12 Days of Christmas Gifts: Day Seven—the Connoisseur

It seems like saying "Buy Local" has become the in thing to do, but for small businesses in our area, there is nothing new about shopping locally. For the next 12 days, we're going to post an item each day showcasing some of the great businesses in Edgewater and Davidsonville.

Day Seven: Today we went shopping for a wine connoisseur. This is a person who selects the wine for each meal, co-mingling the flavors so that the wine harmonizes with the food. Or maybe this person has a taste for wine, but not the budget to consistently buy themselves really nice wine. Or maybe you're looking to buy a case of wine to give out as hostess gifts at all of holiday parties you'll be attending.

Whatever your reason for needing to buy wine this holiday season, we got the lowdown on the high-end wines available at . We also found some bargains.

Grape growing is undergoing a change. As the globe heats up, the places that were on the periphery of making great wines are beginning to produce top quality wines, said Russell Stone, a wine expert at Edgewater Liquors.

He has his eye on some areas of France that are now coming into their own as wine producing regions. He's not talking Burgundy, Bordeaux or Champagne these days. He's talking a little further north, in the LeDuc-Frouin area.

He offers a 2009 Chateau De La Negly white for $45.

"This was once a backwater area, but now they are making fantastic wines that rival the old vines from the established areas," Stone said.

The importer that goes for these wines, Jeffrey Davies, is an importer/distributor to watch because Davies finds unusual wines from small artisan wineries and imports them, Stone said.

On this side of the pond, the Napa area of California has been a go-to for Cabernet Savignon, although they are often priced out of reach, Stone said.

"These wines are $80 to $100 and up to $200 and more for a bottle of wine—whatever the market will bear," Stone said.

Stone feels the price is ridiculous.

"At most, it can cost $10 to get a wine to market, but seeing a 200 percent or more markup is just greed and keeps good wines off the table," he said.

The magic is finding a wine that has the properties of those pricey wines but is more reasonably priced.

Stone says he has found that wine. It's a red, from Mount Eden Vineyards, in the Santa Cruz mountain area. For $35, the Domaine Eden Cabernet Sauvignon is a value, especially after being rated a 90 by Food and Wine magazine.

Mount Eden also has a slightly pricier Estate Cabernet at $65.99, but Stone suggests that the wine at half the price is one that will beat out a lot of other wines. Both are 2007 vintage.

Stone suggests decanting these Cabernets before drinking.

For a good value hostess gift, Stone suggests Prosecco, a white sparkling wine that, at $14.99 is a great deal.

Stone said that a lot has happened in France, between a steep estate tax, or death tax, and climate changes that hurt the old vine areas, including Champagne. Prosecco is a decent sparkling wine, especially when Champagne from the Champagne region has priced itself out of reach for most at $100, $200 or even up to $2,000.

So talk to your favorite wine store expert and give them a price range. They'll help you find something terrific to give, or even just to buy for yourself to serve with Christmas dinner.

Happy shopping!