Festive and Unique Thanksgiving Wines! (Showstoppers, sparkling red wine, crisp and spicy white, fruity and acidic rosé, beautiful wines and bottles, great gifts)

Show Notes

Episode 52: Festive and Unique Thanksgiving Wines! (Showstoppers, sparkling red wine, crisp and spicy white, fruity and acidic rosé, beautiful wines and bottles, great gifts)   00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

Ok, a quick orientation for those of you who may be new to the podcast - in each episode we learn about, taste and review three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 - and should be easy for you to find. Our goal is to have some fun, learn about some new wines, discover some good wine, and talk about wine in a way that regular people like us can understand. And we are proud to say we  are officially recommended by the editors of Decanter Magazine, who call us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining. 

Alright, so, Carmela, as we record this we are only weeks away from Thanksgiving here in the United States - and Thanksgiving is a big deal. It’s kind of a strange holiday because it seems to be completely focused on food. And of course, for Thanksgiving, we automatically think about wine, but for this episode, we wanted to see if we could suggest - and of course taste and review - some unique and festive wines for Thanksgiving - something different, but still accessible, easy to find and reasonably priced!

Now, for our friends in Canada, we know we missed your Thanksgiving back in October, and for those of you outside of the United States, we know that this holiday probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to you - however, what I will say is that some of the foods we have on Thanksgiving in the US are foods you find often around the table at big Holiday celebrations, so even if you are not in the United States, the wines we are choosing are still good options for those special winter holiday celebrations. 

Now, you are not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving food, are you Carmela? And why is that?

So, let’s talk about some of the foods that we typically have for Thanksgiving and how that impacts wine choice. What are some foods that you think about when you think of Thanksgiving?

• Of course, the main food is the turkey, or some other big bird (But not actually Big Bird), and so that sort of dominates all of the wine choices. As a white meat with a relatively bland taste, you need wines that won’t overpower the bird. 
• The main sides I think of next when it comes to Thanksgiving are stuffing - and many people make a cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Those also have an impact on the wine choice because they tend to be starchy, salty, and greasy - butter, oil, turkey fat, etc. So we need a wine that can cut through the flavors and complement them without messing with them.
• After those foods, there are a ton of other foods that often show up on a Thanksgiving table, but these are very often either family traditions or regional traditions, or both. Do you have some thoughts on what some of them are, Carmela?
• Here are a few of them, but you will see that they run the gamut from tart to sweet to salty to starchy to earthy - which means you need wines that can be pretty flexible. 
  • Soup: Your dad makes a mean minestrone soup for the first dish (we usually have a first dish before the main dish at big meals), but there are also lots of other soups that people have like squash or pumpkin soups. Wines with broth soups can be tough for sure, but think about soups as being salty. Salty foods generally need acid.
  • Veggies: Green beans or some sort of green bean casserole, this would also cover things like brussel sprouts. These more earthy and also salty - so again, think acidy wines. This also goes for things like green salads or broccoli salads with creamy dressings or oil and vinegar dressings
  • Cranberry sauce - which I do not like and never eat, but that some people love. Pairing wine with a complimentary side is not something we would usually do, but again, acid works. 
  • Sweet potatoes or Yams of some sort, including a casserole with marshmallows on top, and similarly candied yams or candied carrots. These you want to serve with a dry white wine. 
  • Bread: Yummy dinner rolls slathered in butter, and sometimes those are cornbread rolls which may have some honey on them. Honestly, any kind of wine works, but yeasty sparkling wines are great. 
  • Mac and cheese. This was never part of our Thanksgiving, but we know that this is a huge side dish choice in some regions of the country. Again, I would stick to sparkling or acidy wines. 
  • Other meat: Some folks also have a spiral ham as another meat choice during this holiday. So, another salty, lighter meat where you want an acidic and lighter bodied wine. 
• And then, of course, there are appetizers and snacks before the meal, often eaten while watching American football. These tend to be either salty or cheesy or both. So, we think about things like Chex Mix, popcorn, potato chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and cured meats like salami and summer sausage. Salty and acid are good choices, as is sparkling with things like potato chips. 

By the way, we would love to hear your favorite foods if we missed anything. Just let us know, and we’d be happy to talk about wine choices with you as well. 

Overall, all of these different foods make choosing a single wine that can handle all of them more than a little tricky, so we are going to talk about wines that will work broadly, and why you really may want to think about having at least two choices for wines for your meal. You can’t possibly have a unique or separate wine for every dish, so we have to have wines that are going to be flexible or multipurpose with different foods AND are crowd pleasers. But, you are probably starting to see a pattern that you want wines that have good acid to them, and probably on the lighter body and less tannin side. 

And, we’ll talk about some wine choices that are a bit different than what you might find in the typical food and wine articles in magazines or on the internet. We’ll share with you some really fun and festive and unique wines for Thanksgiving and why we think they make sense in just a bit . . . 

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug, right Carmela? If you are enjoying our show so far, and who wouldn’t be, why don’t you just go ahead and subscribe  to our podcast, or leave us a nice a rating and review on our website on your podcast service so that people who might stumble upon us will say, hey, this looks like a podcast for me!

You can also follow us or reach out to us on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast or contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com.

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should tell about The Wine Pair Podcast, and this week we think you should tell anyone who loves Thanksgiving and maybe likes to be the one who brings the wine for the meal!

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/thanksgiving/g3023/traditional-thanksgiving-menu/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving#:~:text=Thanksgiving%20is%20a%20national%20holiday,occur%20in%20Germany%20and%20Japan. 

Topic: What to look for in Unique Thanksgiving Wines  11:11

Before we get into some unique wines for Thanksgiving, I first want to ask you this question Carmela - Where does Thanksgiving fall for you in the pantheon of Holidays? And why?

I love Thanksgiving mostly because it brings fond memories of time off of school and work, and it also is the real tipping point that drives into Christmas and the other winter Holidays. And, I am one of those people who honestly loves Thanksgiving food. I don’t know if I am unusual or not, but I know among your family, Carmela, I am the odd ball!

But let’s talk about finding some festive and unique wines for Thanksgiving. 

Now, before we do that, let’s talk about some wine choices that are great for Thanksgiving, but are not what I would necessarily  call unique. Then, after we go through these, we’ll talk about the wines we chose that are festive and unique, and why. 

• For red wines - any ideas? The classic choices are Pinot Noir aka red Burgundy and Gamay aka Beaujolais - these are acidic, medium bodied reds that are great with food, and actually can often be drunk slightly chilled. 
  • Other great reds that are a bit more unique and are great choices are Valpolicella from Italy which we did an episode on (episode 46), and Cabernet Franc which we also did an episode on (episode 40)! These are both lighter bodied reds with good acidity and can also be chilled.
  • AND we have a surprise red wine choice for you!
  • There are other reds you can choose that will go well, like a good Zinfandel, but I would definitely avoid anything heavy and oaky like a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Merlot because they may overpower the food. 
• For white wines - any ideas? Some classic choices are a dry Riesling or a Sauvignon Blanc, which are acidic and bright wines that can handle the salt, fat, and lighter meats of Thanksgiving. 
  • Other whites that can work are Pinot Grigio, Alabrino, Gavi, and Vinho Verde, or even a Marsanne Roussanne blend or a Gruner Veltliner so there is some spice. Spicy notes are great for Thanksgiving and the holidays
  • AND, we have a surprise white wine choice for you AND a Rosé!
  • Now you could with an oaky Chardonnay, but I would just be careful of how much oak is in that Chardonnay. An unoaked Chardonnay would be fabulous, however. 
• Sparkling wines are also great choices - any ideas? I would stick to brut sparkling wines - which again, in sparkling, brut means these are dry and not sweet. It’s hard to go wrong with a sparkling, though.
  • Some other choices would include a Lambrusco, but I would tend to stay away from sweeter sparkling wines for the main meal. Dry - which again means sweet in sparkling wine - or semi-dry sparkling wines like most Proseccos, are great for dessert or appetizers, but not as great for the main meal. 
  • AND we have a surprise sparkling wine for you - combined with another wine that we already said was a surprise!

So, let’s get to that, because while these are great choices, we have some other, bolder, and more unique ideas for you! And, also, don’t worry about memorizing all of this stuff. You can find all of our notes for this episode in our show notes. You can just go to our website thewinepairpodcast.com, look for this Thanksgiving episode, and read the show notes to get all of this information.

Now, what you have all been waiting for - du du du du - is the wines we chose and we’ll start with the criteria we use for selecting festive, unique, fun, unusual, and dare we say extraordinary wines for Thanksgiving.  I really hope we like these wines we chose!

Overall, the wine should be a conversation piece in and of itself - and make a great gift if you are going to someone’s house.  That means both the way it looks and the type of wine it is should work together to create this unique selection. What are some things that you think people should look for?

1. The wine itself should look great on the table. This means that the bottle as well as the wine itself should look festive. 
2. The wine should also be unexpected and fun, something that you have to explain but that you can also compare to something else. 
3. The wine should complement a wide variety of the kinds of foods that will be served, and should cover a variety of palettes. This is one of the reasons why we think you should have at least two kinds of wines ready so that people can find something they like. Some combination of acidy, dry, and with spice tones. 

So, before getting into the specific wines, here are the styles of wines we think you should consider.

• First, a crisp white with some spice tones to it. We are selecting a dry Gewürztraminer
• Second, a rosé, yes, a rosé! but one specifically from Provence, which is going to be both fruity, dry, and acidic that will look beautiful on the table and in the glass. 
• Third, a red sparkling wine. Yes, I said it! Now a sparkling white or Rosé rose would be fantastic, but we think if you want the wine to be a showstopper, a sparkling red will make everyone stop and look.

So, now we are going to talk about the specific wines that we chose, but if you want to take a look at any of this information, just head over to our website and look for this episode and then read the show notes. 


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.thespruceeats.com/wines-for-thanksgiving-3510980 
• https://www.foodandwine.com/best-thanksgiving-wines-6823687 
• https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2014/10/30/thanksgiving-rose-wine-provence 

Thanksgiving Wines We Chose for This Episode 18:10

As usual, the wines we chose for this episode are all easy to find - I bought all of these at our local Total Wine - and all are under $20. So, in addition to being great choices for Thanksgiving because they go well with the food and look great on the table, they won’t break the bank!

The first wine we chose is a Gewürztraminer - a wine that originates from Germany, but is grown all over the Alps area of Europe - so that includes Italy and France - and is also grown a lot here in Washington state. 

In terms of looks,Gewürztraminer most often comes in those long, sleek, thin bottles that you often find in Alsace, France and in Germany. Riesling often comes in these bottles, and there is a famous Alsace winemaker called Trimbach that even puts their red Pinot Noir in those bottles. The bottle itself, to me, looks elegant and pretty.

In terms of pairing with food, Gewürztraminer is a great choice because it tends to have both fruit notes like melon, grapefruit, and peach, it also has spicy notes like ginger, allspice, incense, and cinnamon. It is meant to be drunk cold - like fridge cold - and is medium in acidity. So, it is a unique white, perfect for Thanksgiving food and the table. 

And, bonus, the wine we chose is a Gewürztraminer from Chateau Ste. Michelle which is well regarded and inexpensive. You should be able to find it on wine.com or at Total Wine for about 8 bucks. 

The second wine we chose is a Rosé, which is not often found on lists of Thanksgiving wines. So, as we have said many times, Rosé is not a varietal - it is a style of wine, and it varies a ton depending on the grapes in it - that can be very confusing for people. For Thanksgiving, we would recommend, along with the wine steward at the French Laundry in Napa - which is one the best restaurants in the world - a Rosé from Provence France, or in that style.

A Rosé from Provence tends to be made with the grapes Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault, and these wines tend to be dry, fruity, and with good acidity. And, both the wine and the bottle can look beautiful on the table. The wine we chose we bought at Total Wine - so it should be easy to find - and is called Château Gigery Côtes de Provence Rosé - and the bottle is beautiful. It is one of those bottles that tapers out to a wide bottom, almost like an upside down funnel. 

And, while not as inexpensive as the Chateau Ste. Michelle, it is under $20.

The last wine we chose I am really excited about. I think you have to have a sparkling wine for Thanksgiving, and I think that sparkling wine should be one that you can drink with appetizers and with the main meal. So, a very festive and unique sparkling to choose is a red sparkling. Now, I am not talking about a sparkling Rosé, although I think that could be a great choice as well because of how beautiful it can look, I am talking about a real sparkling red wine - which is not common, and so will be a great conversation piece.

I was thinking at first of choosing a sparkling dry Lambrusco, like the Labrusca Lambrusco that we had in a previous episode (episode 35 on barbecue to be precise). I actually think that would be perfect, but then I found this wine, and I thought OMG, we have to choose this one. 

It is a sparkling Syrah which is pretty unique, it is a brut - so dry - and it comes from a winemaker from here in Washington that I think makes some great sparkling wines in the metodo classico or the champagne style called Treveri Cellars.

So, sparkling wine by itself is just beautiful on the table and always looks festive, but when it is red, it just feels like a showstopper. Sparkling wines also just feel like celebrations - even though we think you should drink sparkling wine any day of the week - and the bottles and the pop of the cork are just fun. 

This sparkling red is made from 100% syrah, and evidently was served in 2011 at the US State Department’s Holiday Receptions. So there’s that. Now, I did not find this wine on wine.com, but I did find it at Total Wine, and I know you can also buy it online at the Treveri site. 

Well, what do you think?!? Time to try these wines?


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/gewurztraminer-wine-guide/ 
• https://www.wine.com/product/chateau-ste-michelle-gewurztraminer-2020/773327 
• https://wineinsiders.com/wine-101/gewurztraminer%20-wine#:~:text=Gew%C3%BCrztraminer%20Tasting%20Notes,apricot%2C%20orange%2C%20and%20cantaloupe. 
• https://winefolly.com/wines/provence-rose/ 
• https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/2872/3627/files/Treveri_Syrah_SalesSheet.pdf?v=1619474105 

Thanksgiving wine pairing tasting and review: Gewürztraminer, Rosé of Provence, and Sparkling Syrah Brut 25:31

Wine: Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewürztraminer
Region: Washington State, Columbia Valley 
Producer: Chateau Ste. Michelle
Year: 2020
Price: $7.19
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 12%
Grapes: Gewürztraminer

Bottle and wine look? Beautiful, elegant. Perfect on the table.

What we tasted and smelled in this Gewürztraminer: Spiced apple, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, apple pie, honeydew melon, spicy, sweet, Honeycrisp apple. Very slight acidity. Easy drinking.

Food to pair with this Gewürztraminer: Great with the whole Thanksgiving dinner, and would go great with dessert - good with a pumpkin or pecan pie.  Good balance for all of the different kinds of foods - turkey, gravy, stuffing. Also good before dinner as well. Keep it cold.

As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and in-between we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Château Gigery Côtes de Provence Rosé  
Region: France, Provence
Producer: Château Gigery
Year: 2021
Price: $16.19
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 13%
Grapes: Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah
Professional Rating: JS 91

Bottle and wine look? Beautiful. Glass stopper. Festive and elegant. Great gift wine.

What we tasted and smelled in this Côtes de Provence Rosé: Earthy, strawberry, watermelon, watermelon Jolly Rancher, tart red fruit, strawberry kiwi Capri Sun, rose petal, tart and sweet. Don’t put on ice after you have cooled it. Crisp acidity. Herbal tea. Some citrus notes. Light. 

Food to pair with this Côtes de Provence Rosé: Great with Thanksgiving food, more of a at the dinner table food. Great with turkey and cranberry.

Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Wine: Treveri Sparkling Syrah Brut
Region: Washington, Columbia Valley
Producer: Treveri Cellars
Year: NV
Price: $17.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 12%
Grapes: Syrah

Bottle and wine look? Bottle is very Thanksgiving. Unexpected when a dark red / purple wine comes out of a sparkling wine bottle. Pretty.

What we tasted and smelled in this Sparkling Syrah Brut: Strange smell. Grapey, tomato, grape skin, cured meat. Very earthy. Dark cherry. Blackberry. Blackberry bramble. Tart and tannic. Tart cherry or raspberry. Unsweetened fruit soda pop. Different. Not for everyone. Not a crowd pleaser.

Food to pair with this Sparkling Syrah Brut: Very dry so will go well with turkey and gravy. Needs food. Intimate and fancy dinner. A sparkling wine that could go with a steak or other red meat. Would be very good with Prime Rib. 


Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewürztraminer
• Joe: Treveri Sparkling Syrah Brut

Taste profiles expected from Gewürztraminer, Rosé of Provence, and Sparkling Syrah Brut:  48:58

• Gewürztraminer
  • General: tastes of Lychee (strawberry or pear with citrus, some rose), grapefruit, pineapple, peach, apricot, orange, cantaloupe, aromas of rose, honey, ginger, incense, allspice, cinnamon, and smoke
  • About Chateau Ste. Michelle: this wine is crafted to be aromatic, spicy and luscious with a hint of clove spice on the finish
• Château Gigery Côtes de Provence Rosé
  • Provence Rosé: Strawberry, melon, rose petal, celery, watermelon
  • Wine Enthusiast: A Provence rosé is lightly spicy, with intense red fruits, citrus and sometimes a touch of minerality. There’s always fresh acidity, a crisp touch that makes the wine refreshing
  • James Suckling: Elegant nose of raspberries, cherry stones and flinty minerals that extend to the bone dry palate, with medium body and chalky feel. Fresh and textured, showing excellent quality.
• Sparkling Syrah
  • From Treveri - Deep red color with an effervescence sure to delight, our Syrah brings together dark cherries, tobacco, and spice for a rich, flavorful finish.
  • Other sparkling Syrah: Raspberry, pomegranate, black peppercorn, vanilla bean, cigar. 

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 51:23

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Thanks for listening to the Wine Pair podcast, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.