Presenting

Champagne goes so well with celebrations. Invite a bottle Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut to your next party and we promise it will behave beautifully. Around $50 for a 750 ml bottle, $130 for a magnum. Also good buys are grower-producer bottles from small independent French Champagne houses, usually running prices just under the big brands. Cabernet Sauvignon comes in many flavors, but a girl can't go wrong with Caymus Vineyard's 2012 bottle. It is a special anniversary year, and an excellent bottle at $160. Move the calendar forward a year to the 2013 version for a $72 treat. Another good choice would be Orin Swift Mercury Head Cabernet Sauvignon, about $100 for a 750 ml bottle. Pinot Noir from Paul Hobbs Sonoma Coast Vineyard is delightful in the 2012 Crossbarn version with a layered blackberry, cherry, and cola palate with a long finish, priced at about $40 for a 750 ml bottle. Also delicious, Cherry Pie Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir, a deep rich concentrated sip for winter's best dishes, about $50 for a 750 ml bottle. Merlot, blended with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonderful winter comfort food wine. Choose the Château Lassègue St. Emilion Grand Cru, about $30 for a 750 ml bottle. Swirl Now, give the glass a swirl, and look at the sides of the glass. If it leaves "legs" running down the inside of the bowl, it is a substantial wine with gusto and rich flavor. Wines that have been cellared for a while develop layers of tastes that change with time on the palate, and oen have a brown hue, especially discernible around the edge of the glass. Aged wines are usually red, as that's where the tannins are. A red wine intending to be cellared is oen too tart if opened before its time. ese complicated wines are usually big , bold, wines like Red Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, representing some of the world's best, most expensive boles. Only about one percent of the wine produced today is actually intended for cellaring. e rest is intended for immediate consumption, translating in wine- speak to within a year of purchase. at includes the fresh white wines, Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs, and Chardonnays, as well as many red wines. Sip Seems obvious, but it's not. Before that luscious extract even touches your Rouge 'Louboutin' lip, make sure to do a quick color study. e deeper the color, the bolder the flavor will be. Deeply colored wines get that way from spending time during the crush with the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes, collecting tannins which give the wine zest and body. W hite wines, on the other hand, get stripped of those bits during crush, resulting in lighter-colored wines made only from the flesh of the grape. Everyone has a distinct, unique set up with regard to taste buds and ability to smell particular scents. Even the experts disagree at times. e aromas and flavors in the wines you taste may differ in interpretation in your memory compared to others drinking the same wine, but one thing is always true: you should drink what you like. Experience is a good teacher, and your palate will lead you to the wines best suited to your preferences. e experts can lead you to a wine, but the only review that ultimately maers is yours. A votre santé! BEST BUYS Fine Wine Florida's Only Boating Lifestyle Magazine FloridaBoatingMag.com 941.227.7331 By the publishers of Florida Homes and Gravitas Magazine Sarasota Longboat Key G u lf O f M e xi c o Moore's Stone Crab Mar Vista Dockside Longboat Key Lo ngboat P a ss 1 1 2 11 6 6 Excursion Restaurants Hotels Marinas Airports Fuel Launch Water Depth Channel DISCLAIMER: Florida Boating Magazine does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the map data and will not be liable for any damage or loss resulting from your use of the map or data. S a ra so t a B ay Bird Key St Armands Circle Lido Key Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Pattigeorge's Portofino Ristorante & Bar The Old Salty Dog New Pass Grill & Bait Shop Chart House N e w P a ss CHANNEL 1 3 1 4 5 1 3 2 2 6 2 11 10 9 4 6 6 5 2 6 14 4 4 MOTE Aquarium Downtown Sarasota FloridaBoatingMag.com U FLORIDA BOATING MAGAZINE | 35 34 | FLORIDA BOATING MAGAZINE U FloridaBoatingMag.com Dry Dock Waterfront Grill N 27 o W85 o Exclusive Boating Excursion Guides Tampa to Marco Island

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