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“For whites I recommend the La Clarté de Haut-brion, 2013. This aromatic, beautifully blended white from Bordeaux is made with 61 percent Semillion and 39 percent Sauvignon Blanc. The aging takes place in Allier barrels – a tight-grained, French oak – with indigenous yeasts and no malolactic fermentation and no lees [sediment] stirring. The 2013 vintage is a complex, medium-bodied wine that shows a soft earthiness, with delicate notes of pineapple, a fresh crisp acidity, and a long finish.

For reds I recommend the Château Pichon-longueville Comtesse De Lalande, 2005. I call this my ‘sophisticated feminine wine’. It’s from a winery in the Pauillac appellation in Bordeaux, and it’s made from 61 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 32 percent Merlot, 4 percent Cabernet Franc, and 3 percent Petit Verdot. Like a graceful woman, this wine is elegant and smooth, rather than powerful and dense. The 2005 vintage has notes of ripe blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and tobacco, and exhibits a lovely balance between the ripe fruits, the medium-bodied, very fine tannic structure, and an explosive perfume.”

Both these premium labels are available at Central Wine Cellar