Holiday wine choices include U.S., Spain and Italian selections

Temperatures in western Colorado are at near-record highs, edging close to 70 earlier this week and creating a temporary revival of golf season, for those so inclined. But there's no delaying the holiday season and I'm still searching for a few transitional wines to bridge the festive gap between the crisp wines of summer and the heavy-bodied reds of deep winter. This week's price-point winner (and a tasty wine) is the Opera Prima 2008 Tempranillo, $4.99 at Cottonwood Liquors in Grand Junction. Tempranillo is often blended with grenache, graciano, and carignan (known as mazuelo in the Rioja) and this wine shows red fruits (raspberries, dark cherries, strawberries) with a little earthy, dry herbs and leather typical of wines from the Rioja area of Spain. A great value for an everyday red wine and one good enough for holiday gift-giving. As anyone who has checked lately knows, finding a good pinot noir under $20 is a difficult chore. One of the best under-$20 pinot noirs I've found recently is the Pali 2008 Riviera Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($19), a easy-drinking, food-friendly wine from the Pali Wine Company, which specializes in quality pinot noirs. The Riviera is a blend of grapes from the Sonoma Coast AVA and offers bright red fruit with a touch of licorice and minerals. The Riviera offers enough flavors and acidity to balance those multi-layered holiday meals, and a pinot noir this good at $19 is a holiday gift in itself. The winery also puts this offering under a screw cap, something we're pleased to see. The October-November-December quarter is the year's busiest in terms of wines sales and most wine distributors hold holiday shows with the latest releases and new vintages. This week Classic Wines of Denver held its annual holiday show at the Chateau at Two Rivers Winery. I got a jump-start with a quick tasting of Italian offerings from Dalla Terra, a direct importer of Italian wines. As most readers know, I have an affinity for Italian wines and many of my favorites come from the Piemonte region, if for no other reason than there is so much there to discover. Dalla Terra representative Dawn Gaudini was pouring, among other offerings, the Boroli 2004 Barolo ($42), a true DOCG Barolo (meaning 100 percent Nebbiolo grape) but without the massive tannins often found in classic Barolos. "You can taste how they (winemakers Silvano and Elana Boroli) are using barriques (French oak barrels) to age their wines," said Gaudin. "This wine really shows off the characteristics of the Nebbiolo grape." The Boroli Barolo is less expensive than similar Barolos because Dalla Terra Winery Direct skips the national importer in the three-tier system (producer, distributor, retailer), which allows U.S. distributors to buy direct from the winery. The direct-bridge approach can save the consumer 25-30 percent in the final cost of the wine. While some Barolos require years of aging, the Boroli is ready to drink with ripe red fruits and the typical Barolo hints of leather and tobacco. Barolos, often referred to as the King of Italian wines, are made in a small area southwest of Alba in the Langhe region of the Piemonte. Other Boroli offerings include a 2006 Dolcetto d'Alba Madonna di Como ($15), a unoaked Dolcetto with fresh blackberry amd sweet cherry flavors. Its balance of bright fruit, mellow tannins and good acidity nominates this for my perfect Thanksgiving wine. The final Boroli sampled was the 2007 Quattro Fratelli Barbera d'Alba DOC ($18). This wine is dark and intense, with defined tannins and lots of ripe raspberries and blackberries on the palate. While this wine is made to drink now, it could profit from a couple more years of aging.