During the winter, people all over hunker down, gather together and celebrate the past year and anticipate the next with feasting and conviviality.  Saturday we have pulled together a selection of festive wines that you’ll want to include in you hunker down.  Some come from the old world, some from close by but all will warm you through the dark and damp holidays.
 
Cave de Bissey, Cremant de Bourgogne Brut $18
Chardonnay
Close to Givry and Buxy, Bissey is on the cool side of the Côte Chalonnaise, giving its sparkling wines that extra freshness. This Brut is bright, crisp, laced with apples and tangy lemon zest, soft fruit flavors of green apples, peach & apricot along with warm notes of toasted bread. Lovely delicate bubbles linger through the finish.
 
2012 Bodegas Arzabro, Txakoli  Luzia de Ripa  $20
90% Hondarrabi Zuri (aka Petit Corbu), 10% Izpiriotza Txikia (aka Petit Manseng)
Bodegas Arzabro is a family-owned winery producing Txakolí from a 15 acres of vineyard located in Basque Country of Spain. The vineyard is named Larrimbe, meaning “my mother’s vineyard,” a fitting name for a parcel that has been handed down from mother to daughter for over four generations.  The Hondarrabi Zuri and Izpiriotza Txikia vines were planted at the beginning of the century.  The wine is aged on its lees for about 6 months giving a richness to the crisp fruit.  Luizia is a succulent and still Txakoli with lots of rich pear and citrus notes.
 
2012 Notre Dame de Laval des Vignerons of Agly, Côtes de Roussillon  $10
45% Carignan, 40% Grenache, 15% Syrah
From Roussillon in the South of France “Our Lady” is made from very old vines Carignan and Grenache.  The wine is distinguished by garrigue and laurel notes as well as its soft smooth fruit.
 
2012 Robert Ramsay Mason’s Red   $18
Ramsay is a small craft winery in Woodinville that specializes in Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Red blends built on fruit from Horse Heaven Hills, Snipes Mountain and Boushey Vineyards. Mason’s Red is a Syrah-based blend that changes every year-picking up the flavors and the personality of the winemaker and the vintage.  It is created as a “food friendly” wine with generous acidity to complement all foods-except maybe breakfast cereal
 
2012 Darby, Dark Side Syrah  $30
Darby English makes some of our favorite Washington wines.  His Chaos, Le Deuce, and Purple haze regularly have a spot on our shelves.  Rumored to be Darth Vader’s favorite wine, the Dark Side resides there as well. It has ripe flavors of sweet spice, blackberry, sage and a layer of smoky minerality seem to last forever. Very complex, this Syrah is big but has a velvety texture and will age nicely over the next 5 years.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5. No matter what day you stop by we always have something open to sample.