My mission is to inspire you to make wine a part of your daily life.  To accomplish this I want to expose you to new wines and deconstruct the complexity of wine.  I hope you learn something new along the way.






 Chardonnay to pair with Thanksgiving Dinner

The chardonnay grape is a neutral grape with flavors being derived from the terrior and oak.  Chardonnay is originally from Burgundy France but is now grown widely in other countries including Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.  To provide further guidance you will find Chardonnay described as "oaked", "unoaked" and balanced. 
Oaked would be best described as having flavors of vanilla, toast, butter and nuts.  This style of wine would be aged in oak barrels.
Unoaked would describe a wine that is made and matured in stainless steel barrels and would have flavors described as clean, crisp, fresh fruit notes.
Balanced would best describe a style of wine that has some portion aged in oak and another portion aged in stainless steel to decrease the oak flavor.

For Thanksgiving dinner I would recommend an unoaked or balanced Chardonnay as a heavily oaked wine may interfere with the food flavors.  Below would be a few suggestions to pair with your special meal:

Marimar Estate 2010 Acero Don Miguel Vineyard (Russian River) unoaked style $29.00

Fritz 2010 Russian River Valley Chardonny unoaked style $20.00

Roar 2010 Sierra Mar Vineyard Chardanny (Santa Lucia Highlands) balanced style $45.00

My mission is to inspire you to make wine a part of your daily life.  To accomplish this I want to expose you to new wines and deconstruct the complexity of wine.  I hope you learn something new along the way.

 

 

 

Pinot Noir the Perfect Pairing with Thanksgiving Dinner

Pinot Noir is a black wine grape variety.  It is grown in cooler regions and considered to be some of the finest wine in the world.  Pinot Noir is also known to be a difficult variety to grow.  The yield is lower than other varietals due to the growing conditions and this wine will therefore have a higher price point.  The most well known region for Pinot Noir is Burgundy France.  Great areas in the US for this variety are the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Russian River and St. Rita Hills in California.

Recommendations for Pinot to pair with Thanksgiving Dinner:

Being from southern CA, I have visited St. Rita Hills on numerous occasions and I think there is consistently great Pinot Noir at several wineries including: Melville, Au Bon Climate, and Curran.
Here are a few other picks:

California:
2010 J. Lohr Fog's Reach Vineyard, Arroyo Seco $35.00
2010 Belle Glos, Las Alturas Vineyard, Santa Lucia Vineyard, Monterey County $44.00
2006 Holdredge Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $34.00

Oregon:
2011 Winderlea, Maresh Vineyard $48.00
2011 Coattails, Two Messengers $30.00
2010 Andrew Rick, Verbatim $30.00

Burgundy:
2005 Vincent Girardin Santenay Les Charmes $31.00 (from Burgundy village of Santenay)
2005 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin $40.00
2005 Taupenot-Merme Gevrey-Chambertin $44.00

See my next installment for pairing white wines for Thanksgiving dinner.


Recipe for this month will be a Thanksgiving Side Dish: Cornbread Dressing

 













Ingredients:
corn bread mix (such as Trader Joe's)
sweet onion x1 medium size
bell pepper red x1 medium size
celery 3 stalks
frozen corn 1/2 lb (thawed)
sweet sausage x 1 lb
turkey broth 2 1/2 cups
salt 
pepper

Directions:

Prepare corn bread mix as stated in box and bake.  Let cool and put in bowl and mash gently.
Dice the vegetables: onion, bell pepper, corn and celery and saute 5 minutes.
Dice the sausage and brown 6-8 minutes.
Combine the corn bread, vegetables, sausage in baking dish.  Gradually add in the turkey broth until desired consistency (easy to spread and has plenty of moisture).  Salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 350 degrees or until heated through about 30 minutes covered, remove cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

 
Everyday Wine Picks
Here are my picks for everyday wines under $20.00:

Reds:

Rancho Sisquoc Pinot Santa Barbara '09
90 Points Wine enthusiast $19.99 (BevMo)

Haraszthy Old Vine Zinfandel '10
93 Points Beverage Tasting Institute $12.99 (BevMo)

Fattoria del Cerro Vino Nobile '09
92 Points Wine Advocate $17.99(BevMo)

Artezin Zinfandel '11
92 Points Wine+Spirits $15.99 (BevMo)

Montes Cabernet Alpha '10
91 Points Wine Advocate 16.07 (BevMo)

Tilia Reserve Red Blend '11
93 Points Wilford Wong $22.95 (for two bottles) BevMo

Avante Tineta Ribera Del Duero '12
91 Points Intl' Wine Cellar $13.99 (BevMo) 

d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie '09
91 Points Wine Advocate $19.99 (BevMo)

Perdriel Coleccion Malbec '09
91 Points Wine Enthusiast $18.99 (BevMo) 

3 Rings Shiraz '08
91 Points, Editors Choice, Wine Enthusiast $11.97 (BevMo)

Whites:

Frei Brothers Sauvignon Blanc Res '12
92 Points Tasting Panel $14.99 (BevMo) 

Roederer Estate Brut NV
91 Points Wine Spectator $18.99 (BevMo)

Gruet Blanc de Noirs
#43 Top 100 of 2011, 90 Points Wine Spectator $14.99 (BevMo) 

Gloria Ferrer Sparkling Wine Va de Vi
92 Points Wine News $14.99 (BevMo)

White Oak Chardonnay '10
92 Points Wine Enthusiast $19.99 (BevMo)

Ch Ste Michelle Riesling Erocia '12
91 Points Wine Advocate

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc '12
91 Points Wine+Spirits $12.99 (BevMo)

Justin Chardonnay '11
91 Points Wine+Spirits $16.99 (BevMo) 

Donovan-Parke Sauvignon Blanc '10
Gold Metal, 2012 San Diego Intl' Wine Comp $14.95 for two (BevMo)

Cambria Chardonnay Katherine '11
90 Points Wine+Spirits, Best Buy $16.99 (BevMo)