Wine Review Monday

Thanksgiving is only a few days away and if you are the one who's cooking dinner the last thing on your mind is choosing the wine.

The traditional foods served in 1621 at Plymouth Rock have evolved over the centuries with the changing times, so that now our menu consists of turkey or ham, stuffing, a variety of potatoes, green been casseroles and other green vegetables, and accompanied by the sweet/tart cranberry sauces and other sweet flavored sides.

Unfortunately, there is no one single wine that will be a perfect match for all these foods. No need to stress. These simple tips will help with your wine selection.

** If you are out shopping for your wines and are overwhelmed by the many choices, don't fret. Just ask a salesperson for help. They will be happy to answer your questions and will assist you in choosing the wines you and your guests will enjoy.

** This holiday meal is best with food-friendly white wines, sparkling wines, and roses.

** For red wine lovers, choose a light-bodied red with mild tannins. The big, bold red wines with heavy tannins will overpower the turkey and the wine will not get the respect it deserves, nor will the turkey. Save those for another day.

**Dessert is a big part of any holiday meal. Choose a sweeter wine to serve with dessert. Rieslings come in a variety of styles from dry to sweet. You can choose a dry style for dinner and and off-dry or sweet style for dessert.

Here are a few suggestions to help you make your wine selections for Thanksgiving dinner.

Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc are very food-friendly. These white wines have floral aromas and fruity flavors with crisp acidity to compliment the many flavors on the dinner table. Rieslings from the Finger Lakes region in New York State are well balanced with fruity pear flavors and are almost a perfect match with Thanksgiving dinner.

Don't be afraid to choose a sparkling wine. They are very affordable and food-friendly. One very affordable sparkler is a Valdobbiadene Prosecco which is low in alcohol. Prosecco is available in "brut" which is considered dry, "extra dry" which is lightly sweet, or "dry" which is a little sweeter than the extra-dry so you can choose a style for dinner and dessert.

For the red wine drinkers, Pinot Noir from Oregon or Washington State is a great pairing. The tannins are mild and won't compete with the turkey.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!
"The New Beaujolais has arrived!"

On the third Thursday in November Beaujolais Nouveau is released to the public. This has been a French tradition for decades with lots of festivities and celebrations in France. Here in the U.S. you might see signs in your local wine shops that the new Beaujolais has arrived!

Georges Duboeuf is the ever popular négociant who is known as the "King of Beaujolais". Duboeuf is the marketing guru who started all the publicity decades ago surrounding the release of Beaujolais Nouveau to get the public excited about the new wine.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a light red wine that is produced in the Beaujolais Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) region in France. The only grape allowed to grow in Beaujolais is the Gamay grape which is a dark, thin skinned grape that produces a wine with light tannins.

Duboeuf is the largest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau which is relatively inexpensive at approximately $10 a bottle (may be even less in some areas). You can also find Beaujolais Nouveau by Drouhin and Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais Nouveau. These wines range in price from $20 to $25. Some experts recommend these last two nouveau wines rather than the Duboeuf nouveau.

The Beaujolais Nouveau is a great transitional wine for those who are white wine drinkers. This red wine has crisp acidity and low tannins like a white wine which makes it an easy drinking and food friendly wine.

The labels on Beaujolais Nouveau are colorful and festive which play off its marketing for the festivities that abound in France to celebrate the end of the harvest with the wine's release.

Tasting Notes: Beaujolais Nouveau is a red berry fruit-forward light wine that has aromas of red cherries, and can have just a hint of banana. Serve this wine chilled as you would a white wine, which brings out the fruit flavors.

It is a food-friendly wine that pairs well with your holiday turkeys and hams.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a light, easy drinking wine to be enjoyed in a fun and festive atmosphere and should not be taken seriously.

I would be remiss if I did not reiterate that this is just an easy drinking, light red wine. It should not be confused with a quality French Bordeaux. Just enjoy it for what it is.

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk young - within 3-6 months of its release. Some say that it can be held for up to 1 year, though I recommend that you drink it within 6-8 months as it starts to loose it fruitiness with age.

For more information visit Holidays and Wine.


Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

Try A New Wine - Part IV

This is the last selection of white wines in the Try A New Wine Series.

If Sauvignon Blanc is your favorite white wine and you're looking for a change you might be interested in tasting one of the following three white wines, Albarino, Pinot Grigio, and Sancerre.

SAUVIGNON BLANC -- is a wine with flavors and aromas that can be vegetal or herbal with some citrus or tropical fruit flavors. Sauvignon Blanc is called Fume Blanc in California and Washington state.

This wine has crisp acidity. It can have flavors of either citrus or tropical fruits.

Flavors:
Herbal: green pepper, straw, hay, green tea, green herbs, cut grass, meadow
If Oaked: melon, soft fig
Fruit: goosberry, grapefruit, peach, melon, apricot
Crisp acidity

If you Like Sauvignon Blanc Try Albarino, Pinot Grigio, or Sancerre

ALBARINO -- is the primary grape used to make dry white wine in the Rias Baixes region of Galicia in Northwest Spain. The wines are usually light-bodied, and generally high in acidity with distinctive aromas very similar to that of Viognier and Gewurztraminer.

Flavor profile:
Citrus aromas of grapefruit, lemon peel and white peach
Crisp acidity that is well balanced with the fruit


PINOT GRIGIO -- is a delicate white wine that sometimes has light floral aromas and lemony citrus flavors.

Flavor profile: Crisp acidity, lemon, apple pear
Oak: vanilla, sweet wood, almond, smoke

SANCERRE -- Sancerre is one of the most famous white wines in France. It is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape grown in the designated AOC of Sancerre which is in the eastern part of the Loire Valley.

French wine labels have the name of the region on them rather than the name of the grape as do American or New World wine labels. That is why this French wine is labeled as Sancerre rather than Sauvignon Blanc (and might be a good reason to try it if Sauvignon Blanc is a wine you enjoy.)

Flavor profile:
Citrus flavors of lime, grapefruit and lemon
Sometimes herbal and flowers
Crisp acidity
It can be made in a semi-dry style

This is the last in the Try a New White Wine variety series. I tried to chose the most popular white wines and matched them with white varietals that had smiliar flavor profiles.

If you have a favorite white wine that wasn't mentioned, please share it with us and let us why you like it. You may inspire us to try a new wine.

I will follow up with red wines in my next series of Try A New Wine.


Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Halloween Candy Leftovers

How much Halloween candy can you possibly keep on the table and have the willpower to not eat it all in 3 days?

I'm not a fan of sugary candy so I had to figure out a way to get rid of all those Jolly Ranchers, Starbursts, and Life Savers. Why not have an adult Halloween Candy Leftover Party.

So I called my friends and they were eager to trade candy with me and share a bottle of wine.

I had a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and a Moscato d'Asti, and with the low alcohol it was a nice afternoon drinking wine. We had a great lunch and for dessert we traded our candy and sipped the wine while reminiscing about our wildest trick or treating days.

The sweet wine and candy was a bit of a sugar overload for us but we enjoyed our dark chocolates with the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon.

For those of you who really love sweets try an "ice wine" which I must admit is quite sweet though it is great with the sweet Jolly Ranchers and Starbursts.

I hope you had a safe and fun Halloween and did not gain too many extra pounds from all the candy!!!!


Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

Try A New Wine - Part III

The Try A New Wine Series continues with white wine varietals. If you are a Pinot Grigio fan:

PINOT GRIGIO is the Italian name of this white grape and PINOT GRIS is the name of the same grape variety grown in other wine regions.

Italy and Alsace were the major producers of this wine, but in the early 1990's Oregon became a well known region for producing quality Pinot Gris. Italy's Pinot Grigio is a light to medium-bodied wine with high acidity and with citrus and green fruit flavors.

Flavors:
Citrus Fruits: lemon, grapefruit, tangerine
Green Fruits: green apple, pear
Tropical Fruits: melon

Wines to try: Pinot Gris, Gruener Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc

PINOT GRIS -- is the white clone of the red Pinot Noir grape. In French "gris" translates to grey, hence the Pinot Gris can sometimes have a color that is described as a bluish-grey. I have not yet seen that color Pinot Gris so I guess I need to buy and try more.

Flavors:
Fruit: lemon, apple, pear
Oak: vanilla, sweet wood, almond, smoke

Oregon's Pinot Gris is medium-bodied with a creamy quality. Wines from France/Alsace region produce full-bodied Pinot Gris with spicy tropical fruit flavors.

GRUENER VELTLINER -- is naturally high in acidity. It is very food-friendly and one of the few wines that will pair well with the two vegetables that are considered most difficult to pair with wine -- the artichoke and asparagus. So those who are vegan or vegetarian can now find a wine to enjoy with these difficult vegetables.

The naturally high acidity in a quality gruener veltliner gives it the potential for aging well.

Flavor Profile:
Fruits: citrus fruits and exotic tropical fruits
There is a natural characteristic of white pepper.

SAUVIGNON BLANC -- is a wine with flavors and aromas that are more vegetal or herbal than fruity. This popular varietal is produced in France, Austria, California, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, as well as many other regions around the globe. In California and Washington State you will find this wine labeled Fume Blanc. These regions produce quality wines each with a different flavor profile. There is one for every palate.

Depending on the climate, sauvignon blanc's flavors can be herbal and vegetal with aggressive grassy flavors or fruity with tropical fruit flavors.

Flavors:
Herbal: green pepper, straw, hay, green tea, green herbs, cut grass, meadow
If Oaked: melon, soft fig
Fruit: goosberry, grapefruit, peach, melon, apricot
Crisp acidity

If you have a favorite white wine different from these three please let us know what it is and what you like about it. We would love to hear from you.



Salute!
Winelady Cooks