2008 Thanksgiving wines...and a few more too!

On Thanksgiving (and Christmas) I like to start with Champagne. It's a festive wine and celebratory after all! After that, its all about what we feel like drinking the rest of the day and of course the food. TG is a tough holiday meal to pair wine with as a cornucopia of flavors and textures fight for your palate's attention in abundance unlike any other meal of the year. Champagne and Riesling are the most versatile wines out there, however I favor Champagne over Riesling in most cases expect for Asian cuisine. Champagne is also more fun and popular with wine drinkers than the sommelier adored Riesling (Somms. love Reisling).

This day I was definitely on for champagne, no doubt I was gifted an excellent bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow label the week before at the Wine Party. It was perfect for the occasion. Then I wanted white to have with the Italian antipasti, but had none other on hand except a Shafer Chardonnay that was not such a great pairing. I needed more acidity and a Friuli or Tuscan white would have been perfect, I was unprepared! The Chardonnay was nice and we had some left to have with the birds, it was a great pairing.

Now for the red, Pinot Noir without a doubt was what I was feeling! Lisa and I decided to pop the cork on a Sea Smoke Southing. I am now so happy I have more of this wine and will be ordering the allocation of the 2007s coming in spring 2009. The 2007 vintage of wines in California is supposed to be the best in 10 years since the much heralded 2007 vintage.

I was thinking about also opening a Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir but decided we had enough wine for the time being as we had the Prosecco that my family likes to have with the Turkey. I and a few others passed on the Prosecco and enjoyed the Sea Smoke Pinot Noir and Veuve Champagne with dinner. I also wanted to save room for desert and to drink one more wine with desert. I had been jonesing for over a week for the 1994 Chappellet Moelleux that I had been sitting on for a few years, man was it worth the wait! I was hoping it was not past its prime, but showed to be in great shape with quite a few years left!

So, onto the wines:

NV Veuve Clicquot, Brut Champagne, Reims, France

Always a crowd pleaser. Biscuity, lemon and apple aromas. Tasty yeasty notes of bread and biscuit, apple and citrus. Great bubbles and acidity clean up the nicely dry finish.

2005 Shafer, Chardonnay "Red Shoulder Ranch", Carneros, Napa Valley

Color: Golden straw yellow

Nose: Toasty hazelnut, ripe apple and Meyer lemon aromas.

Palate: Apple and citrus flavors, nutty and strong acidic finish that mellow as the wine was open longer. If drinking, I would decant for 30 minutes or so to mellow out the finish.

2005 Sea Smoke, Pinot Noir "Southing", Santa Barbara Hills AVA, CA

Color: A rich velvety dark red hue, ruby edges

Nose: Lush Blackberry and Blueberry, dusty oak

Palate: Blackberry and Blueberry, dusty oak and some nice minerality. Excellent tannic structure, firm but not overdone.

This is a great example of a wine I love and hope to buy every year!

1994 Chappellet, Chenin Blanc Moelleux (Desert Wine)

Color: Rich and glowing dark gold

Nose: Creamy peach and spicy apricots, some older subtle oak aromas tell of age. Some orange blossom emerges later.

Palate: Rich flavors and texture, yet light on its feet - not cloying or overbearing. I can drink this all night! Creamy peach, apricot, orange blossoms and honeysuckle. Great acidity still remains in this wine and refreshes the palate!

2006 Cote de Brouilly, Chateau Thivin, Beaujolais, France

Color: Dusty maroon and red

Nose: Earthy with herbal tea and some cherry

Palate: More of the same, red fruits, herbal tea and earth, some minerality. Fine-grained tannins finish it off.

A Grand Cru Beaujolais is a great wine at a great price. They tend to be less complex and more accessible than a red Burgundy, but in great years the Cru Beaujolais are excellent wines.

1998 Ducru-Beaucaillou - La Croix de Beaucaillou, St. Julien, Bordeaux

Color: Dark red in the decanter. In the glass ruby center with light red/brick edges.

Nose: Red currants, meat and cedar.

Palate: Red currants and cherry, spicy cedar, older herbs like bay leaf, loads of tannin on the finish.

A great second wine from a superb 2nd Growth Producer Ducru-Beaucaillou, this wine is getting more expensive of late so get some before the price sky rockets and gets close to $50. You can get this for about $30 or so retail.

Cheers and enjoy the days leading up the big holidays coming up in December!

-Tom

148th Hospice De Beaune Tasting at Christie' New York

Started 148 years ago by the Hospice De Beaune to raise money for the hospital, this annual auction event sells at auction red and white Burgundy wines by barrel to the highest bidder. This was just a promotional tasting event in New York to raise awareness of the auction and to allow the trade to get a taste of what lies in Burgundy up for auction. Buyers from Japan, the US, the UK and many more vie to take home the best and most prized barrels of wine from vineyards owned by the Hospice De Beaune. The Hospice, formerly a 15th century hotel called the Hotel-Dieu, turned into a hospital to serve the poor of the region and never looked back. Instead of monetary donations, the Hospice was quite often given a vineyard or plot of vineyard as a donation as the French in this region believed that if they gave a vineyard they would be guaranteed entry to heaven. What a brilliant idea because the gift gave every year by creating wine which could then be sold each year for use by the hospital.

Whites (Chardonnay)

2005 Pouilly Fuisse, Francoise Poisard2006 Pouilly Fuisse, Francoise Poisard
2004 Meursault-Charmes, 1er Cru "Cuvee de Bahezre de Lanlay"
2006 Meursault-Charmes, 1er Cru "Cuvee de Bahezre de Lanlay"
2004 Meursault-Genevrieres, 1er Cru "Cuvee Philippe Le Bon"
2006 Corton Charlemagne, Grand Cru "Cuvee Francois de Salins"
2005 Batard Montrachet, Grand Cru "Cuvee Dame de Flandres"

Reds (Pinot Noir)

2005 Beaune, 1er Cru "Cuvee Dames Hospitalieres"
2005 Beaune, 1er Cru "Cuvee Guigogne de Salins"
2005 Pommard, 1er Cru "Cuvee Dames de la Charite"
2005 Volnay Santenots, 1er Cru "Cuvee Jehan de Massol
2003 Savigny-les-Beaune, 1er Cru "Cuvee Arthur Giraud"
2005 Beaune, 1er Cru "Cuvee Nicolas Rolin"
2002 Corton, Grand Cru "Cuvee Charlotte Dumay"
2003 Corton, Grand Cru "Cuvee Charlotte Dumay"
2005 Corton, Grand Cru "Cuvee Charlotte Dumay"
2005 Clos De la Roche, Grand Cru "Cuvee George Kritter"
1999 Mazis Chambertin, Grand Cru "Cuvee Madelaine Collignon"

What a line-up! I will make this an annual event that I attend. This was for me the best Burgundy only tasting I have ever been to. Now, by Burgundy standards and representation of the region this is a drop in the bucket! Most of the wines were from the Beaune, known best for its whites and also for solid reds, and two wines were from the Cote de Nuits, known for the most complex and sought after reds. The vineyards of Burgundy are more or less named for the villages in which the vineyards lie. The designation Grand Cru is the best parcel(s) of the vineyard(s), Premier Cru, or 1er Cru, being the second best individual sections of a vineyard(s) and then followed by "Village" and then regional, such as "Burgundy" or "Bourgogne", the latter are typical blends of different villages from the Cote du Beaune or the Cote de Nuits. It’s the hardest region to get to know, but the best to discover as they have some of the wine world's most cherished wines and define terroir in the wine world. Burgundy is difficult to learn, not only because of the name designations, but there can be multiple Grand or 1er Cru versions of the same vineyard. Many of the vineyards are so divided because of inheritance that they are sometimes just a few rows amongst a large vineyard.

My favorite white was the 2004 Meursault-Genevrieres, 1er Cru "Cuvee Philippe Le Bon" which was graceful, highly complex and very intriguing because of a note juniper I detected but could not pick out what it was. A purchasing agent from a NYC wine shop said it was a note of Juniper that came from the trees the bordered the vineyard - now THAT is terroir folks! These were great chardonnays, classic white Burgundy!

The reds were all delicious and varied in style. We were treated to a 3 year mini-vertical of Corton, Grand Cru "Cuvee Charlotte Dumay", 2002, 2003, and 2005 - 2002 being my favorite. The 1999 Mazis-Chambertin, Grand Cru "Cuvee Madelaine Collignon" was a real treat and a testament to what a great Burgundy with almost 10 years of age can be like. My favorite wine was the powerful 2005 Clos De la Roche, Grand Cru "Cuvee George Kritter". A true example of what 2005 red Burgundy is like, the wine was powerful and complex, yet still light on its feet and elegant. This was my first Clod de la Roche wine I have had. They are quite rare and are in high demand. Thus they are expensive and sell themselves because of their reputation and are not typically tasted at a public wine tasting.

Tomorrow is the Zachy’s Fall Wine & Food Extravaganza! Talk about wine sensory overload!

Cheers!

Foris 2006 Pinot Noir – Oregon - $13.98

The Foris Vineyards 2006 Oregon Pinot Noir is a nice and easy Pinot Noir that tastes and feels more like a $20-25 Pinot Noir than your garden variety mass produced versions from makers like BV Coastal, Mondavi Select, etc.

Very similar to a Bourgogne rouge, but with a New World Oregon twist, the wine has mineral and rich (not too rich) red berry aromas and flavors. Silky tannins and a nice supple finish round out a great, affordable and original Pinot Noir tasting experience from the US where most decent Pinot Noir starts at $30! It reminds me of a richer version of the Nicolas Potel Bourgogne Pinot Noir.

Foris’ Pinot Noir grapes do not come from the famed Willamette Valley, but the lesser known Rogue Valley in Southwestern Oregon. The label states that since 1974 Foris has been making wines in the Rogue Valley. I have had the “Fly Over Red” many times before ($13) from Foris which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and had always been pleased, especially for the price.