Wine for the Holidays, way too early post, but....

[Ralph]

Originally Posted by LouDeeter

We usually have a rose sparkling at Thanksgiving. Cava (from Spain) is inexpensive, but good with food or by itself. My wife loves everything France, so she will add a dash or two of Creme de Cassis to her sparkling to make a Kir Royale. If you add Creme de Cassis to regular white wine, it is just a Kir. Regardless, it's fun. My Wine Access delivery is scheduled for next Tuesday. I'm like a kid on Christmas morning, anticipating its arrival!!

I'm enjoying your wines thru your posts. Unfortunately, my nephrologist took wine off my beverage list, but hope all of you enjoy your holiday spirits.

[LouDeeter]

Thanksgiving wine report: First off, only 4 adults drinking, yet over the course of the day, somehow 4 bottles disappeared! We started with a French sparkling, with creme de cassis for Kir Royale. Thanksgiving dinner at 1:30 PM with one person drinking Belle Glos Pinot Noir and three drinking Belle Glos Blanc de Noir, which is a rose made from Pinot Noir grapes. Finished off with an Italian cabernet franc, Duemani Cifra. The latter wasn't paired with food, just got us through the evening. The head knock I had on my Friday morning ride was evidence that I got my share.

[LouDeeter]

Refreshing this one as we are going to a friend's house for Thanksgiving since our daughter and family are going to see the Macy's parade in New York. Wine for the day/meal will be my contribution. Based on a recommendation from this thread, I'm taking a Rose' Sparkling. Not sure what else. I know the host/hostess both like Pinot Noir. I know that for those who like white wines, Chardonnay pairs well with most Thanksgiving meals. If someone else has a recommendation, please share. I'm making my list and checking it twice.

[Retinadoc]

Grgich Hills Chardonnay seems to work well. I remember when Boujalaise Nouvo was a thing.

[Turkle]

Thanksgiving can actually be a bit challenging from a wine perspective, as you have to please a lot of people and there is a whole lot of greasy bland food on the table. You have to bring wine that "non-wine" people will be able to enjoy, which means keep your powerful aged reds and austere, flinty whites for another day. Thanksgiving demands simple wine that even a Midwesterner would enjoy. (I'm from the Midwest, this is all in fun.)

The classic reds for this are Beaujolais (not the Nouveau, blecchh) and Pinot Noir of about any stripe, as they will play well with overcooked turkey and some disgusting sweet potato dish with marshmallows on it.

I have always favored white wines with some backbone as well. I like oaky California Chardonnay and even some off-dry Riesling for this. Some Gewurztraminers also have a nice profile for this. They will stand up well to greasy gravy and stuffing without demanding too much of your relatives' palates.

This year, I happen to have a case of a really nice friendly medium-bodied Rioja with just enough fine tannins and funky yeast to keep it interesting. I'll be bringing a few bottles of that, as well as a couple bottles of fun and rich off-dry Riesling that are sure to be crowd-pleasers.

Even my brother, who is very much a "beer guy," can find something to like about those wines. Or at least, I hope so!

[LouDeeter]

With a handle like Turkie, your Thanksgiving recommendations sound great. I have some well aged Spatlese Mosel Rieslings and a 9 year old Austrian riesling (dryer though) as options; and some well aged, 2012, Rioja as well. That might work. I know the hostess likes German riesling, but I'm not sure she has had a Spatlese or Auslese. I hadn't thought about either of them. So, may change, but I think I'll take 4 bottles for 4 people, more if they add guests. Rose sparkling, Pinot Noir, Spatlese Riesling and a Rioja. Will have to sit on the Chardonnay as I don't have anything in stock other than a $7 bottle I picked up on a BOGO at the grocery store this summer. My go to chardonnay a few years ago was the Rombauer, which had that buttery taste from the malolactic fermentation that seems to be out of favor at the moment among chardonnay drinkers.

[cgolvin]

I've always found that Zin pairs well with turkey and the rest of the usual Thanksgiving feast.

Originally Posted by LouDeeter

… well aged, 2012, Rioja as well.

Not to pick nits, but I wouldn't consider a 2012 Rioja "well aged." For some of the better producers, like Lopez de Heredia, that would be a somewhat recent release. That said, I'm sure a good 2012 Rioja would be delicious. I wish my tolerance for red wine were greater but, alas, I can now only tolerate small amounts. And I've got some very nice reds in the cellar

[deluz]

I am not drinking any @$#%^ing pinot

[Alistair]

…disgusting sweet potato dish with marshmallows…

You take that back! What kind of weirdo doesn’t like their dessert on the same plate as the main?

But, totally agree on an “average” red - something easy to drink that nobody can really fault.

I leave it to my local indy wine shop to pick. I usually just walk in, tell them what’s being served, a budget, and take whatever they recommend. So far, it’s worked pretty well for reasonably priced (but not cheap) bottles.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Alistair

I leave it to my local indy wine shop to pick. I usually just walk in, tell them what’s being served, a budget, and take whatever they recommend. So far, it’s worked pretty well for reasonably priced (but not cheap) bottles.

I do the same.

What $ range are you talking about here?

I'm italian and drink wine with just about every dinner, so I'm willing to splurge a little for the holidays and buy something "better" than what I consider "table wine" which gets drank regularly.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

What $ range are you talking about here?

$30 give or take, for bottle we expect with the meal. More if there’s a reason (not often) or if it’s a gift.

For “table wine”, I’ve found TJ’s various “Reserve” offerings to be good enough - ordinary, but definitely drinkable. Or if there’s something we particularly enjoyed from the wine shop, we’ll go back and grab half a case.

We enjoy wine, but we’re not picky or into it as a hobby. We’ve had a few $100+ bottles over the years, and they’ve all been great, but I’m not convinced they’re “great enough” to warrant the price.

[Turkle]

I am definitely at the point where my main wine shop knows exactly what I like, and will recommend accordingly. And vise versa, I know enough about food and wine to be able to accurately describe what I want and I know I'll get it.

It is well worth it to cultivate a relationship with a great LWS (local wine store) just like it is with your LBS. At both stores, I send in as many referrals as possible, and I make sure they drop my name when they do. It means I get the hookup when I'm next in the store.

[rccardr]

We recently returned from a few weeks in Europe, the last week in the South of France. Spent a day in the Bandol region tasting reds. Hopefully our purchases will show up in time for Thanksgiving, in which case an eight year old Bunan red from there should be pretty much perfect, along with an Alsatian Weinbach dry Reisling or Sylvaner for the white drinkers.

[LouDeeter]

Wife put the kibosh on the rose' sparkling. Says the hostess doesn't like sparkling. Seeing sylvaner (grape variety) recommended above brings back memories of living in Germany, specifically Wurzburg for three years 40 years ago. The steep slopes of the Main River were planted with sylvaner vines. I found the wine to be a bit too acidic and dry for my tastes, but then, I prefer reds. I looked up sylvaner and lo and behold, it was a component of Liebfraumilch, one of the cheapest wines we could get back then, usually $2-4 a bottle. We drank a LOT of it. And, of course, thinking of that led me down memory lane about how we got started with "real" wine. I'm not talking about Boones Farm (drank a lot of that in college), although some might think Mateus, Lancers, Mouton Cadet (Bordeaux) and Liebfraumilch aren't much better.

Anyway, looks like I will take a chardonnay to replace the sparkling. Will have to buy a bottle. Not taking the $7 (BOGO) bottle. Well, maybe....

[Spaghetti Legs]

For the cycling crowd: