internationally and have a story. So this would probably mean expensive wine because it has to be recognized,” said Suckling.
Expensive wines aren’t always great but they’re generally better than inexpensive wines, he says.
“A lot of times, really expensive wines have fantastic quality with long history or high reputations. Opus One of California could be a choice because people will say they’ve heard about this Californian wine. Sena from Chile is also well known here.”
For family gatherings, he recommended bringing wines that you’d like to drink.
“For general selections, I’d probably choose some Chilean wines,” he said.
Wine for beginners
Chilean wines are “a good place to start” for beginners, according to Suckling.
“Of them, begin with the whites — try Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and then explore in that area. For reds, try Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir and move from there. After that, move to France and other regions and try wines of a variety.”
When asked what we should look for when choosing wine, Suckling suggested looking at the brands if you’re starting out.
“Brands such as Concha y Toro from Chile, Errazuriz and Santa Rita for instance. If you like the Cabernet, the Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, then try a couple in the same category and find a style of wine you like and experiment. That’s how I learned about wine,” he said.
“It’s the experience — trying things and understanding what you like. You can use reviews as well if they’re by reputable people.”
Even light drinkers can easily approach wine and not fret about getting drunk because “wine is not about drinking.”
“It’s about the whole experience which brings people together,” says Suckling. “It’s actually against things like binge-drinking. When you drink wine, unlike other heavy alcohol, you discuss life and love with the people you drink with and develop a friendlier relationship with them.”
Pairing with food
Oftentimes when people are selecting wines for their meals, they become hung up about how well it would match with the food. Suckling, however, advises not to obsess over how to pair wine with meals.
“Rather than getting hung up about matching wine with food, just get a couple of whites or reds and let people try different things. It’s impossible to find a perfect pair with Korean food because there are so many different flavors on the table at the same time,” he said.
“Wine and food pairing doesn’t work in Asia. I eat Korean food every day — because my wife is Korean and a great cook — but I drink different wines. The concept of wine pairing is a Western concept where you focus on one dish. The way Asians eat food is much more dynamic.”
Still, he thinks that all Korean foods work well with Pinot Noir and he likes to drink Italian wines with Korean food.
“I think Korean food works well with wines that are not too high in alcohol and have a freshness — that generally means French, Italian and Chilean wines because some of the New World wines tend to have higher alcohol,” he said.
“Korean food is savory so you want a wine that makes your palate fresh which makes you want to eat.”