Turkey Day

Nice line-up, Paulo!! I"m inspired to take a pic of our wines too...

Stawberries with the sparkling?? Paulo... what are you thinking? Of course, I'm thinking you are not putting the strawberries in the wine? You are not, are you?

Here, I think we will start with NV Duval-Leroy Paris Champagne with the starters, a Dehlinger Rose for the lighter early courses, and a 2002 Loring Garys' Pinot and 2005 Leigh Cellars Silacci Vineyard Pinot...

Happy turkey day to all!!!

No pictures here, but we had a 2004 Wallhausen Riesling Kabinet (Nahe) and 2004 ESJ Bone Jolly. Both wines went really well with all things turkey.

So what are your plans for Thanksgiving and, of course, what wines are you planning to open?

I opened a 1993 Le Montrachet from the negociant Le Gouzotte d'Or.

Nearly 15 year old white Burgundy. From a negoce, not an estate. Might be over the hill, one might think?

Nope. Fully alive, fully mature white Burgundy, with just the correct kiss of oak. This is the sort of wine that made the chardonnay grape famous. Abundant, lovely aroma, with the nuance of roasted nuts that says "maturity", along with those lemon and melon aromas you normally get with chardonnay. And lots of other stuff going on. You can get lost in the aroma of this wine.

So we take a sip. Big, full fruit flavors that follow what the aroma hinted at. The balance is perfect. The finish goes on for a minute or so, with the flavors continuing to dance on the palate.

Yes, great white Burgundy DOES age well.

-Paul W.

P.S. - This goes very well with Chinese Lemon Chicken.

I loved looking at your wines, Jim!

Yes - tiny chopped strawberries with prosecco is a great and fun combination. The Mionetto was by far the most complex and enjoyable, with honey notes. I even had it without strawberries first just to be sure. The Rosa Regale was enjoyed after dinner and desserts, with a thin slice of dark chocolate - YUM!

Well we had a New Zealand theme for most of our wines. We just got in the new 2007 Matua Paretai Sauv Blanc. I liked it as well as the 2006 but not quite up to 2005. For my taste, the more agressive the better.
Saint Clair Wairau Reserve 2006 is my favorite of any tasted so far. We also opened a Lawson Dry Hills Gewurz 2006. I love the aromatics on this wine. We also had a Sebastiani Sonoma Chardonnay 2005. A bit too oaky for my taste but still nice. For Pinot Noir we had Delta Hatter's Hill 2005. I thought that this showed really well. Good depth and red fruit characters. And of course the turkey was a fresh, brined bird cooked on my Traeger.

...

Zardetto and Mionetto Prosecco Brut (served with chopped strawberries)
Rosa Regale Banfi 06 Bracchetto D'Acqui
Moulin a Vent 05 Pascal Granger Cru Beaujolais
Cantina Zaccagnini "dal tralcetto" 03 Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
Chateau Faugeres St. Emilion Grand Cru 02:

No Sparkling Shiraz?

Paulo:

"Bracchetto D'Acqui" looks good. And especially for a Turkey Curry the day (weeks?) after for the excess Turkey.

The sugar offsets the tannin.

Have not seen you for a while Warren! How dings in UK?

Have not seen you for a while Warren! How dings in UK?

Thought I pop in when I read one of Robin's newsletters and found lots of good stuff.

Since you ask, the northern part of the UK is doing well. Depression has sent in the southern part - south of Carlisle.

England is out of The European Football (soccer) Championships having lost to Croatia.

Well, the oven broke last week.
The guy was supposed to fix it Wednesday, but the part didn't arrive.
So we had a turkey-deprived Thanksgiving dinner of raviolis and green salad, and a bottle of Ridge Lytton Springs '02.
The Ridge was surprisingly muted - it was largely overpowered by raviolis! I think it would have been fine with turkey; it was very good by itself, and quite long. It had all the characteristics one could want, but it was just not all that assertive.