New Year's Eve to me has always been a time for pulling out an older bottle of wine, and then after that it's a free-for-all. We started with ordering Chinese food from our favourite place, it took almost two hours for us to finally sit down and eat it, and we picked it up (they were just that busy), and to pair with it I chose a bottle of St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Riesling Kabinett, which was a real beauty: nose of apricot, hints of petrol, and a lovely bit of lime cordial; on the palate we found peach, pear, and apricot, flavours along with sweet lime notes which all lead to a nice long, lingering finish. The wine, although 8 years old still tasted fresh with that signature Mosel sweetness, but always backed by great balancing acidity. My wife stuck with Riesling after the Urbans-Hof bottle was finished, opting for an Ontario beauty in the form of a Featherstone 2012 Black Sheep Riesling. I went in another direction and picked out another Dave selection: an Elusiv Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir (Monterey County) from the wine fridge. Now, for those who have been following along this holiday season, you'll be glad to know the Elusiv is more Pinot-esque than my last bottle of "Pinot Noir" (Belle Glos Meiomi) ... nose is very raspberry, with black cherry and plum backing it up; as it warmed beets and white pepper also showed up. On the palate were sour cherries, black cherries and clove backed by good acidity, and some typical Pinot earthiness. As midnight rolled up on us I pulled a bottle of Hinterland 2009 Rose (from Prince Edward County) out of the fridge, which had been chilling most of the day - I managed to pop the cork at the exact moment the countdown reached zero - perfect sparkling to ring in 2014 ... Happy New Year - we left the old year with a magnificent Riesling and brought in the new with a marvelous bit of bubbly.
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