Wow, what a year!  First of all, thanks to all of you who have participated in this crazy journey, I can’t believe how many amazing people I have had the pleasure of meeting this year.  It’s hard to believe all we achieved in 2009: epic Abbondanzas, fantastic renovations, winning Best of Boston, discovering new producers, and I know we could not have done it without all the encouragement, support, pestering, provocation and inspiration from all of you in Boston and (amazingly!) from around the globe.  I am incredibly excited to launch our new projects for 2010, but I also wanted to look back on the year “through the glass” and pick some of my favorite discoveries.  Here you go…

2005 Ferrando, La Torrazza Cuvee del Fondatore Vino Spumante Extra Dry, Piemonte, Italy: So, having worked in the bubbles business, I thought I was pretty well-versed in all things sparkling.  That was until I tried this truly stunning sparkling erbaluce (yes, that’s the grape) from the Piedmont (where all good things come from!).  This honestly drinks like Prestige Cuvee Champagne at less than a third of the price!  Dom who?

2008 Michele Calo Mjere Rosato IGT, Salento, Puglia: I really feel that this was the year that people finally embraced the beauty or “pink” wines!  While I have seen sales steadily climb over the past 5 years, they really skyrocketed in 2009!  This was my hands down favorite, a serious, brooding, savory style redolent of sage and pomegranate.  Definitely a year-round style as well from a winery dedicated to rose production.

2006 Fattoria Selvanova “Vignantica” Aglianico, Terre del Volturno IGT, Caserta, Campania: This wine, in addition to being delicious, sums up a lot of the things that were great about 2009.  We really changed our outlook here at The Bottega and decided to work on seeking out small importers and distributors rather than waiting to see what was brought to us.  We worked closely with wholesaler and all around great guy,  Jeff Slavin of Hangtime Wine, to bring the wines from David Vincent Selections, which had never before been seen here, into Massachusetts.  These are amazing, small production wines that are great value and a true representation of the places they are from.  Lets here it for the little guys!

2008 Yellow & Blue Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina: As many of you know, I wrote my Masters Thesis on premium box wine and it is amazing to see my vision come to fruition!  This is a fantastic project that sources great organic wine and packages it in environmentally and consumer friendly liter tetra-paks.  Happiness!

2003 Nera Sforzato di Valtellina, Lombardia, Italy: It is hard for me to find the words to describe how much I love this wine and I will admit to never having heard of Sforzato prior to 2009!  If this is the case with you, all I have to say is “Barolo meets Amarone”, if that doesn’t make you want a bottle immediately, come swing by, we need to talk.