5 Cold Weather Wines To Cuddle With 

We are not used to cold weather in Southwest Florida and this week temperatures were 20 degrees below average in most areas. Before those temps start to climb again, here are 5 cold weather wines to cuddle with for Wine Wednesday. It's not just the fact that these wines are big, bold and have warm qualities to their smell and taste. It's also because of the food that compliments them. When it gets cold, many people cook comfort foods that have lots of flavor and structure. Bigger wines tend to match those foods well. Let's pop some corks on reds from around the world but remember that the wine itself should not be warm. A slight chill allows you taste more of the subtleties, not just alcohol. Enjoy These 5 Cold Weather Wines To Cuddle With This Week. There is no way I can do a piece on wines to cuddle with and not include a Napa cabernet. I recently opened a 2021 Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa and it was ripe and ready to drink. Frank Family Cabernet is a great example of a well-made Napa cab. On one hand it is like a plush blanket. On the other it is robust handshake. Put the two hands together and you have a well-balanced wine that can age or be consumed right away. Cold Weather Wines From Argentina Icon Rock Cabernet Sauvignon is a new brand from Uco Valley in Argentina. The winery actually has three tiers of wines and they only recently arrived in the United States. Icon Rock Cabernet Sauvignon has those nice herbal elements you might expect from cabernet grapes grown in this area of Argentina. It has lots of cherry and is a wine that needs time to open to fully express itself. Decant it before your meal if possible. $23 Cold Weather Wines From Italy Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo is a great food wine from Italy. It's packaging looks as inviting as the wine itself tastes. I recently had a bottle of Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo with friends who were turning out a variety of homemade pizzas from their wood burning oven. The wine's structure, fruit and acid were a great compliment to red sauce, creamy mozzarella, spicy meats and garlic. Under $20 Cold Weather Wines From France Last week I went to Miami to meet winemaker Dominique Arangoits from Cos d'Estournel. We tasted through four of his wines from Bordeaux, France. G was one of my favorites. No, not because it is the first letter of my name, therefore MY wine. But that didn't hurt either. G D'Estournel is a Bordeaux blend consisting of mostly merlot followed by cabernet sauvignon and 1% cabernet franc. The aromatics are beautiful. It's full of dark fruit and dark berries with a touch of violets and spice. $40 range One More Cold Weather Wines Finally, 2018 Mettler Petite Sirah comes from Lodi, California. First of all, there is nothing "petite" about the wine, just the grapes. Mettler is not one of those mass produced wines and I've always enjoyed what they do. Mettler Petite Sirah is rich and delicious. It has notes of aromatic pipe tobacco,dark chocolate covered dried cherries, and dark fruit. It fits the definition of cold weather wines to cuddle with. $25 Side note. Mettler's current vintage of petite sirah is 2020. The new vintage is still in the cold weather wines category. Here are the tasting notes from the winery: "This is a big wine with dark inky color and big tannin finish. Black licorice notes on the nose and black pepper spice on the palate. The dark fruit rounds out the spice and the finish is very dry. This wine is complex and would benefit from some age as it will continue to evolve."  Prices may vary from those listed. Drink responsibly.