Igt Salento Rosso

It’s only love when #french and #danish friends do dinner @michaelwuertz #herring #foiegras

I do like symmetrical things and prefer the irregular approach to writing and life. Method to madness is all in the perception and only really figured out when you learn to let your emotions run wild. You have to want to believe Godello as a writer knows what he’s talking about but you also need to trust the facts when you find them flooded into the seemingly unconnected mess of musical and multicultural references, veins and streams of consciousness.

Do you remember this commercial?

“You worked too hard and ate too much,

The cheesesteak made you green.

Let your aching head and stomach hear this message from old Speedy.”

Speedy here is voiced by the same guy (Dick Beals) that voiced Davey of “Davey and Goliath” and Ralph Phillips of “Looney Tunes.” Here we move forward, away from the mess and sting and sighs and slings of 2016, past the littering deaths of loved ones and icons, into the future that begins (in wine anyway), with the VINTAGES January 7th release. Forget the Alka Seltzer and listen up.

Drinking sparkling wine in January is a contagious and contiguous must for any self-respecting wine geek but who can afford Champagne after the bank-rolling of the holiday season? Fear not for alternative fizz is coming your way. So are tidy values for chenin blanc, viognier, grüner veltliner, malbec, negroamaro, tannat, graciano, sangiovese, garnacha, cabernet franc and syrah. You can also choose from five splendid blends from Dealu Mare, Valpolicella, Langhorne Creek, and Côtes Du Roussillon Villages. Please visit WineAlign for full reviews of these 17 in VINTAGES January 7th.

Budureasca Feteasca Regala 2015, Doc Dealu Mare, Romania (416800, $11.95, WineAlign)

@Budureasca @WinesofRomania

Pisari Negroamaro 2014, Igt Salento Rosso, Puglia, Italy (473199, $13.95, WineAlign)

Man Vintners Free Run Steen Chenin Blanc 2015, Wo Coastal Region, South Africa (126847, $13.95, WineAlign)

@MANVintners @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA @vonterrabev

Heartland Stickleback Red 2013, Langhorne Creek, South Australia (116574, $14.95, WineAlign)

@heartlandwines @TheVine_RobGroh

Laurent Miquel Nord Sud Viognier 2014, Vin De Pays D’oc, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (673236, $14.95, WineAlign)

@LaurentMiquel @VinsPaysdOcIGP @LiffordON

Cuvée Jean Philippe Blanquette De Limoux 2014, Traditional Method, Ac Southwest, France (467217, $14.95, WineAlign)

@AOCLIMOUX

Rio Madre Graciano 2014, Doca Rioja, Spain (354753, $14.95, WineAlign)

@CSWS_BC @RiojaWine

Baronia Del Montsant Flor D’englora Garnatxa 2011, Montsant, Spain (481333, $15.95, WineAlign)

@cellersCBM @domontsant @spain

Piattelli Premium Reserve Malbec 2013, Mendoza, Argentina (455808, $16.95, WineAlign)

@piattelliUSA @ArgentinaWineCA

San Vincenti Chianti Classico 2012, Docg Tuscany, Italy (399907, $17.95, WineAlign)

@ChiantiClassico

Organized Crime Cabernet Franc 2013, VQA Beamsville Beench, Ontario (472530, $18.95, WineAlign)

Gérard Bertrand Grand Terroir Tautavel Grenache/Syrah/Carignan 2013, Ap Côtes Du Roussillon Villages, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (272575, $18.95, WineAlign)

@GBvins @FWMCan @LanguedocWines

Ca’ Del Monte Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore 2011, Doc Veneto, Italy (475624, $19.95, WineAlign)

@Nicholaspearce_ @C_Valpolicella