The holiday season is upon us, and hopefully that means family, friends, good times and great wine and food. We certainly wish all of you those things, and we’ll be doing our best to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. Step one on that quest was picking the wines for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner, and there we can say mission accomplished.
It will be a small gathering this year, but that won’t dampen the spirits (pun intended). With the big meal it’s always good to keep the wine on the lighter side, and to that end we will start things off with some Albino Rocca 2015 Moscato d’Alba. Moscato makes a great choice as it is low in alcohol, and a really good one is refreshing and food friendly. This Albino Rocca version, from Barbaresco in Piemonte, is like chewing on white, fluffy clouds. That is a very good thing, and you can read much more about Albino Rocca by clicking here.
Dinner will be accompanied by a magnum of Fess Parker 2013 Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills, near Santa Barbara in Southern California. This Pinot Noir is not just a fruit bomb, but rather complex with some savory and floral notes. These should play well with the big bird. This wine received 90 points from the Wine Enthusiast, if that is something you pay attention to. We have had this and liked it very much. The magnum is just more fun.
We’ll also have a chilled bottle of Domaine Haegi 2013 Pinot Gris available. We found this Alsatian wine in Newport this year at the 
Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, and it was an eye opener. It too is complex, with a nice texture and weight that will also stand up to the turkey and fixings. You can read more about it here.
For desert, a bottle of Quinta do Noval Silval 2000 Vintage Porto will go great with brownie sundaes. There’s some Sauternes in the cellar for the apple pie too, but we’ll see how things go.
Since it is not just about the meal, there is a rather large bottle of Macallan 12 year old scotch whiskey floating about, just in case a cocktail mood breaks out. We can pretty much guarantee that to be the case, so it’s likely we’ll be breaking into this as well during the festivities.
Whatever you’re opening, enjoy the time with family and friends, and remember, always drink responsibly and don’t drive under the influence. We’ll be opening these bottles after everyone is in the house and staying there, so no worries here. If you have to travel after dinner, a designated driver is always prudent.
A votre santé!
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