Cheers to you and yours this Thanksgiving! We picked a few Harvest Dinner wines you can use to delight your palate and your guests. Read on for our descriptions. And, don’t miss the Thanksgiving Wine Tasting this Thursday, November 16 from 5-7pm with Laura from Crush Wines. She’ll be featuring Wines from Union Sacré and they’ll all be on a special discount during the tasting!
Chateau de l’Eperonniere Cremant de Loire 2019 | Loire, France | $26.99
Located in the heart of the Coteaux du Layon, Mathieu Tijou launched his career as an independent vigneron with the 2007 vintage after learning the winemaking trade from his father at Château Soucherie. This dry, sparkling delight comes from the estate’s Anjou vineyards in Beaulieu-sur-Layon. Featuring 60% Chenin Blanc and 35% Chardonnay with a touch of Cabernet Franc (5%), this wine is crisp and mineral with typical rich, Chenin earthiness. Benefitting from at least 3 years aging on the lees, compare this with wines from Champagne. Sip this with appetizers or enjoy it with the main event of your family meal this holiday season.
St. Innocent Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Blanc 2021 | Willamette Valley, Oregon | $23.99
Mark Vlossak’s father was a wine educator and importer, while his mother trained with a master chef in order to create meals to pair with the wines they were tasting. After marinating in the passion and knowledge of wine from childhood, Mark started St. Innocent in 1988. Over the years, St. Innocent has consistently produced award winning wines by focusing on creating quaffs that capture the sense of place. The Pinot Blanc features flavors of peach and pear supported by broad textures with minerality and salinity. A crisp white to balance the heavy harvest meal.
Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir 2021 | Napa, California | $37.99
Founded by Bob Sinskey in 1988 and now run by his son Rob, the Sinskeys produce wines from over 200 acres of organic and biodynamic vineyards. Their rules for wine chart the winery a course that delights the palate while protecting the palate. Their Vin Gris of Pinot Noir is a treat to be enjoyed all year round. The wine starts bright with strawberry, guava and peach continuing into citrusy flavors and lavender tones. More than most other roses, this wine can do it all, whether paired with chips, dips, and charcuterie or bringing its sophisticated style and complexity to herbed chicken, grilled vegetables, sashimi, or the hamburger of your dreams. No matter the dishes that make it to your feast table, this wine will elevate whatever you find.
Koehler-Ruprecht Pinot Noir Kabinett Trocken 2021 | Pfalz, Germany | $23.99
“Wine is the poetry of the earth,” is the motto of one of the oldest and most distinctive wineries in the Palatinate region. Koehler-Ruprech produces and packages their wines using traditional methods including using low intervention farming, hand-picked grapes and spontaneous fermentation. Their labels continue to use the designations of Kabinett, Spatlese, and Auslese – to indicate the ripeness of the grapes when picked – followed by the word trocken, meaning dry. While the label hasn’t changed much in decades, the winery is in the process of converting to biodynamic production. The Pinot Noir, or Spatburgunder in German, is fermented in stainless steel tanks followed by about 18 months of barrel aging. The wine is light, ripe, and popping with acidity. Landing somewhere between Burgundy and California Pinot, this wine offers fresh soil notes and minimal evidence of oak aging for a terrific accompaniment to this year’s turkey.
Domaine des Garriguettes Le Béret Bleu Côtes du Rhône 2021 | Rhône, France | $23.99
Located a few miles outside of Avignon in the village of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, Domaine des Garriguettes is Demeter-certified Biodynamic and the first vineyard to embrace organic agriculture in the village. Sébastien Clément is a young vigneron handcrafting innovative and fresh expressions that honor the traditions of his Provençal village as the fourth generation winemaker at the family vineyard. Le Béret Bleu is a 100% Cinsault Côtes du Rhône made using spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts in cement tanks before aging in used French oak (20%) and concrete vats (80%). This wine delivers delicious flavors of ripe red fruit, it makes a juicy, fresh accompaniment to both your charcuterie board and the various delights the fall harvest brings to your table this winter. Serve at room temperature or with a slight chill if you’re feeling fancy.
Prices and availability are subject to change after this posting.