drink and be merry BOUCHAINE

ESTATE CHARDONNAY ($23) CALIFORNIA>

It’s time for my annual holiday and Thanksgiving wine plea: Drink what you like, and don’t worry about food pairings. The next couple of months are about celebration and appreciating the good fortune that has given us the opportunity to be with family and friends. It’s not about wine geekdom, comparing snob notes, and boring everyone with your visit to Napa and how special it was. If someone at Thanksgiving dinner likes white zinfandel, then let him drink white zinfandel.

This month’s wine suggestions are firmly in that vein. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, and of the wines would make nice gifts for the wine drinker on your holiday list. All are available at Central Market. Don’t be afraid to experiment: This stunning wine, but a steal at $10. It’s made by the Lurtons, one of France’s premier winemaking families, and it comes from quality Bordeaux fruit. You can’t say that about most rosés. Look for lots of strawberry fruit, but don’t be surprised if it morphs into something with a long, minerally finish.

Winemaker Michael Richmond is a Dallas native who ended up in California 40 years ago and found himself in the wine business. That’s our good fortune. This white wine is more fruit than oak (think lime), and shows just how interesting California chardonnay can be.

Kunde has made solid, dependable years, a family-run winery that has successfully competed with the corporate-ization of the California wine business. It’s an old-fashioned and much appreciated wine: lower alcohol, raspberry fruit and balance.

JEFF

JEFF SIEGEL’SWEEKLYWINE REVIEWS appear every Wednesday on the Advocate Back Talk blog, prestonhollow.advocatemag.com/blog.