Art of the Table

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A specialty food, beverage & tabletop retail store.
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 Louis Benton Steakhouse

November 16, 2005 - Thankgiving Wines for you and yours

This week we rolled out some of our favorite wines to pair with Traditional T-Giving Fare. Usually I recommend fruit whites, often even a touch sweet, and lighter-bodied fruity reds with lower tannins. The event was well-attended and boasted the all-time best appetizer from Chef Joe at Louis Benton, a shredded phylo crusted seared swordfish nugget with smoked paprika remoulade. Way yum. Ok, on to the wines . . .

Lolonis Ladybug White—Mendocino--$14.00
This non-vintage blend of Colombard, Semilion, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay is super fruit-forward and zippy. With racy aromatics of white peach, grapefruit, lemon and honey, this is the perfect wine to complement the early courses of T-Giving, as it sports lively acidity as well as big fruit flavors. On the palate it's balanced and ripe with lovely notes of peach, pineapple and almond. Definitely an appetizer wine, this was one of the favorites of the night.

Stadt Krems 2004 Gruner Veltliner—Kamptal--$15.75
This is a wonderful varietal for T-Giving, and that it's new and different and not Chardonnay make it super-fun and fresh. Boasting crisp aromatics of lemon, grapefruit and lanolin with a note of wet stones, this is almost full-bodied on the palate and displays ample acidity to pair with your basic turkey with all the trimmings, including sauerkraut, fare. On the palate this displayed lively flavors of apricot, grapefruit and white pepper. Another favorite of the night, I thought this was lovely Gruner and I will have one on my Thanksgiving table.

Thomas Fogarty 2003 Gewurztraminer—Monterey--$17.50
This exotic and exciting varietal is super-unique and always my choice for a Thanksgiving white. It sports tell-tale Gewurz aromas of lychee nut and rose petal as well as white peach blossom and of course, spice. This spiciness will complement most of the varied flavors you'll encounter on the T-Giving table. From baked apples to candied sweet potoatos to turkey and gravy, this is the wine, I think, to pair with dinner. Just off-dry and still fairly crisp, many at the tasting found this to be just too different from what they were used. Not one of the favorites, although for this taster, I think its individuality is a big plus and I really enjoyed it.


Les Terrasses D'Eole 2001 "Le Mistrau"—Cotes du Ventoux--$19.50
Full-bodied and brawny, I mistakenly poured this red before the two lighter-bodied wines. A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, this boasts beefy aromatics along with notes of blackberry, black cherry and wet earth. Full-bodied and nuanced, this is medium tannic with generous acidity and big black fruit flavors. Ready to drink now, I would decant this for about an hour for maximum results. This will pair well with roast beef.

Alquezar 2004 Moristell—Somotano--$14.75
Moristell is the name of this Spanish grape, which I frankly hadn't experienced before. It reminded me of Grenache or Gamay. It was a brilliant pale purple with spicy notes of strawberry, red cherry and rhubarb. Very similar to a Beaujolais Cru in weight and mouthfeel, this was the surprise of the night in that it had tons of flavor and character for the relative low cost of the wine. On the palate it was medium-bodied with graceful notes of cherry, cranberry and spice, with touches of earth and mineral. This would be a great Thanksgiving wine.

Parasio 2002 Pinot Noir—Monterey--$23.75
Pinot Noir is the quintessential red for Thanksgiving and this super-lush example from Paraiso fits the suit. Lighter in style but with generous aromatics of violets, strawberry and toasty spice, this is super-silky on the palate with layers of similar flavors as the aromatics. I like this for the pure expression of Pinot fruit, which over time has become my favorite. The crowd really responded to the Paraiso, especially the toasty spice and chocolate notes of the finish of the wine. Perfect for all occasions T-Giving, this will also complement both ham and lamb.

Thanksgiving is always a fun time and the wines tonight were lots of fun, I especially enjoyed trying the new styles and varietals. My basic thoughts for pairing wine with the Holidays is to go lighter in style than heavier, and go with wines with solid fruit structure as well as aromatic amplitude, meaning, the better they smell the more fun they'll be. Aromatic amplitude will now become a catch phrase here at Art of the Table. Cheers . . .

*All of the wines we taste, no matter what night we tried them…even if it was over a year ago…are available either on our shelf or to special order. We are always very happy to special order a bottle of anything you’re looking for. If you are interested in trying some of these, please email or call us anytime and we will include it on our next order – almost always delivered within two to three days!
 
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