I’m lucky to be able to taste a lot of excellent wines, and I love sharing recommendations. Let’s take a spin through some of my favorite sips of 2023. Some were samples, some were my own purchases. All are memorable! Ready? Let’s drink!

The Fancies: These are wines that are either hard to find, or hard to afford on the regular.

Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon – From one of the most historic wineries in Napa Valley (they go back to 1889!) high on the slopes of Mount Veeder comes some really special Cabernet Sauvignon. Upon release of each new vintage, they accompany it with a “sister wine” 10 years older – how cool is that? So I received the 2019 and also a bottle of 2009. I shared them with a friend at Tango Sur, the best BYO Argentine steakhouse in Chicago. Both wines were just gorgeous with cherry-plum compote, bay leaf, black olives, dried rose petals, baking spices, fresh sweet tobacco. A silken tide of fruit, spice and flowers just flows over your palate. The 2019 can be had for $195 and the 2009 for $300. Splurge if you can! #worthit

Nicolas Joly Les Vieux Clos Savennière – I will always remember the first time I tasted this: it was at Glunz Tavern with a wine friend and it blew my mind. Savennière is a small subregion of France’s Loire Valley and the wines are usually fuller-bodied than typical Loire Valley Chenin Blancs . Nicolas Joly farms biodynamically and you can taste it – the wines are slightly oxidized and can best be described as funky dried fruit bombs. I love this wine and when I found it on the list at Le Bouchon in Chicago on half-price bottle night, I ordered it immediately (was $155 regularly). So good with gougères or roast chicken.

Rodney Strong 2018 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon – I knew Rodney Strong mainly for their affordalicious, everyday wines, so I was eager to taste this “fancy” from them. My first impression: smells like money. Ripe blackberry, boysenberry, cassis, cigar box comes together around fine tannins and a plush texture. It begs for a steak, but what I had was extra-aged cheddar and that was a damn good pairing, too! It’s 79% Sonoma County suit, and 21% Alexander Valley fruit, and there’s just a hint of Petit Verdot added for balance. It’s freaking delicious. $60.

Bubbles!

Domaine Bousquet Organic Sparkling This family-run winery in Mendoza’s Uco Valley in Argentina can do no wrong! I swear, every single wine I taste from them is fantastic. And? Affordalicious. Also? Organic! (Bousquet is Argentina’s largest exporter of wines made from certified organic grapes.) They just launched two organic methode traditionnelle sparklers (that’s how Champagne is made; where the second fermentation happens in the bottle), a Brut and a Rosé Brut, and I loved them both. What I love about methode traditionnelle wines are the yeasty notes you get from that second in-bottle fermentation. These wines of course also offer exuberant fruit and excellent balance. And you guys: $18 each!

Champagne Palmer Brut Reserve I was introduced to this wine on a rainy Monday in August at a sushi restaurant on the north side of Chicago, and I fell in love. The wines are perfection and I love the story: seven wine-growing families who’d been selling fruit to other Champagne houses came together in 1947 and started their own Champagne House. They named it after a nearby bakery that had a leather English-sounding name, because back then, the Brits were buying the bubbly like no one else. Today, Champagne Palmer is making inroads in the U.S., and you can find Palmer Brut Reserve for about $50-$55. And you should.

Robert Hall 2021 Cavern Select Sparkling Grenache Blanc I mean – what? No one but Robert Hall would even think to make a sparkler out of Grenache Blanc and I am so glad he did! It’s divine! This is a great example of the innovation going on in Paso Robles these days. You get peachy and citrus notes on top of some lively yeast notes. This is made in the methode champenoise – aka methode traditionnelle, so again you get all the bread-y, yeasty yum-yums from this wine. And at $40, it’s an easy treat.

The Fun & Interesting: These are wines that bring a little surprise to the party and I loved each of them.

Quinta da Fonte Souto Red and White – The Symington Family rules the roost in Porto, up in the north of Portugal, and now they’ve put stakes down south in Alentejo, about 50 miles east of Lisbon. The Quinta da Fonte Souto winery is in Portalegre, a sub-region of Alentejo known for wines of intense minerality and concentrated fruit. Like most Portuguese wines, these wines are blends of different grapes. I liked them both but, but I especially loved the red, which is built around Alicante Bouschet (45%) with 30% Syrah and 25% Alfrocheiro. It’s deep and complex and one of those wines with a generous nose that keeps revealing new aromatics and flavors. It’s fresh, it’s elegant and while only $26-$30, it smells like money.

Cameron Hughes 2018 Russian River Pinot Noir - I’ve been curious about Cameron Hughes wines for a while and was eager to taste when offered a sample. They do not own vineyards or even a winery. They source finished wines and negotiate great prices, and then bottle them under their own label. Under its original label, this Pinot Noir is a $60 wine that Cameron Hughes sells for $20. I mean – you say “Russian River Pinot,” and I just say, “Yes.” It’s always good. This wine sports a bright ripe cherries, fresh earth and a fair amount of oak and it’d be a crowd-pleaser at any table. Pair it with some pork chops or pizza, and your night is complete.

Domaine Bousquet Virgen Collection — This is a new line of wines again from the indomitable Bousquet family in Mendoza, Argentina. They’ve found a way to make wines with no added sulfites. (And yes, they also are USDA-certified organic, too.) Sulfites are a natural preservative that prevent bacterial spoilage. To make wines with no added sulfites means there is no room for mistakes. To keep the wines at a constant cool temperature during shipping to the U.S., they actually pack them in thermal blankets! There’s a Chard, a Malbec and a Cabernet and each is $13 (!) Here’s your new everyday wine! They don’t ask too much of you – they are just well-made, well-balanced wines. Well-done, Bousquet family (again!)

Here’s to inspiration for your wine shopping in 2024! Happy new year to you!