How to choose wine for the Thanksgiving table?
There will either be pressure, financial and otherwise, to grab big bottles of cheap plonk off the supermarket shelf, or conversely, pressure to consult Wine Spectator or some other "expert" source and find bottles receiving high scores. Resist both impulses. Here's why -- and how.
For people who insist they can't tell the difference between good wine and bad, or who drink for more medicinal than gustatory reasons, I suppose a couple of bottles of crap wine make sense to have around (although either could surprise themselves).
But there's no reason to throw cash at wines approved of by Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, and other media authorities. As Jonathan Nossiter shows in his brilliant polemical film Mondovino, that style of wine (big, jammy fruit bomb! Layers of oak! Buttery! Vanilla!) is a construct held up by marketing cash, ultra-modern flavor manipulation, and cynicism.
I am afraid that, with honorable exceptions, winemakers in California and most of the emerging U.S. wine regions have succumbed to these pressures.
Hell with 'em. Instead, seek out wines with character and idiosyncrasy -- wines that reflect their grape varietals, their soils, their climate (terroir, tear-wah!), and the vision of their winemaker.
These wines, known in the wine world as "natural," tend to be quietly organic or even biodynamic. Quietly, because their makers tend to be quirky characters who figure they're growing grapes the right way and it's everyone else who's wrong. They don't need no stinkin' certification!
To find these wines, seek out your best local wine merchant. Tell him or her that you want traditionally made small-batch wines. They will tend to be pricier than $6.99/bottle plonk, but much cheaper than some Robert Parker "fruit bomb." Typically, they run from about $13-$35 bottle.
If you're lucky, the merchant will direct you to some beautiful stuff made nearby. If that's not possible, here is a list of importers that will help your wine merchant locate the wine you want. These importers specialize in "natural" wines:
Classical Wines - Spain, Germany
Kermit Lynch - France, Italy
Louis/Dressner - France, Italy
Neal Rosenthal - France, Italy
Rudi Wiest - Germany
Terry Theise - Germany, Austria, France (specifically Champagne)
Thomas Calder - France
Vin di Vino - Italy, Austria, Chile
Vineyard Brands - France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, South Africa, Argentina, Chile
When I'm strapped for cash, I'll splurge on a good bottle and hoard it for those I know will appreciate it. Add a little intrigue to your dysfunctional family gathering!
Fourth of July musings on symbols, patriotism, and identity
Slideshow: Green dads we heart
This Father’s Day, don’t be green—be good
Comments
View as Flat
FlagstaffTodd Posted 7:09 am
21 Nov 2006
craft ales
If I could toss another idea out I'd like to suggest another beverage that is all too often overlooked at the communal table: beer. There are a host of fantastic, seasonal, micro-brewed ales that go a treat with traditional Thanksgiving meals. When I was buying some homebrew supplies the other day I noticed that Zymurgy magine's latest issue has a series of terrific articles about pairing up some interesting craft ales with your meal. Worth considering.
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 8:17 am
21 Nov 2006
"if you're lucky"
The laws regarding the importation and sale of alcoholic beverages in these supposedly United States of ours are byzantine and positively disenfranchising. Is it any wonder that the palatial parallel taxless liquor stores on either side of I-95, running through the narrow neck of New Hampshire where it droops down into the water, are that state's most frequently visited "tourist destinations"? And don't get me started on that Christian nonsense about preserving the sanctity of the Lord's Day.
We in NY have it a lot better than do the folks back in old PA, to be sure; perhaps better than my friends in NJ, though I am not up on practices there these days. But even here, we cannot get wines that we want, or at least it is very difficult. E.g., in our travels, we have tasted great stuff from Washington and British Columbia, but our local wine purveyor, whose stock is among the best in the City, and who took our advice in laying in a good amount of Portuguese wines, has not been able to help us with them.
Anyway, thanks, Tom, for your suggestions. Cin cin!
Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!
Permalink
Biodiversivist Posted 2:29 pm
21 Nov 2006
Three wor ....four words
...wine in a box. It's like having a keg on your fridge.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: www.saveourbiodiversity.com
Permalink
mihan Posted 11:46 pm
21 Nov 2006
wine in a box
The Splendid Table had a delightful guy on a few weeks ago talking about wines in boxes, "Cans, Boxes and Sippy Straws: A New Way to Drink Wine." He recommended a number of them rather highly. Check it out.
Permalink
TubbyC Posted 5:26 pm
22 Nov 2006
wine in a box
really convenient granted, but think about the packaging...
cork farms are havens of biodiversity and are disappearing fast owing to boxed wine, screw tops and plastic corks. Where possible we should try to buy wine in glass bottles with cork closure.
Permalink