[wine] T Day Wines

FYT, November 8, 2011 Wines for Thanksgiving Dinner By ERIC ASIMOV THE Thanksgiving wine panel, in which the home team gathers for a preliminary holiday feast, is one of our traditions here at the Dining section. We test specific bottles with representative dishes, and, even more important, we reassess the coherence of our assumptions about which wines to serve with the bird. Coherence may be an issue this year, because what my colleagues told me contradicted the common-sense recommendations that have become self-evident, at least to me. Frankly, I may still pay no attention to what they said. But that does not mean you shouldn.t hear them. For the pre-Thanksgiving set-to, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Julia Moskin, a Dining reporter; Pete Wells, the Dining editor, and Bernie Kirsch, our tasting coordinator. Each of us was assigned to bring two wines, a white and a red, costing no more than $25 apiece. So what was the conflict? First, let me state my no-sweat method for choosing Thanksgiving wines. Consign to the scrap heap the notion that this holiday requires exact wine-and-food matching alchemy. No, the meal is too kaleidoscopic, with too many shifting colors, textures, weights and aromas, to strain for the perfect pairing. Frankly, precision can be the enemy of fun if your gathering is anything like mine, where many people join together in casual exuberance. Nothing decorous here; people want wine and plenty of it. I supply a red, a white, open a lot of bottles and let people pour to their heart.s content. So, two wines. But what should they be? First, they need to refresh and satisfy over the course of a long and fatiguing meal. That means they need to be light rather than heavy, agile rather than powerful, moderate in alcohol and versatile enough to complement the hodgepodge of dishes on the table. In wine speak, the key words are lively acidity, the quality that gives wine energy. Wines that have worked in years past include all manner of whites from the Mânnais region of France; Chablis; crisp Italian whites like Soave or fianos from Campania; reds and dry whites from the Loire Valley; good Beaujolais; lighter-bodied zinfandels; and sauvignon blancs. The fact is that almost any wines that conform to these guidelines will work pretty well. This I believe. Yet, Pete and Julia were having none of it. .Thanksgiving is one meal where the food almost wants to be overpowered by the wine,. Pete said. .This seems to be the theme of the meal: over the top.. I had to disagree. Over the top in terms of quantity, yes. But in terms of the character of the food and wine? No. The wine must smooth the way for excessive consumption, not by braining you with power but by seducing you with grace and refreshment. Julia demurred. .They want to have their heads splatted against the wall!. she exclaimed. .They want the big red wine experience.. Here, a significant divide was becoming clear. Julia, especially, insisted on the primacy of red wine. .Sitting down to eat the meal is only a small part of the process, if not to say the ordeal,. she said. She likes to serve an easygoing white . a .cook.s white,. she called it . during the preliminaries, reserving the red for the actual meal. Well, blimey, them.s fighting words! It.s not that I love whites more than reds, but I do believe they can be every bit as interesting and should never be considered second class. Case in point: My white was a 2009 Ravines Dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes, a deliciously refreshing wine, complex and satisfying. Yet Florence, describing its pale color, referred to it as lemon water, and Julia called it .girlish.. Perhaps, but among some excellent whites it was our favorite wine with the food. Julia.s own wine, a 2010 St.-Vén from Michel Cheveau, was certainly more than an easygoing preliminary with its crisp, mineral flavors, while Bernie.s white, a 2008 Lirac from Domaine Maby, reminded me of a Greek assyrtiko, which, by the way, would be another fine choice. Pete.s choice, a 2010 Bera Arcese from the Piedmont region of Italy, was certainly the most distinctive white. It was almost golden, with a touch of effervescence, bright fruit and a slight tannic rasp. Excellent, but it demands a crowd receptive to unusual wines. Florence.s 2009 Logan chardonnay from Talbott in the Santa Lucia Highlands in California offered a test of the over-the-top theory. Oops. With its extravagant flavors and heat, it was our least favorite white. Florence.s red, a 2008 California zinfandel from Joel Gott, likewise pushed the boundary. It wasn.t high alcohol, but it was sweet, and low in acid and structure, and seemed to overpower the food, not in a good way. It was an off year for Florence, who will have to rest on her past laurels. Bernie.s wine, a 2009 Familia Mayol malbec from Mendoza, was more restrained, but a bit hot at 15 percent alcohol. For all her talk, Julia avoided head-splatting and went for value. Her intriguing 2005 zweigelt from Hungary, a $9 bottle, was dry, with a mild leather-and-tobacco aroma. Pete, sticking with his effervescent theme, picked a dry 2010 Lambrusco from Vigneto Saetti, a brilliant choice, in my opinion, as good Lambruscos are versatile, delicious and energetic. Our only reservation was the powerful carbonation, which might be off-putting over time. I would look for a Lambrusco labeled frizzante, or softly sparkling. Despite their over-the-top inclinations, Pete and Julia both offered more gentle wines, which we liked. I, on the other hand, picked exactly the sort of lively red I like to recommend, a 2010 Bernard Baudry Chinon. This complex, refreshing wine was our favorite red. Now, I.m not saying I told you so. I.m just sayin.. Tasting Report WHITES Ravines Finger Lakes, $16, *** ½ Dry Riesling 2009 Juicy, tangy and lip-smacking; floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Domaine Michel Cheveau St.-Vén, $24, *** Terroir de Davayé010 Crisp and refreshing, with enticing flavors of citrus, herbs and minerals. (Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York) Domaine Maby Lirac, $16, *** La Fermade 2008 Balanced and lively, with earthy mineral and floral aromas and flavors. (Wineberry America, Orangeburg, N.Y.) Vittorio Bera e Figli, $16, *** Arcese 2010 Highly distinctive, with a slight initial effervescence, a pleasantly raspy texture and penetrating fruit aromas. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) Talbott Santa Lucia Highlands, $22, ** Logan Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard 2009 Plenty of oak, cream and tropical fruit flavors, with a touch of alcohol heat. For lovers of full-on California chardonnay. REDS Bernard Baudry Chinon, $19, *** Les Granges 2010 Complex and refreshing with aromas of ripe fruit and forest floor, along with a touch of funk. (Louis/Dressner Selections) Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco, $19, *** Salamino di Santa Croce 2010 Dry, crisp, lively and effervescent, with earthy fruit flavors. (Louis/Dressner Selections) Vylyan Villanyi Zweigelt, $9, ** ½ Hungary 2005 Light-bodied, with aromas of leather and tobacco. (Monarchia Matt International, Armonk, N.Y.) Familia Mayol Mendoza Lujan de Cuyo, $17, ** ½ Malbec Montuiri Vineyard 2009 Jammy fruit and almost too sweet, with a pleasant, velvety texture. (T. Edward Wines, New York) Joel Gott California Zinfandel, $21, ** 2008 Jammy, sweet and lacking structure, with aromas of blueberries, vanilla and baking spices. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *