Three wines to gift for the holiday season

I recently went on a wine tasting tour (and dinner) at San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1917 and is the oldest producing winery in the city with over 99 years of winemaking. I’ve driven by it a million times, and decided it was a high-time I went inside to take it all in.

I tried several wines in their wine tasting room (hiccup!) before deciding which ones were my favorite. If you’re looking for a bottle of wine to gift these season, may I suggest the following?

Three wines to gift for the holiday season

Stella Rosa Moscato D’Asti

Who doesn’t love Stella Rosa? Their Moscato D’Asti has notes of honey, pear, and apricot, and is absolutely delicious with light dishes like a salad, fish or quinoa. Usually Moscatos are pretty sweet, but this one is just right with just enough bubbles to give all the happy feels. Also, isn’t the bottle just gorgeous?

Maddalena Riesling

I don’t usually drink white wine but this Riesling was really spectacular. I chose it over my usual Cabernet, which says a lot. It’s my go-to every time I go out to dinner. The Maddalena Riesling has hints of apricot, honey, pineapple and wildflowers. It’s smooth, graceful and has a bit of an apple finish but not too sweet. This would be great with chicken, pork or fish.

Bodega de San Antonio Sangria Tradicional

If you or the person you gift this to loves a sweet wine, you will definitely want to get the Bodega de San Antonio Sangria Tradicional. It’s a burst of fruity flavors like orange, lemon and lime. It’s amazing chilled, and is a fun drink to serve with appetizers.

Here’s where a lot of the magic happens. During our one hour tour, we learned a great deal about the barrel process of winemaking and how they eventually become bottled and shipped out. I had no idea that the same grape can be completely altered depending on the barrel it’s stored in. There’s so much that goes into a bottle of wine, it was really fascinating.

After our tasting and tour, my friend Monique and I had dinner at the Winery’s Maddalena Restaurant. I had the salmon and she had the mozarella salad (with no cheese because vegan) with a bottle of, you guessed it, Maddalena Riesling. Every sip and every bite was a delight.