With the holiday season firmly upon us, many of us are turning our thoughts to what to cook for holiday dinner. Equally important is what to drink, so I’d like to offer up some of my recent favorite wines–wines that are drinking exceptionally well right now (and also are great for holiday gift-giving).

Two wines from Walla Walla-based Cadaretta are high up on my list. The winery’s 2009 SBS (a Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend) has bright fruitiness and just enough herbaceousness to make it interesting without veering into cat-pee territory. A great wine for many types of food (even the sous-vide cucumber salad I sipped it with!).

Cadaretta’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is also an extremely well-crafted wine, with dark fruit flavors and restrained use of oak. A wonderful wine with Cheddar- or Gruyère-style cheeses, or with Beecher’s Flagship, which is kind of a Cheddar/Parmesan hybrid.