Wine Columns for the Week of December 26, 2006 and January 3, 2007

With the end of the year come end-of-the-year lists. Not too much to say about lists, except that there are lots of them. A couple of brave writers also attempt to defy the spirit of the New Year by not writing about champagne. Sadly, they're slapped down by their editors and have to recount the same cliches about sparkles and bubbles and popping corks. Lists and not-quite-effervescent prose aside, recent weeks have found writers in a nostalgic and troubled mood. Patrick Comiskey pines for the cabernets of yesteryear, lamenting how many are now as "challenging as a kitten or a chocolate-covered cherry." Similarly, still languishing with a 500 word limit in the Houston Chronicle, Michael Lonsford takes out his frustrations on overripe and unbalanced reds. Meanwhile, over in France, Eric Asimov finds solace in a bottle of 160-year old Meursault Charmes...