Margaret Swaine’s Wine Picks: Turkey Wines

These enjoyable wines are a good match for your Thanksgiving turkey. Find these well priced pinots that deliver via WineAlign.com/MargaretsPicks.

Rudolf Rabl Löss Grüner Veltliner 2011
$13.95 (88 Points)

From Austria’s Kamptal region, this grüner is gentle but fresh. Soft and rounded on the palate with floral and light pear notes, it has a pleasant acidity and touch of white pepper to perk it up. Nicely balanced with a smooth finish, it’s a match for roasted turkey with simple bread and onion stuffing, served with mashed potatoes.

Domaine de Vaugondy Dry Vouvray 2010
$14.95 (89 Points)

Entirely devoted to chenin blanc, the vines on this Loire domaine average 20 to 55 years old giving a lovely concentration to the wine. Great acidity yields a tangy, zesty white with flavours of quince, apple and pear. Perfect for turkey with a fruit-based stuffing, roasted root veggies and cranberry sauce.

Triacca Spadino Maremma 2010
$15.95 (88 Points)

From the coastal area of Tuscany, this medium-bodied red has a pretty, cedar-and-spice bouquet and an elegant, dry taste. Easy and smooth at first, it still has a good tannic grip. Sour cherry and plum flavours combine with savoury herbs on the palate and finish. Pair with turkey stuffed with sausages and spices served with savoury gravy.

Filed under: News, Wine, LCBO, Margaret Swaine, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner with Sara d’Amato

Vibrant and Savory Selections Fit for a Thanksgiving Feast

Sara d’Amato

If the chill in the air and the beautiful colours above aren’t indication enough, then the sudden cravings for pumpkin pie and tart cranberries are clues that the Thanksgiving season is upon us again. To most people Thanksgiving means entertaining, and entertaining brings forth either the delight or dread of choosing wine for a group of varied guests. In order to free ourselves from the chains of routine and tradition, this year, I propose a Thanksgiving without the usual suspects. By this I mean, freeing the table from the safety of chardonnay and pinot noir and looking towards less traditional varietals and regions.

Many people find choosing a wine for this occasion fraught with difficulty because one never wants to spend too much for fear that there will be several guests in attendance who won’t appreciate those choices but don’t want to disappoint those with more discriminating palates along with your own tastes (and if you’re reading this article, you have some interest in wines of quality). Keeping those aspects in mind, I will recommend a series of wines that are sure to fit the bill and keep everyone as happy and appreciative as they should be.

A grape that is not commonly associated with Thanksgiving feasts but should be is Austria’s star white, grüner veltliner. Its nose of quince and wildflowers and palate of spicy, white pepper and wild herbal notes make a perfect accompaniment to roasted bird. It is generally light enough to be served as a conversation-starting aperitif as well as less common addition to your holiday table. I love that a great example of this wine can almost play the role of a spice, seasoning or condiment to your dish – a completely integrated pairing. My suggestion is a lovely new release by Rudolf Rabl, the Löss Grüner Veltliner 2011, Kamptal, Austria ($13.95). Rabl is one of Austria’s most recognized producers of grüner veltliner and has been widely celebrated internationally. The “Loss” grüner is planted in loose, well-drained soils that are perfectly suited to the varietal and give the wine a supple approachability without sacrificing varietal traits – a superb value.

Another wine often missing from such celebrations is Vouvray. Made entirely from chenin blanc (otherwise known as pineau de la Loire) and a region known for its substantial network of underground limestone cellars, Vouvray produces distinct and memorable wines that range from sweet to dry to sparkling. Admittedly, the wine can be an acquired taste but it is well worth the effort. A little information for your guests with respect to its unique flavour profile will likely both be interesting and will lend greater appreciation to this fascinating and very food friendly wine. My particular recommendation, the 2010 Domaine De Vaugondy Dry Vouvray, Loire, France ($14.95), is dry and fresh with gorgeous dried herbal notes, a touch of honeyed flavour and is substantial enough to pair with rich sauces and gravies. The varietal is distinctively richly flavoured, with savory herbs, often an earthiness and a waxy mouthfeel. When planted in the varied soils of the Vouvray, chenin blanc can be either pleasantly fruity or mineral driven. This version has a great balance of both the above characteristics and delivers superb value.

Barbera is a fantastic grape to accompany a Thanksgiving meal as it is so approachable and most often reasonably priced. Its juicy, fleshy and satisfying nature make it an easy crowd pleaser while an example with good balance, characteristic medium-bodied weight and fresh vibrancy make it versatile at the table. Using descriptors like vibrant and food-friendly can make one shy away with the conclusion that the wine is tart, unfriendly and requires food. However, Barbera, in many situations, makes a great sipper as well as a smart food partner, because its acids are balanced by fleshy, generous fruit flavours. This recommendation showcases the best of the varietal with an exceptionally enticing nose: Clemente Cossetti & Figli La Vigna Vecchia Barbera D’Asti 2009, Piedmont, Italy ($16.95)

Chile’s star export, carmenère, finds a comfortable place at the table any night of the week, but given the chance to be showcased at a festive occasion is surely its rightful place. Carmenère is a wonderfully versatile grape (the key word when it comes to pairing with a multitude of traditional menus) that exhibits a spicy, floral and earthy nose and boasts great intensity of flavours on a medium to full-bodied frame. Savoury umami, one of the more elusive of the basic tastes (distinct from ‘salty’ and often found in Asian foods and ripe tomatoes) also often makes up the flavour profile of carmenère. When I have difficulty pairing a red wine to food, I often look to this unique varietal. A terrific new release, the 2009 Terranoble Gran Reserva Carmenère, Maule Valley, Chile ($17.95),  demonstrates the great appeal of this distinctive and flavourful varietal.

My final recommendation is a meaty wine that delivers the intensity that many red wine drinkers appreciate at the dinner table regardless of the meal. If you opt for prime rib or a roast instead of a bird, you will require a substantial, satisfying wine such as Domaine Les Grands Bois Cuvée Maximilien Cairanne 2010, Rhône, France ($21.95). Cairrane is a typical southern Rhône blend dominated by grenache, mourvedre, carignan and syrah. It is generally quite ripe and generous and grown on the flatter, hot plains which intensify the Mediterranean flavours often felt in wines of southern France. Notes of garrigue (wild, dried herbs, lavender, earth and underbrush) add another layer of complexity in this example. Thankfully it is also a very good value.

Acidity and savory herbal notes have been a theme in this year’s holiday recommendations. Remember that acidity doesn’t necessarily mean tart – in fact, in a balanced wine (best to accompany food), the result is a terrifically approachable wine that won’t leave you full. Acidity is also necessary to give the wine the edge and grip it requires to cut through rich flavours. And herbal does not necessarily mean green – in all of these examples, the herbal note lends a savory element to the wine that balances the juicy fruit and complements the big, aromatic dishes that often find their way to a holiday table.

Wishing you happy feasts and plenty of merriment this weekend,

Sara

Filed under: News, Wine, Food Pairing, Sara d'Amato, Thanksgiving, Wine

Bonnie Stern: Thanksgiving leftovers done right

We all have leftovers. But the trick is never call them leftovers. Food left over from holiday dinners can become delicious meals in its own right as long as you don’t put that leftover label on them. Here are lots of ideas and a few yummy recipes for the food in your fridge the day after Thanksgiving.

Puréed vegetable soups are very popular around the holidays. If you have leftover soups such as puréed squash, cauliflower, tomato or carrot, freeze it and serve it in shooter glasses for an appetizer at your next party. Even small amounts of puréed soup can be used to garnish other soups of contrasting colour — for example, picture a drizzle of brilliant squash soup on a neutral-coloured cauliflower soup. Leftover soups can also be thinned out with extra stock, cream or water and used as a sauce over chicken or pasta.

Filed under: Appetizer, Wine, Bonnie Stern, Leftovers, mashed potatoes, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Turkey, WA

WineAlign’s Picks for Thanksgiving

We asked our critics to select a few wines they’d enjoy with their Thanksgiving dinner.  Below are picks from David, John, Sara and Steve.

John – A Shotgun Affair

My approach to drinking over long thanksgiving meals is very simple: forget the straightjacket of specific wines with specific courses, and take the ‘shotgun’ approach instead. My analogy refers to the scattergun variety, un-rifled for less accuracy but greater coverage: lay out a bunch of different bottles on the table at the same time, and let family and guests taste whatever, and in whichever order they wish. If your shotgun is well loaded with buckshot and the spray wide enough, you’ll hit at least a bulls-eye or two. No matter if some innocent dishes or wines get hurt along the way – this is convivial family dining, not a matter of life or death. This works for me because at my place, a myriad of dishes are thrown onto to the table at the same time and my plate fills up with dozens of disparate and distinct flavours, making a single sniper shot tougher than picking off a wild turkey at 200 yards. I like to include a wide range of flavours and textures, while at the same time selecting wines that are versatile enough to play nice with most of the dishes. This means generally bright, fresh, palate-cleansing acidity, minimal oak (except in the fireplace, where it belongs), light tannins that won’t dry out that over-cooked bird any further, and occasionally a pinch of sweetness to take on that sweet potato or pumpkin pie.

Here are a four reasonably priced but respectable, versatile, virtually fail-safe Ontario wines that cover a wide range of styles. I’d be happy to have them on my table this thanksgiving:

13th Street Premier Cuvée, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Traditional Method $29.95
Cave Spring Riesling 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $14.95
Le Clos Jordanne Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2009, VQA Niagara $30.00
Château Des Charmes Late Harvest Riesling 2007, VQA Niagara On The Lake $21.95

Sara

Although there are many possible variations on the traditional Thanksgiving dinner most of them involve a bird of some sort and are certainly rich and filling. Full-bodied whites and lighter reds are therefore often the best choices to accompany this festive feast.

My white recommendation is a great value local wine from the highly acclaimed Tawse Winery. The Sketches of Niagara Chardonnay 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $19.95 is both rich and elegant. Unlike many bloated, oaky new world style Chardonnays, this example is clean, savory, exhibits beautiful minerality and has just the right amount of acidity to balance the wine leaving you feeling less full.

For a red, I choose a highly aromatic, silky red from the Beaujolais Cru appellation of Morgon. The Château De Bellevue Morgon 2009, Ac Beaujolais, France,  $19.95 is fleshy, juicy, slightly floral and is intensely satisfying despite its mid-weight character. A modern-inspired style which features clove spice, lavender, mixed berries and black cherries is sure to compliment stuffed turkey or roasted duck.

Steve

When I think of Thanksgiving I think of moist, juicy, roast turkey with roast potatoes and root vegetables. For this we need rich whites and soft fruity mid-weight reds. As I write this I am in Greece and so would like to recommend a delicious white made from the moschofilero grape that is great value in the LCBO at present. Boutari Moschofilero 2010, Mantinia Greece $11.95 is deservedly becoming Greece’s signature aromatic white and this is a great value ambassador with its orange blossom, apricot, peach and pear aromas. The palate is rich and creamy, yet it is soft, dry, well balanced and flavourful with the orangey acidity becoming more evident on the finish. Very good length.

It is mostly too hot for Pinot Noir in Australia but in the southern part of Western Australia in Pemberton it is cool enough due to southerly ocean breezes from the Antarctic. Thinking moist turkey again we need high acidity and mild berry flavour which Barwick White Label Pinot Noir 2010, Pemberton $15.95 delivers at a great price. It is a fruity vibrant pinot that is currently my household value pick. It is a pale red with aromas of cherry, raspberry and plum fruit plus some earthy tones and a hint of tobacco. It is midweight, well balanced with a solid yet gentle acid and tannin structure. It finishes well with the focus well maintained. Very good length.

For my third pick I am choosing a great value red from Ontario that is mostly cabernet franc blended with merlot. Pelee Island seems to be on a roll with its cabernet based reds. Their Alvar 2008 Cabernet Merlot 2008, Ontario VQA $12.45 is a delicious flavourful structured wine made from 60% cabernet franc, 30% merlot, 10% zweigelt. The nose shows delicate aromas of red berry fruit with a hint of tobacco and some beet notes. The midweight palate is velvety smooth and very fruity with crab-apple jelly and raspberry tea flavours and nice balancing acidity and grippy tannins and a notion of elegance. Very good length. This is way better than the price would indicate.

So invite many friends and family to join you for a Thanksgiving feast and impress them with these three value choices available at most LCBO stores. There is a wine here for most tastes and all three will be great with juicy turkey.

David – Go Big and Go Home

Thanksgiving dinner is one of the great family occasions of the year, a celebration of all that is close and personal. For that reason I always serve local wines.  Here in Ontario we are reminded constantly by our government agencies to “Go local”, to “Taste the Good” and that “Good things Grow….”.  I drink Ontario wines because many are now excellent and it is my way of saying thanks to those who have put so much time, effort and money to achieve that success.

But which Ontario wines?  First of all, do not limit yourself to one wine. Have at least one white and one red open so people can choose one, or both. The hubbub of a Thanksgiving dinner is not really the place to be submersed in the subtleties and dialogues of pairing.  That very funny Molson Canadian commercial about the anxiety of “whether the honeysuckle aroma of pinot noir goes with Aunt Mary’s maple candied yams” makes a good point (but I would serve something more characterful than Canadian).

Indeed I would serve Ontario wine that is very characterful. Thanksgiving dinner is after all a monumentally complex meal. So go more expensive in order to find wine of structure and complexity. Personally I have always loved pinot noir with turkey, for the same reason I like cranberry with turkey. Look for as generous a pinot as you can find – perhaps Norman Hardie from Prince Edward County, or Tawse or Flat Rock from Niagara. For white, try a bold, full on barrel fermented Ontario chardonnay, of which there are dozens that might work. Personally I would look to Tawse again, or Closson Chase, Hidden Bench, Ravine, Malivoire or Southbrook.

To find the best choices at an LCBO near you, register on WineAlign.com and go to Find Wine.  Select pinot noir then chardonnay, select Ontario, and select a price of under $40. You will get a list with Ontario’s best at the top!  Enjoy!

Click here to find Ontario Pinot Noir under $40.

Click here to find Ontario Chardonnay under $40.

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, David Lawrason, John Szabo, LCBO, Sara d'Amato, Steve Thurlow, Thanksgiving

John Szabo’s Vintages Preview for October 1st – A Turkey Shoot, Shiraz/Syrah School & Top Smart Buys

The Shotgun Approach to Thanksgiving, Two Schools of Syrah/Shiraz: Where do You Fit In?  & Top Ten Smart Buys

John Szabo, MS

Top Ten Smart Buys:  The Top Ten wines for savvy buyers this week includes a terrific $20 Niagara chardonnay from the winemaker who is setting the pace for the grape in Canada, a very fine 1er Cru Chablis for $26.95, a single vineyard Barolo from the great 2004 vintage for just $33.95, and a Chilean Malbec that will have the Argentines across the border questioning their South American domination of the grape. See them all here.

Thanksgiving Wine Menu

My approach to drinking over long thanksgiving meals is to dispense with the rigidity of specific wines with specific courses, and take the ‘shotgun’ approach instead (the scattergun variety, un-rifled for less accuracy but greater coverage): lay out a bunch of different bottles on the table at the same time, and let family and guests taste whatever, and in whichever order they wish. If your shotgun is well loaded with buckshot and the spray wide enough, you’ll hit at least a bullseye or two. No matter if some innocent dishes or wines get hurt along the way – this is convivial family dining, not a matter of life and death after all. I take this approach mostly because at my place, a myriad of dishes are thrown onto to the table at the same time and my plate fills with dozens of disparate and distinct flavours, making a single sniper shot impossible. I like to include a wide range of flavours and textures, while at the same time selecting wines that are versatile enough to play nice with most of the dishes. This means generally bright, fresh, palate-cleansing acidity, minimal oak (except in the fireplace, where it belongs), light tannins that won’t dry out that over-cooked bird any further, and occasionally a pinch of sweetness to take on that sweet potato or pumpkin pie. Here are four reasonably priced but respectable, versatile, virtually failsafe wines that I’d be happy to have on my table this thanksgiving, pulled from the October 1st VINTAGES release:

NV BRISEBARRE BRUT VOUVRAY AC Touraine, Méthode Traditionelle $18.95
2008 DR. HERMANN RIESLING KABINETT QmP, Erdener Treppchen $16.95
2008 ROSEHALL RUN COLD CREEK CABERNET FRANC VQA Prince Edward County $22.95
2006 ROYAL TOKAJI BLUE LABEL 5 PUTTONYOS TOKAJI ASZU Hungary  $19.95

    

Two Schools of Syrah/Shiraz: Where do You Fit In?

The feature this week is Syrah and Shiraz from around the world. Given the radical variations in style of which the grape is capable, it’s more than a little misleading to lop them all under the same category on a wine list, or put them side by side on a wine store shelf. Even the name used on the label, i.e. shiraz vs. syrah, can mislead you into expecting a certain style; remember the wine is often named by accidental geography or by the marketing department, not by the winemaker or after the most appropriate “style school”.

The variety in question may be identical, but it’s a long way from the northern Rhône Valley to the Barossa Valley, and the wines could hardly be more different, save for a couple of common features such as deep purple colour and a telltale whiff of black pepper. Beyond that, alcohol can range from 12% to 15+%, flavours from fresh black berry to fully jammy and medicinal, and texture from soft and cuddly to ferociously firm.

There’s little secret which style I prefer drinking, and if you’d like to ‘align’ your palate with syrah/shiraz schools from around the world, take this little taste test. Find some friends (ideally), pick up the 6 representative wines listed here below, open and put them in a paper bag (grab them at the LCBO checkout counter), have someone else number the bags at random so everyone is equally in the dark, then taste, compare and record the ones that set your taste buds racing.
Then it’s time for the revelation; if your top wines included the 2005 BECKETT’S FLAT MARGARET RIVER SHIRAZ Margaret River, Western Australia $21.95, the 2007 GUIGAL CROZES-HERMITAGE AC $24.95 or the 2008 DOMAINE LES YEUSES LES ÉPICES SYRAH Vins de Pays d’Oc $14.95, you’re a fan of what I call the “old school”: more reserved, spicy, fresh and firm syrah.

    

If your top wines included 2007 FESS PARKER THE BIG EASY SYRAH Santa Barbara County $34.95, the 2009 PÉREZ CRUZ LIMITED EDITION SYRAH Maipo Alto, Maipo Valley $19.95 or the 2009 THORN-CLARKE TERRA BAROSSA SHIRAZ Barossa, South Australia $16.95, then you’re in the ‘new school’ camp, alongside lovers of rich, ripe, bold and heady shiraz. For some additional education, check out what I and the other WineAlign critics had to say about these wines, and you’re alignment (and ours) will become clearer.

    

From the October 1st Vintages release:
Top Ten Smart Buys
Three Old School Syrah
Three New School Shiraz

Thanksgiving Picks
All Reviews

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

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Filed under: Featured Articles, Wine, John Szabo, LCBO, Shiraz, Syrah, Thanksgiving, Vintages, Vintages Preview

Vintages Preview October 2nd Release – Aussie reds, Italy’s Big Guns and Thanksgiving Wines

Have you been Robbed of Real Thanksgiving? Here’s an Idea.
(Aussie reds, Italy’s Big Guns and Thanksgiving Wines)

John Szabo, MS

The October 2nd release is chalk full of good wines, just in time for Thanksgiving. But remind me again what are we giving thanks for? Ah yes, the harvest. If you’re feeling contemplative, pour a glass of the superb meditation wine from one of the last great iconoclasts, Giuseppe Quintarelli, the 2001 VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO SUPERIORE DOC $84.95, and come along.

It would seem this quintessentially North American holiday is a relic of the past for most city dwellers, who, like me, are about as connected to the harvest as they are to the oil wells that ultimately fill their gas tanks. Ah! What it must have been like for early settlers to scrape by throughout the year, living off of meager seasonal offerings or preserves, with no mid-winter Peruvian asparagus, Mexican tomatoes or Argentine pears to see them through until the sun returned. By early summer, the hunger for something fresh, something different, the yearning for another colour to shatter the monochromatic monotony of the day-to day menu must have grown as intense, as urgent as thirst in the desert. And in the old world, no stranger to feast and famine, the nearly empty barrels of wine would by now have turned to a piquant, foul liquid redolent of dead fruit and vinegar. Oh the longing for a glass of fresh and cool nouveau wine!

And then, finally the end of summer would draw near, foretold by the massive, glowing harvest moon, promising the long-awaited time when the fields would finally offer up their sustenance un-begrudgingly: a sudden riot of flavours, textures, nutritional elements. It must have been a time of hard physical labor that seemed like no work at all, as every joyful harvester relished the certainty that each bead of sweat and each tired muscle fiber promised a banquet of unequaled proportions, when the community would gather to celebrate another successful year in the cycle of life and survival. How fine that pumpkin, how sweet that corn, how nourishing that turkey must have tasted!

In a strange, even selfish way, especially as I sip the dense and brooding, volcanic 2006 D’ANGELO AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE DOC $18.95, I feel robbed of that intense delight, the inimitable pleasure that can derive only from acute privation followed by temporary satisfaction, made all the more sweet by the awareness of yet more privations ahead. The super-abundance of North American society steals away that pleasure from us, at least from me, a guy who spends most of his life eating and drinking. It’s embarrassing. Thanksgiving becomes yet another gathering, another big meal, another glass of great wine, another cause for stress for the calorie and blood-pressure-conscious. There’s arguably equal monotony in excellence as there is in mediocrity; just look at all of those unhappy individuals who want for nothing yet still crave more. Instead of easing hunger and feeding our families the greatest concern becomes finding the ideal wine match for turkey, or cranberry sauce, or whatever you traditionally serve at your Thanksgiving table. What a thought!

So there. I’ve just resolved to forego wine, in order to restore, even if artificially, what good fortune has stripped from me. A day without wine. I can do it. Just one last glass of the fine value, textbook, 2009 ROUX PÈRE & FILS MÂCON-VILLAGES BLANC AC $13.95. Then after a pause I can get back to the serious enjoyment of eating and drinking and giving thanks.

I’ll look forward to harvest table loaded with a huge range of flavours, textures, condiments and secret family recipes. I won’t stress about which wine, which dish, which guest, which hour. My approach will be to open a bunch of wines, as varied as the spread, and share with my community. But it won’t be just any haphazard collection of wines. This will be a celebration of once-a-year wines. I can’t think of a better time to have something that you don’t have any other time of the year – a real treat. They will be wines that remind me of honest, hard labor, traditional values, of tradition itself, made by hard-working wine growers who’s lively-hood and that of their families depend on the success of a once-a-year harvest event. They will also be wines from unique places, where great wine is made only because nature intended it to be so, not because we’ve figured out how to game the system.

In other words, my special Thanksgiving offerings won’t include wines from irrigated deserts or made from modified vines imported for industrial production. They won’t be wines that taste like they could come from anywhere, like hydroponic lettuce or January strawberries. They won’t be from multinational, publicly-traded companies who’s eyes are fixed on quarterly profits instead of waxing and waning moons, or wines made by absentee hobbyists-owners who got into the business because they like the lifestyle, or at least the idea of it, without having to actually do any of the work themselves. There will be wines like the 2005 BAROLO $44.95 from hands-on perfectionist PAOLO SCAVINO, or the 2006 WYNNS COONAWARRA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON Coonawarra, South Australia $24.95, with a half century’s worth of fine vintages to prove its worthiness.

The rest of the wines can be saved for the rest of the year when we return to the reality of living the privileged modern life. Thanksgiving for me will be a time to remember the past, to remember how lucky we are, to remember the people both past and present who really do give thanks at harvest, and to be grateful.

Ok, enough flimsy philosophy and on to some solid practical Thanksgiving drinking guidelines:

Primo: The main consideration for Thanksgiving dinner is drinkability: this means wines that are basically dry, lower in tannins and alcohol, higher in acid, and minimally oaked, if at all.  After all, these are not short, school night-type dinners-on-the-go. You’ll be hanging about in the home’s epicenter, the kitchen, while the hosts (or you) are busily preparing away, sipping on something fresh and crisp. This could last for hours, since it’s virtually impossible to get a large, multi-dish meal on the table on time unless you’re a Cordon Bleu chef. Even Bourdain has to stop for a smoke break once in a while. So you don’t want to bludgeon the palate with saliva-choking tannins and head-spinning alcohol right off the top.  Think 2009 DR. LOOSEN DR. L RIESLING QbA Mosel $13.95 or 2009 QUINTA DOS CARVALHAIS DUQUE DE VISEU WHITE DOC Dão $12.95.

Secondo: Free yourself from the paralyzing distress of finding perfect matches. Loads has been written about the ideal match for Roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, desserts and everything else that is traditionally served at Thanksgiving, giving the spurious impression that such a thing as perfection exists and should be sought. Given this huge range of flavours, what sommelier-genius could possibly find a wine or two that works perfectly across the board? I believe the more versatile the better (see above), and the better the wine, the more thanks you’ll give. Now pass the sweet potatoes and fill my glass.

Terzo: Early evening wines to get chilling include the likes of riesling, un or lightly oaked chardonnay, gruner veltliner, chenin blanc, pinot and gris/grigio from places north of the 40th. If all of your WineAlign followers are coming for dinner then you’ll want to bring out something a little more cutting edge like falanghina or fiano from Campania in Italy, assyrtiko or moscophilero from Greece, albariño from Spain or Portugal, dry furmint from Hungary, or perhaps sparkling wine from Luxembourg, if only to show that you do read our stuff once in a harvest moon.

Quarto: When it’s time to shift into red, the grapes/regions that come to mind as naturally as sunrise brings the thought of coffee include barbera from northern Italy, traditional-style sangiovese from central Italy, pinot noir from cooler zones (Canada, Burgundy, Oregon, New Zealand), vibrant, soft and fruity Spanish reds based on tempranillo, spicy, suave grenache-based southern Rhône reds, herbal and peppery Ontario or Loire Valley cabernet franc, or maybe a plush, sensibly-proportioned malbec from Mendoza. From this release consider: 2008 GEMMA LANGHE ROSSO DOC $13.95, 2007 TRAPICHE BROQUEL CABERNET SAUVIGNON Mendoza $15.95, or the 2008 COLDSTREAM HILLS PINOT NOIR Yarra Valley, South Australia $29.95.

Insider’s wines to consider include reds from Mt. Etna, Sicily, or nebbiolo from the Valtellina north of Milan, elegant versions of blaufränkisch from central Europe, Dâo reds from central Portugal and mencia-based reds from Bierzo, northern Spain. More structured wines with several year’s time in the cellar can be a real treat, too. All of these wines share a common theme of juicy acid or mellow tannins, and spicy berry flavours that are sort of like cranberry sauce being passed around the table. Give these a slight chill, and you can sip, in moderation, all night long, while gratitude is expressed and the conversation flows.

There is a long list of top scoring wines in the October 2nd release, from the twin themes of Aussie Reds and Italy’s Big Guns, as well as in the Top Ten Smart Buys. At the top of the heap is the astonishingly good 2007 ORNELLAIA DOC Bolgheri Superiore $179.95. But if you don’t want to give quite that much thanks, pick a few favorite grapes/regions/producers, and search our database for the best wines that you can afford for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Click on the following to see my:
Top Ten Smart Buys
Top Australian Reds
Italy’s Big Guns
All Reviews

Cheers,

John Szabo, Master Sommelier

Filed under: Wine, Australia, Big Reds, First In Line, Italy, John Szabo, Thanksgiving, Top 10 Smart Buys, Vintages, Vintages Preview

Turkey with Italian Red?

“You might well ask, given Vintages’ feature release of Italian reds on Thanksgiving weekend. And guess what? It’s not a bad notion.  Consider that cranberryish pinot noir is the classic red match for turkey.  Italian reds have that same nervous acidity, savoury complexity, and sour red fruit, especially if they hail from the northern regions like Piedmont, Veneto and, to some extent, Tuscany.  They may be even better than pinot because they have more weight to stand up to not only the dense turkey meat (especially the dark) but the stuffing and all the trimmings. I suspect several wines from the following will be excellent with Big Bird:  Remo Farina Ripasso Valpolicella, Trerose Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano,  La Spinona Bricco Faset Barbaresco and Malgrà Fornace Di Cerreto Barbera D’asti Superiore… This release, Vintages continues its string of excellent quality, great value German rieslings, young and old.  I can’t believe some of these golden beauts are landing at under $20. Try the idiosyncratic Studert-Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese Wehlener Sonnehur… Ontario whites shine in this release, every bit as good quality and excellent value as their international competition.  Look for Flat Rock’s 2008 Unplugged Chardonnay; the shimmering, taut Thirty Bench 2008 Riesling; and the quite luxurious, yet well-balanced, 90-point Inniskillin 2007 Montague Chardonnay that makes the list of David’s Half Dozen. Ever so quietly, winemaker Bruce Nicholson has been moving Inniskillin back to the quality forefront.”

-  David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign
Click here to see ranked lists and reviews of close to 100 wines in this release.

David’s Half Dozen

Whites

Schloss Reinhartshausen Riesling Spätlese 2007, Rheingau, Germany  $23.95, 91pts

Inniskillin Winemaker’s Series Montague Vineyard Chardonnay 2007, VQA Four Mile Creek, Niagara Peninsula  $18.95 90pts

Tedeschi Capitel Tenda Soave Classico 2008, DocVeneto, Italy $15.95  90pts

Reds

Miguel Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Do Penedès, Spain  $44.95 92pts

Il Grigio Da San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva 2005, Docg,Tuscany, Italy  $28.95 91pts


Volpaia Citto 2007, Tuscany, Italy $13.95  89pts

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