Seattle Times - Be a Holiday Hero

The holidays can be stressful for us wine geeks, as family members usually rely on us to select options for three major events.

This year, I built my Case Studies list — a case of wine suggestions for each holiday — with a few parameters in mind:

• All wines come from the Pacific Northwest. The quality and diversity we find in our corner of the continent require us to look no farther.

• A diversity of producers and wine varieties. With close to 2,000 wineries operating in the Northwest, there’s no reason not to share the love, and we should explore the bounty of the more than 100 wine-grape varieties grown here.

• Each case should have at least one riesling, dessert wine, cab and bubbly to satisfy the diversity of palates that will gather around your holiday table.

Ask for these wines at your favorite wine merchant, which usually can order them for you, or contact the wineries directly; they’ll be happy to ship to you.

Thanksgiving - 2016 Julia's Dazzle Rosé: Part of the Nine Hats collection, this rosé from pinot gris is consistently among the best in the region. Read more.