Thanksgiving Wine Tips

We know these tips may be late, but hopefully "better late than never" for at least some of our readers.

Pairing wine with Thanksgiving dinner is difficult because of the variety of flavors and sweetness levels traditionally on the table.  We recommend serving several wines with Thanksgiving dinner and finding out what you, your family and friends, like best.

Light reds like Gamay, light Pinot Noir, and dry rose (semi-dry depending on your taste) go well with turkey.  Light reds and dry roses also stand up to dressings and many side dishes, although cranberries and sweet potatoes (especially with brown sugar and marshmellows) may make the wine taste a little too light and maybe a touch bitter.  Vynecrest produces a Nouveau Beaujolais made from 100% Gamay and Pinnacle Ridge produces a Chambourcin Rose, both of which should pair well with turkey. 

Some whites also pair well with turkey but too often whites will be overwhelmed by cranberries, sweet potatoes, and some stuffings.  A light white with touch of sweetness, rather than a heavy, oaked chardonnay, should work well.

We especially like dry and semi-dry white and rose sparklings with turkey and other traditional Thanksgiving dishes. 

What We're Drinking

This Thanksgiving we're drinking a dry rose from Barren Ridge (one of our favorite Virginia wineries), Brut Rose from Pinnacle Ridge (a very dry, light, sparkling rose made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes), and Trapiche Extra Brut Sparkling from Mendoza, Argentina, which we've reviewed several times and have used at several large wine tasting events. We also highly recommend Manatawny's Blanc de Blanc sparkling, especially if you like your sparkling with just a touch of residual sugar (sweetness) and Pinnacle Ridge's Blanc de Blanc if you like even a touch more sweetness to your sparkling.  Vynecrest has produced a sparkling Chambourcin, but we have not tried it.

More about Sparkling

Pinnacle Ridge's Brut Rose and Trapiche Extra Brut are very dry and so may be too dry for some readers.  The Brut level of sweetness (dryness) is more popular and many readers will prefer a semi-dry level of sweetness in their sparkling wine.  Both Manatawny's and Pinnacle Ridge's Blanc de Blancs are good bets in this medium range (with Mantawny's being a bit drier than Pinnacle's).  Extra Dry sparkling is a little sweeter than Brut and Demi-Sec is clearly a sweet dessert-type sparkling. 

Korbell produces a full line of sparklings (from naturel which is the driest to demi-sec which is the sweetest), with most of these usually available in most PLCB stores.  Flexinet from Spain also produces several sparklings and is worth a try. 

Let us know what you've been drinking and what you like !

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Cheers from Vintage Connections 
Dean and Lisa Foster 

Wine Educators and Consultants   

Beaujolais Nouveau (Georges Duboeuf) 2011

We've never directly recommended against buying a wine before (not in our newsletter or blog, anyway).  Last year we recommended the Beaujolais Nouveau 2010, bought several bottles ourselves including the 1.5 L bottle, and took this wine to a party or two.  Not this year. 

Nouveau is released every year on the 3rd Thursday of November.  This year that was Thursday, November 17.  The Georges Duboeuf is the only 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau available off the shelf in PLCB stores.  Others are available by special order.

The Georges Duboeuf is Beaujolais Nouveau thin and bitter.  We don't expect much of this wine in any year but this year, despite our low expectations, we were REALLY disappointed.  But, don't take our word for it.  Go ahead and buy a bottle and let us know what you think.  It's currently available at all PLCB stores, product code 5877, for $12.99 (plus tax) per 750 ml bottle.  1.5 L bottles are also available for $23.99 (plus tax).  Most stores have big displays near the front of the store.

A Reuters news release says "Beaujolais seeks to burnish its image as a wine to celebrate the new vintage and dampen criticism that its popularity lies more in the marketing than in the quality of the wine."  Judge for yourself.  This year we think it's all about marketing. 

The Beaujolais region, within the Burgundy region of France, produces some fine wine.  Like Nouveau Beaujolais, other Beaujolais wines are made from the Gamay grape.   Generally, wines made from Gamay are light and fruity and easy to drink.  We've tasted (and bought) a few made in the USA and they have been good wines. 

Nouveau Beaujolais is made differently from other Beaujolais and Gamay wines.  It is made quickly, taking about 10 weeks from harvest to market.  The juice spends almost no time on its grape skins and never sees oak, so it is light in tannin.  The idea is to produce an inexpensive, light, drinkable wine quickly to celebrate the new harvest (and to help with cash flow).  The wine and its release is highly celebrated and usually a lot of fun.  But, we're not buying any more this year and aren't sure if the wine still in the bottle we opened yesterday will find its way to the glass, or just the kitchen sink. 

 

Malbec 

Let's talk about some good wine.  Last night we went to a Malbec tasting  at the monthly meeting of the Indian Valley Chapter of the American Wine Society. 

We've been looking forward to this tasting for months and we were not disappointed.  The hosts served six Malbecs including three from Argentina, two from France, and one from Washington State.  Some were blends with Malbec composing less than half of the blend.  In the case of Washington wine, only 4% we Malbec.  But, we're fine with these blends because Malbec is often used as a blending wine to add color and complexity to other wines.  Tasting the blends was interesting and educational.  However, we're still fans of 1005 (or close) Malbecs from Mendoza, Argentina, and have been drinking, writing, and recommending several over the past few years. 

Our favorite last night was Maipe Reserve from Mendoza.  However, the surprise of the evening and the overall favorite of the group was Chateau Caminade Cahors "La Commnadery 2088 (Cohors, France).  Although our hosts purchased all of their Malbecs from Wine.com, this favorite is available in PA as a special order, PLCB code 52318 for $21.89 per bottle with a minimum order of 12 bottles.

A Maipe Malbec is available at some PLCB stores, code 25616, for only $11.99 per bottle.  This is NOT the reserve we tasted last night, but at this price, we're going to try it (the reserve from Wine.com was only $13.79 per bottle).

In our last blog and newsletter, we recommended Altivo Barrel Select Malbec, which we used at the benefit wine tasting at the Pottstown Regional Public Library, which was very successful thanks to the 70 people who attended.  We've repeated that past article below.

We've found that there are different styles of Malbec fruity, powerful, and complex.  We prefer the complex style, which is big, bold, and with a little less alcohol (13.5 % vs. 14.9%) than the powerful style.  Overall, Malbec is usually lighter in tannins than you'd expect given its color.  We like the sharper tannins, more complex and intense taste, which is why we probably preferred the Maipe over the Cahors and other four Malbecs last night.

 

 

Altivo Barrel Select Malbec

 

This rich full-bodied dry red wine comes from the Uco Valley in Mendoza, Argentina. 

 

It is made from 100% malbec grapes from one of the oldest estates at Altivo vineyards.  Pleasantly aromatic, it features lovely aromas of boysenberries with a hint of basil.  Flavors of rich dark fruits are well balanced with tannins and acidity.  It has a long lasting finish. 

 

This is one more of the wines we'll be featuring at the Pottstown Library Benefit Tasting on Saturday, November 5.

 

Alcohol is 13.5% by volume with residual sugar at 2.6 grams per liter.    Great when paired with beef of lamb.  PLCB product code is 19768 and sells for $14.99 at many PA Wine and Spirit stores, including the Pottstown store the last time we checked.

 

Up-coming Events

   

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail

Nouveau Weekend 

November 19 & 20

(From the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail website)

This is the earliest chance to sample the first vintages of the new harvest. Nouveau wines are light, fruity and semi-dry to dry red wines.

It's also a great opportunity to purchase wines for the upcoming holiday season to give as gifts or to drink at dinner.

Tip: March Madness passports also go on sale this weekend. Get them before they sell out!

 

Cheers from Vintage Connections 
Dean and Lisa Foster 

Wine Educators and Consultants  

WINES of the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

Call the Library at 610-970-6551 

before NOON on FRIDAY to reserve your place  

at the Pottstown Regional Public Library  Benefit Wine Tasting 

 

Saturday, November 5    

at the  Pottstown Regional Public Library  

on High Street in Pottstown  

 $40 per person 

 

The Seeker Sauvignon Blanc
This crisp, refreshing sauvignon blanc is typical of so many sauvignon blancs from Marlborough, New Zealand.  Crafted from grapes from three premier vineyards in Marlborough, this 100% sauvignon blanc has aromas of fresh summer herbs with fruity flavors of nectarine and citrus. It has a long, pleasant finish with balanced acidity. Alcohol is 13.5% by volume.  PLCB product code is 3249 and sells for $12.99 at most PA Wine and Spirit stores. 

This is one of the six wines we're featuring at the Pottstown Regional Public Library Wine Tasting Fund-Raiser on Saturday night, November 5.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Altivo Barrel Select Malbec

This rich full-bodied dry red wine comes from the Uco Valley in Mendoza, Argentina. 

It is made from 100% malbec grapes from one of the oldest estates at Altivo vineyards.  Pleasantly aromatic, it features lovely aromas of boysenberries with a hint of basil.  Flavors of rich dark fruits are well balanced with tannins and acidity.  It has a long lasting finish. 

This is one more of the wines we'll be featuring at the Pottstown Library Benefit Tasting on Saturday, November 5.

Alcohol is 13.5% by volume with residual sugar at 2.6 grams per liter.    Great when paired with beef of lamb.  PLCB product code is 19768 and sells for $14.99 at many PA Wine and Spirit stores, including the Pottstown store the last time we checked.

Wines of the Southern Hemisphere

Support the Pottstown Regional Public Library

Saturday, November 5, beginning at 6:30 PM
at the Pottstown Regional Public Library
500 East High Street, Pottstown.

$40 per person in advance.   

Call the Library at 610-970-6551 to register.

Taste 6 wines, including this unique shiraz/viogner blend from Australia, each from a different country in the Southern Hemisphere.  

Wine presentation and comments by Vintage Connections, Dean and Lisa Foster.

Each wine paired with an appetizer prepared by Jerry DeLena and his Magic Grillability.

 

Music by Dillan Taylor, classic guitarist

 

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail

Nouveau Weekend 

November 19 & 20, 2011

This is the earliest chance to sample the first vintages of the new harvest. Nouveau wines are light, fruity and semi-dry to dry red wines.

It's also a great opportunity to purchase wines for the upcoming holiday season to give as gifts or to drink at dinner.

Tip: March Madness passports also go on sale this weekend. Get them before they sell out!