We interrupt our originally scheduled rant to bring an important message\u2026holy smokes it\u2019s November!\u00a0 Yeah, it kind of snuck up on us again as we were scurrying around trying to find delicious deals and innovative new sources of fermented grape juice.<\/p>\n
We realize there are folks that have it all planned from their own cellar stock.\u00a0 But there are others who treat this family holiday differently than they would a dinner or event with their \u2018wine and food\u2019 friends. Ours is neither to judge, nor comment on prices because that is up to everyone\u2019s discretion and based on their individual needs.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re merely here to comment on some categories that we think work well with the Thanksgiving bird.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it the same stuff every year?\u00a0 To a point, yes.\u00a0 The \u2018basics\u2019 still apply.\u00a0 No matter how it is cooked, turkey is still fowl and tolerates a wide range of wine choices.\u00a0 It is less about the bird and more about the stuffing and other accoutrement in determining which choices might prove most complimentary.<\/p>\n
Every year is different wine-wise as well.\u00a0 There are some categories hitting a high note this year, and others that are at a nadir.\u00a0 For the most part this year offers more potential choices in what we feel are the \u2018right’ categories.\u00a0 Our basic rule of thumb is that, given the varied goodies that will be on the holiday table, whites should have good acidity and little or no oak, and it\u2019s a fine spot for something with a little residual sugar.\u00a0 As for reds, bright fruit, light to medium body, and not a lot of tannin or obvious wood work best.\u00a0 Again a bit of underlying acidity is a good thing, and large framed, oaky, high alcohol wines can get tiresome over the course of the meal.<\/p>\n
For those \u2018big reds\u2019(Cabernet, Bordeaux, Syrah), save them for hearty beef or lamb roasts.\u00a0 Acidity is good, wood and tannins not so much with fowl.\u00a0 These are our favorite red plays with the bird.<\/p>\n
Pinot Noir-<\/strong>The fruit driven, bright fruit of a Pinot marries beautifully with roast, smoked, or fried bird.\u00a0 These are wonderful times for Pinot fans as California has been rolling out the hits and there are plenty of 2012 and 2013 examples on the shelves, with a few 2014s now in the mix, a vintage that has a real elegant tender edge that makes them pretty serviceable.\u00a0 Oregon has plenty of good stuff, too, particularly the outstanding 2014s and remaining 2012s.\u00a0 Burgundy?\u00a0 Of course, if the budget allows.<\/p>\n Beaujolais<\/strong>–<\/strong>This is also the \u2018near perfect\u2019 choice always and one we have been recommending for ages.\u00a0 But this year is particularly exciting given the arrival of the bold, expressive 2015s and the remaining tender, elegant 2014s.\u00a0 Serving them with a slight chill offers another dimension to the folks at the table.\u00a0 Not everybody \u2018gets\u2019 room temperature.\u00a0 Forget the still travel-shocked 2016 \u2018nouveau<\/em>\u2019 when even the \u2018little\u2019 2015 Beaujolais are lovely, juicy glassfuls.<\/p>\n Rioja-<\/strong>Somehow you knew we\u2019d get there but the elegance, versatility, and the bottle age of reservas<\/em> and gran reservas<\/em> make them crowd pleasing choices.\u00a0 Spanish wine for an American holiday?\u00a0 Heck yeah.<\/p>\n Chianti- <\/strong>Sangiovese works nicely particularly on tables where the food choices have a more savory bent.\u00a0 The 2015s are quite juicy.<\/p>\n If Thanksgiving is a \u2018white night\u2019 for you, there are lots of unique options this time around that didn\u2019t exist last year.\u00a0 The key is fresh, bright flavors, lifted acidity, and little or no oak.\u00a0 Again the choice has a lot to do with the sides because turkey itself is pretty versatile.\u00a0 \u00a0Spanish Albarinos, Portuguese<\/strong> versions of the same, white Rhones<\/strong>, and a host of things from northeastern Italy (Kerner, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Bianco, Friulano, etc<\/strong>.) are as good as they have been since the benchmark 2010s, maybe better.\u00a0 The 2016s have even a bit more drive.\u00a0 Consider this a blanket recommendation.<\/p>\n Riesling- <\/strong>Crowd pleasers and the kind of wines that far too many people deny even liking (until they taste it).\u00a0 We are not<\/em> fans of the new \u2018trocken\u2019 movement in Germany and find the majority of the examples either under nourished or over priced.\u00a0 That being said, classic German Riesling at the kabinett<\/em> (fruity) and halb-trocken<\/em> or fienherb<\/em> (medium dry) level are always lovely choices, particularly from the 2015 vintage.\u00a0 If you want dry Riesling, the Australians and Austrians do fine work with the 2015s from Austria particularly noteworthy.<\/p>\n Pinot Blanc- <\/strong>We are referring to the examples from Alsace rather than the bigger, often oaky California versions, though there are some Oregon efforts that will work also.\u00a0 Pinot Blanc definitely plays well in a \u2018supporting role\u2019 and rarely calls attention to itself\u2026until the bottle is empty.<\/p>\n White Bordeaux-\u00a0<\/strong>People are surely waiting for us to say Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre.\u00a0 Hey the 2015 Sancerres are knockout, but the pungent edge, while gorgeous with a plate full of oysters or mussels, can run afoul of some of the varied things on a lot of Thanksgiving tables.\u00a0 The Bordeaux versions, tempered with Semillon and Muscadelle, play more to the melons and minerals profile with less of the lime\/grapefruit edge.<\/p>\n Wild Cards-<\/strong> We aren’t deliberately trying to frighten people here.\u00a0 But sometimes they need a nudge to try something new.\u00a0 The 2015 vintage in Austria is the \u2018year of the Gruner Veltliner<\/strong>\u2019, with so many examples carrying the classic terroir-driven stony flavors, but also with more stuffing in the middle and stone fruit flavors adding another gear and dimension that we can\u2019t remember in any recent crop.\u00a0 Our wildest card?\u00a0 Muscat from Alsace<\/strong>, with a super spicy nose that says sweet, but a bone dry cut to clean the palate.<\/p>\n We could go on, and certainly haven\u2019t covered all the possibilities.\u00a0 But this is where our heads will be spinning as we are out looking at the shelves for our own holiday plans.\u00a0 It is a particularly bountiful year in some of our favorite categories for Thanksgiving service.\u00a0 Of course, if you can\u2019t decide, there is always Champagne<\/strong>!\u00a0 Happy Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We interrupt our originally scheduled rant to bring an important message\u2026holy smokes it\u2019s November!\u00a0 Yeah, it kind of snuck up on us again as we were scurrying around trying to find delicious deals and innovative new sources of fermented grape juice. We realize there are folks that have it all planned from their own cellar … Continue reading “TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY MESSAGE: WINES FOR THE BIRD, AND OTHER FAVORITES”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[182],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2292"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2304,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions\/2304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}