December has been a month of extreme highs and lows. As I’ve pushed forward with the opening of Nectar Tasting Room (January 6-8), I’ve experienced several crushing blows that are almost immediately followed by big wins. This experience has certainly added several grey hairs to my head and wrinkles to my face. Last January, I kicked off the year with my first Nectar Monthly Honors recap. While not quite as cool as a Grammy nomination, it has been an attempt to capture my favorite things from the previous month. I make it a point to save favorite tweets, blog posts, and I review the wines from the month to highlight my favorites.

December 2010 has been one of the most busy months of my entire life. In the midst of everything I managed to write 16 posts (my lowest total since I started the blog). These 16 posts generated the highest traffic ever on the site with nearly 10,000 people viewing over 17,500 pages. 17 wines made the pages of NectarWineBlog this month and some of them were very, very good!

Cheers to you and yours for 2011. My goal (or resolution if you will) is to continue with more of the same. The tasting room will open and hopefully this time next year I can report back that I’ve been able to quit the day job. Enjoy life with friends and drink happy!

Wines of the Month

Best Value Under $15

Oddly enough, I didn’t review any wines that were under $15 retail this month. I did enjoy a $14 Chardonnay from Terra Blanca winery as part of our tasting room preview party and I purchased a few Argentinean Astica Malbec ($5) from Rocket Market (3/5). While the Terra Blanca Chardonnay was a nicely balanced Chardonnay, I’ve committed to not reviewing the wines at the tasting room (conflict of interest). So, for December 2010, no wine is chosen for this category.

Best Overall Wine

Of the 17 wines that showed up in the December reviews, several compete for the top spot of the month. A company known for TV dinners surprised me. A Rose in the Palouse captured my imagination. A wine consumed in October ended up being my top pick for December’s best overall wine.

2008 Syncline Cuvee Elena

In October, I enjoyed a visit to 3 wineries in the Columbia Gorge area (Maryhill, The Pines 1852 and Syncline Winery). James Mantone of Syncline has an old world approach to his wine making that brings out the flavor of the vineyard and the grape without over oxidizing or oaking the wine.

The Southern Rhone inspired with a Grenache (48%) and Mouvedre (24%) focused blend that also includes Syrah, Counoise, and Cinsault. Not much in my notes except silky and thick. Perfume and raspberry on the nose with great layers of fruit and spice. $35 4+/5

Read about the rest of the journey and other Syncline wines, here > http://drinknectar.com/2010/12/02/visit-the-columbia-gorge-for-some-surprise-wines/

• Runner-up: 2009 Wawawai Canyon Carmenere Rose

Other Highlights From December

Marketing Advice for Any Business

enobytes Where Will You Spend Your Next Marketing Dollar for 2011? http://bit.ly/fkbSVu

noseyparkerinw Small business predictions 2011 -pay attention for your own good http://ning.it/gQ8rEE

Posts that Make You Think

@ThomsonVnyrds: Millennials Would Rather Die http://ht.ly/3mgbb Do you agree?

@9swords 25 reasons why I’ll leave your website in 10 seconds http://bit.ly/hVWAB5

Best Picture of the Month

Millennier Photo: Give me a break. Now. fuckyeahwine: http://tumblr.com/xv9y2t9kd

Post that Made Me Spit Wine Out My Nose

lenndevours Is @JamesSuckling a Douche? This blog sure makes a strong case http://bit.ly/hmcWzw

Top Posts of The Month

• Leavenworth – Bavarian for Wine – Proper SEO helped drive traffic to this post as thousands of visitors searched for Leavenworth Christmas Tree Lighting party. This post is a recap of my visit to several Leavenworth wineries.
• Ten Blogging Lessons I Learned In Year One – This post is a holdover from November and got some great readership in the last few days of December.