Another day, another week, another year. Time passes. We grow up, we grow old. Along the way, we celebrate milestones and accomplishments. If we are lucky, we share these fleeting moments with trusted friends and loving family. We raise our glasses and toast to life, love, health and happiness. We live these moments now, but soon they will become the memories that gave the journey meaning.

The end of the year often feels like a no-man’s land between past and future. We take stock. We move forward. In a few days, we’ll raise a glass to 2013. May it will be even better than our memories of 2012.

— J. Gwen Berry, Swirl Girl Dry

The Swirlies Wine Awards of 2012

FAVORITE WINE OF THE YEAR UNDER $25

Bold’s Pick: 2009 Coppola Rosso, California

This wine is filmmaker and vintner Francis Ford Coppola’s attempt at producing an “everyday wine.” On the nose, it’s big and juicy, and on taste, it’s got some plum, dark cherry and is a good mixture of slightly sweet and dry – beautifully balanced, with a clean finish. Pair it with pizza, pasta and tomato sauce, by itself; really, for $10 (or less when it’s on sale) this is an ideal house wine. The 2011 vintage is now available almost everywhere: Publix, ABC, Crown, Total Wine.

Earthy’s Pick: 2010 Balletto Rosé of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, California $14.99 Crown

With a deep coral color, I had been expecting fruity aromas from this rosé, but instead smelled dried flowers, wet earth, and hint of cherry and minerals. I just loved the character on the palate, too. There’s cherry and minerals again, and a little earthiness supported by a robust acidity. It has some weight to the body, but it’s still fresh and flavorful.

Dry’s Pick: 2011 Vera Vinho Verde Rosé ($9.50 online)

While this may not qualify as the ‘best’ wine I’ve tasted for under $25 this year, it’s a favorite because I’d never tasted (or even heard of) Vinho Verde rosé before this glass. The opportunity came by way of a Portuguese food and wine tasting at Jade Kitchen this fall. Made from 60 percent vinhão and 40 percent rabo de anho, this wine was a very deeply hued rosé that tasted more like a light red, but with a bright kick of acidity.

FAVORITE WINE OF THE YEAR OVER $25

Bold’s Pick: Nickel & Nickel

I’ll drink anything with the Nickel & Nickel beautifully wrought label on it. I’m partial to the cabernet sauvignons, but really I won’t be picky. The Swirl Girls recently tasted five from this amazing winery and there were no losers in the bunch. Of the five, the 2009 Branding Iron Vineyard was my favorite cab ($70 Total Wine): It has a big, red berry-cherry nose – fragrant and almost sweetish. It had some toasty woodiness, but the overriding flavors were cherry, blackberry and vanilla, and a little blueberry, too. A delightful rounded, layered, jam-filled wine. It drank very well the next day after opening up a bit more.

Earthy’s Pick: 2007 Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva ($47.99 ABC)

We tasted this wine on one of our casual evening get-togethers, along with a couple of other wines and some bites. This was the juice that really stood out that night. On the palate, the wine is elegantly balanced, with big, ripe fruit and hints of vanilla, licorice and earth. It has a lush and sexy mouthfeel, balanced by strong but well-integrated tannins. After four hours in the decanter, this wine was still powerful but quite smooth, with a lingering, dry finish.

Dry’s Pick: 2009 Chateau la Conseillante, Pomerol (online from $225)

What a treat it was to taste this wine at Crown Wine & Spirits’ 2009 Bordeaux Tasting at Doral Resort and Spa last January. Like most any top-quality ‘09 Bordeaux, this one is years away from its optimal drinking window, and showed very closed fruit flavors and tight, firm tannins. This vintage uses a higher than normal amount of Cabernet Franc (19%), which gave it a beautiful perfumey, floral aroma with strong dark fruits and some spice. It was still a monster on the palate, but was beginning to show great elegance. It’s going to be a beauty.

FAVORITE WINE SHOP

From Earthy: French Wine Merchant, Palm Beach (thefrenchwinemerchant.com)

Maurice Amiel’s shop boasts an extensive selection of wines from France and many other countries. Amiel emigrated from Paris (family members were wine negociants there) to New York over 30 years ago, where he opened The French Wine Merchant in New York City. He moved to Palm Beach upon retirement, and decided the town needed just such a wine shop. He prides himself on presenting obscure wines difficult to find here and not widely distributed. But perhaps the best feature here is the personal service and attention you’ll get from Amiel as he steers you to the perfect wine for your perfect occasion.

From Dry: Virginia Philip Wine Shop & Academy, West Palm Beach (virginiaphilipwineshopacademy.com)

Virginia Philip is one of the few women to earn the title of master sommelier, one of the industry’s most prestigious accreditations. As the wine director for The Breakers, she has long been a resource to the upper echelon of Palm Beach society. But in November 2011, with the opening of her namesake shop, the Virginia Philip Wine Shop & Academy in West Palm Beach, she became accessible to the rest of us. Certainly no other retail location in town can compete with the expertise she and her staff provide.

MOST FUN WITH WINE

From Earthy: It’s a given that whenever the Swirl Girls get together at one of our houses to taste wines and create food pairings, it’s going to be great fun. However, I have to throw the nod this year to the occasional “theme” dinners I share with a group of friends outside my workplace.

We typically gather two or three times a year to taste wines and cook dishes from a particular country or region in the world. Most recently, we explored South Africa. While we all taste through the plethora of bottles brought to dinner with great enthusiasm, it truly becomes a festival as we dig into dishes most of us have never tasted before. But to be honest, isn’t so much about the wine as it is the conviviality and hearty laughter; and therein lays the fun!

From Bold: When friends of mine called up one day ago to tell me they were drinking the wine I recommended in that day’s Swirl Girls column. They are in their late 80s and mid-90s. I love people who continue to try new wines all the time.

From Dry: My husband and I traveled to Mendoza, Argentina in late October, an early spring trip in the southern hemisphere. Clear blue skies, towering snow-capped peaks and fields of bright yellow flowers created the perfect backdrop for a rustic 3-course lunch on the patio of a small winery. The grandiosity of the landscape combines in my mind with the smell of grilled meat and the taste of a ripe and powerful glass of malbec. Together, these senses created an experience beyond just what’s in the bottle. Sitting there, we understood the wine’s terroir, or sense of place. This became the wine’s story, an unforgettable memory.