By David W. Brown
With many states just beginning to slowly open back up, there’s a good chance that Thanksgiving will be the first time you’ve seen extended family in quite a while. It is going to be an extra-special holiday and, for that reason, it’s worth putting in a little extra effort. Who brings what casserole is probably already decided. Wine is an area, though, where a little care can go a long way. If you are new to wine — if your customary Thanksgiving involves a countertop of two-liter bottles of Coke and Sprite — the wine section can be a little intimidating. Maybe you’ve never reached further than bottles with bare feet or kangaroos on them (and if you like those bottles, there is nothing wrong with that). Still, nothing says “occasion” like wine a little off the beaten path. Here is some advice to help you stroll the wine aisles with swagger. With regard to seasonality, as summer fades to fall, what we drink moves from fruity frozen things to the more fireplace-friendly bottles of Pinot Noir or heavier Chardonnays. Don’t feel bound by this, though — a sparkling Rosé uncorked while watching a November sunset is as enjoyable in the fall as it is at a July lunch with friends. “Summer water” indeed.
“I feel like everyone in the whole world should always start off with a little sparkling wine. Any meal, any party — it has to be a sparkler.”
Not every wine is sculpted to last a hundred years, though. Some are bottled to be bought and opened right then and there. (Well, wait until you get home.) That’s why some have screw tops; it isn’t a sign of inferiority, but rather, an unambiguous marker of something that’s ready for pouring, so get on with it. There’s a lot more to wine, of course, which is why there are simultaneously a couple of millennia of wine writing, and also the feeling that we are just getting started. But that should get you going for a while and set you up for a successful Thanksgiving wine shopping experience.
PAIRING YOUR TURKEY To learn how to select bottles based on what you are serving as your holiday centerpiece meal, I asked Julie Joy, the director of beer, wine and spirits for Rouses Markets, and a 20-year veteran of the trade. She says if you want to make a proper show of it, there’s an ideal order when uncorking wines at Friendsgivings, Thanksgivings, parties and gatherings.
When it comes to what you’re “supposed” to drink, the first rule is this: Drink what you - Julie Joy, director of beer, wine like! Everyone has a different palate, so don’t and spirits for Rouses Markets worry about what some label says, or what this article says, or what wine gets however many points by this wine critic or that. (Can any human being really detect the difference in a wine that gets a 92, versus another that gets “I feel like everyone in the whole world should always start off with a 93? I mean, come on.) a little sparkling wine,” says Joy. “Any meal, any party — it has to be a sparkler.” The second rule, if there’s going to be one, is this: Explore the wine aisles. You’ll notice little tags on the shelves that offer advice, things For most of us, sparkling wines mean celebration. They are the like: “notes of blackberry” or “cherry and tobacco.” The wine won’t perfect way to elevate the mood and infuse joviality into a gathering. taste like cherry juice with cigars in it; they’re just that: notes. It’s no Joy recommends a sparkling Brut Rosé from the McBride Sisters. A different than taking a bite of pizza. I bet if you try, you can “find” the sparkling wine is what you might think of as a Champagne (though tomato sauce flavor, or the cheese, or the bread. It’s all chewed up in true Champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France). your mouth, but your tongue can work things out all the same. Brut — pronounced brute — is a dry, crisp sparkling wine. A Rosé is a pink wine. Though different wineries make Rosé wines with different The idea when enjoying wine as its own creature is to tease out those processes, the most common way is the “skin contact method.” When oenological fingerprints, to find what makes the wine unique. The soil black grapes are crushed, the skin remains in contact with the grape of some vineyards has been carefully cultivated for centuries, and sun juice for only a short period of time (less than a day). The skin is then and rain and air quality vary from year to year. Every wine’s “terroir” removed rather than fermenting with the wine, but this brief contact (or natural environment and farming practices) is a little different, gives this variety of wine its blushing color. which makes the grapes grown from that ground equally different. Moreover, wine changes in the bottle over time. That doesn’t mean a When it’s time to sit down for dinner, the best wine to drink depends wine must be kept for 20 years before being “good.” As author Matt on what meat is on the big silver platter. If you’re going for a tradiKramer has written, that’s like saying your child cannot be apprecitional Thanksgiving turkey cooked in the oven, look no further than a ated until he or she is an adult. Rather, there are different things to love bottle of Pinot Noir. (In casual usage, when you hear someone talk and admire about your child — and your wine — at every age. about a “Burgundy,” or a “red Burgundy,” they are usually talking
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