November 21, 2002
What’s Hot
RED, WHITE, AND YOU
The Right Wines for your Thanksgiving DinnerIn two shakes of a turkey’s leg, our nation’s most celebrated day of feasting will be upon us. And with all that feasting there needs to be the appropriate libations. I’ve learned over the years that it’s best to follow one’s instinctions with wine selection. I offer you my experience in the hope that it will help make your preparation for Thanksgiving Day a little less harried.
After Prohibition, the handful of California wineries that existed and the old California Wine Advisory Board would pontificate-”red with meat; white with fish and poultry.” Were the truth known...
By the late 60s and into the 70s, Americans were becoming more widely traveled, and tastes were broadening and becoming more diversified. Jello salad (which I still like, by the way) and macaroni and cheese, foods I rmember from growing up in the 50s, were becoming passe. But into the 80s and 90s cuisine was becoming transmogrified into fresh and healthier fare. And California wines were getting better by the vintage.
Serving white wine with seafood may have made some sense over the millenia. Seafood by its nature, has natural oil. White wine by its nature is usually higher in acid than red wine. So matching the two made a lot of sense (and still does). The crisp acidity of white wine works a wonderful counterpoint in the mouth with seafood.
And for the same reason, a nice crisp chardonnay works well with the butter and cream in fettucine Alfredo and rich sauces. And a so-called “buttery” chardonnay is a perfect mate to Blue Point oysters.
Along with the evolutuion in eating styles, new rules were being written about what to match what with what. And I think the main rule is this: “There are no rules!” Match for taste, not for color. Think about it. Turkey has both white meat and dark meat. “Should I serve red wine or white wine?” I could personally make an argument for serving both since I live by the philosophy “too much is never enough.”
But modern day and distinguished pinot noirs I find work just as nicely as dry white wines like chardonnay. Some twenty years ago I recall a late 70s vintage estate-grown Hoffman Mountain Ranch pinot noir with filet of sole at the Ranch House restaurant in Ojai-a splendorous match I recall. And twenty some years ago, I was thinking I was “breaking the rules,” being daring, if you will-having red wine with seafood!
Nowadays it’s second nature. My personal wine consumption is probably 95 percent red. So I drink red wine with just about everything-chicken, turkey, ham, beef of course, and spaghetti.
Good, dry roses are also a treat. Craig Jaffurs makes a delicious rose quaff. So does Louisa Lindquist with her Verdad rose, made in the style of a light, dry Spanish rosé. Wines like these come to mind when I think of ham, which by the way, is a wonderful alternative to turkey!
And think about it-goose and turkey are both rather gamey animals. Elegant chardonnays can get lost in the process.
If you are hell-bent on having white wine with your turkey, try sauvignon blanc, a vouvray (or California chenin blanc, if you can still find one) or a dry riesling or gewurztraminer....
Sauvignon blanc is a terrific food wine and two of my favorites are the new releases (2000) from Santa Barbara Winery and Fiddlehead Cellars. Santa Barbara Winery’s retails for about $12; the Fiddlehead retails for about $22.
Chenin Blanc has always lived in the shadow of chardonnay here in California. Back in the 70s, the classic model for this wine was made by Charles Krug. Chenin has always been one of those varietals which some wineries made sweet, while others would make it dry. When this occurs, consumers become confused, maybe even frightened. So wine drinkers gave up on the noble chenin for chardonnay. Growers don’t do what they do for “art’s sake.” If they could sell chardonnay for three, four, five, six times what they could sell chenin for, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out. The chenin got ripped and grafted over to chardonnay or merlot. (But ironically, now chardonnay producers are experiencing the same fate-low prices because of the current glut, but that’s another story.)
Gewurztraminer (or “spicy” traminer) is a distinguished varietal perfect with the big bird. Try the wonderful Katabasis from fruit grown near Los Alamos in Alisos Vineyard-if you can find it. Or a lovely dry riesling. Several weeks ago I had a lovely dry Australian riesling with some friends at Brothers Restaurant in Los Olivos-a ‘95 vintage as I recall with their Kaboch squash soup and spring rolls.
Great red wines from Santa Barbara abound. Where do I start?
Pinot noirs-frequently exuding flavors of rose petal, spice, earth, mushrooms, even leather. For me, pinot noir is to fresh deep-fried or barbecued turkey, as milk is to chocolate chip cookies!
Many of my favorites come from local wineries or local grapes and they come in all price ranges.
Good value wines under $20 include current vintages from Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond.
Great values at $30 or less include, Lane Tanner and Labyrinth (made by Ariki Hill, Lane’s assistant winemaker) and Flying Goat Cellars, made by Norman Yost of Foley Estates and LinCourt, and Cold Heaven.
In the hovering-in-the-mid $30s and $40-plus department, you’ve got Whitcraft (“da guy”), Silver, Domaine Alfred from the Edna Valley, Clos Pepe Estate, Loring, and Bonaccorsi (former sommelier from world famous Spago in L.A.).
Running the gamut from under $20 to about $70 is Tantara. And in the $50-$70 range, Fiddlehead Cellars and Testarossa are solid choices.
Let’s say “hurrah for syrah!”
The classic-the one that started the syrah sensation-is the Qupe Central Coast syrah for about $15. It’s John Alban who credits Qupe’s Bob Lindquist of Qupe for making syrah popular in America!
You’ll find a real array of local syrahs ranging from the low $20s to the mid $50s-all wines that marry well with game, fowl, pork and beef.
Jaffurs Santa Barbara County syrah ranges in the low $20s; his four vineyard designated syrahs range in the low $30s
Alban syrahs range from the mid $20s to about $55. Big massive, inky wines, these quaffs are a match for the most robust of meats.
Two other syrahs worth noting are the Stolpman from their vineyard on Ballard Canyon Road, and Joey Tensley’s syrahs. Wines in the $30 range.
Happy Holidays!
What Goes with What
on the Everyday Table?Our wine maven accepted the
challenge to come up with the
perfect quaffs for our favorite
comfort foods.
- Peanut butter and jelly
PINOT NOIR- Macaroni and cheese:
ANY RED- Frozen chicken pot pie
SYRAH- Hamburgers:
ZINFANDEL- Hot dogs
DRY ROSE- Fried chicken
CHARDONNAY- BLT:
DRY ROSE- Chili:
FIRESTONE BEER
Bob Senn lives in the Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
