Serious Juice – A Thankgiving Threesome (of Wine)

[Today we launch Serious Juice, a new column about wine]

It’s no secret in my family that I’m no fan of Thanksgiving, the American harvest feast turned industrial holiday. For years, I’ve fought my Midwestern brethren over proper turkey cooking temperature, blanching Brussels sprouts, and killing the canned cranberries. Yet despite my culinary school degree, 15 years of restaurant service, a career as a food and wine writer in New York City –and no matter how many foodie articles I send with tips from celebrity chefs — I’m condemned annually to a missionary meal of dry white meat with pasty gravy. That’s when I reach for the wine.

Some serious juice can arouse this sleepy feast. I like to drink wines that are crisp and fruity because they’ll cut through all the fat, yet can hang in there when I’m assaulting my palate with sweet and sour cranberry sauce and cloying marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes. And, despite my Francophile tendencies, I like to buy American and plenty for sharing to show that I’m no Thanksgiving Ebenezer. Here’s a diverse threesome –one sparkling, one white, and one red– that’s wholesome enough to serve at this family meal.

Bubbly is a great place to begin, and end, if needed. When my family is feeling less than convivial and it’s particularly rough going in the kitchen and at the table, I’ll stash a bottle in the bottom of the beer cooler, especially if that bottle is my favorite American bubbly, Domaine Carneros Vintage Brut.



Start with Bubbly

Domaine Carneros, owned by the Champagne Taittinger house, makes this brut with a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Carneros appellation, which sits on the northern border of the San Pablo Bay. The grapes easily ripen under the California sun giving the wine its fruity edge, but a nocturnal fog keeps temperatures cool, which in turn keeps the grapes from getting too ripe and raisin-y, a common, yet often unacknowledged, problem in the state’s wines.

The winery adds a creamy touch by putting 8% of the wine through a secondary, malolatic fermentation, which- for you A.P. nerds- converts tangy malic acid (granny smith apple) to softer lactic acid (milk).  It’s a well-balanced, yet complex, mix of vibrant pear and stone fruit flavors, with layers of toasted nuts, pastry and a long, creamy finish. That turkey is starting to sound delicious. Astor Wine & Spirits carries the current 2006 vintage for $20, but you should be able to find this or previous vintages, which are just as good, at most major wine stores.

When dinner is finally served, and hopefully I’ll get a fork in it while it’s hot, I like a white and red on the table, with a few bottles of each for back-up. As a host, it’s important to serve only one white and only one red. If you start to mix and match, someone at the table will inevitably to be left out of one bottle or another and feelings could be hurt.  Or worse, guests might binge in a mad-dash-guzzle to try every wine that’s opened and passed around. Guests, lushes or not, are excluded from the one white, one red rule. If I’m not preparing or bringing a dish, I always bring a bottle, if not two, but I leave it to the host’s discretion for if and when those wines will be opened.

For a white, I like Riesling because it’s an all-court player when it comes to the sweet, sour and fall spice flavors found on the Thanksgiving table. The wine’s zesty peach and spice notes can stand up to stuffing and sweet potatoes, while its limey freshness cleanses the palate. And its intense minerality is a reminder that wine comes from the earth.

Rieslings can range from bone-dry to sticky sweet, but I recommend the dry or semi-dry versions because they’ll compliment rather than compete. Hermann J. Wiemer from the Finger Lakes in upstate New York makes both styles. Fred Merwarth, the current owner and longstanding winemaker, produces estate grown Rieslings that are putting this region on the world wine map. Union Square Wines sells the dry version for $20, and Frankly Wines in Tribeca has the semi-dry bottling for $18 .

Riesling

Despite its All-American status, I don’t like Zinfandel with this meal. Its high alcohol and jammy concentration will overwhelm most dishes, except for something like a honey glazed ham or a decadent pecan pie. Rather, I like a red from the other end of the spectrum, Pinot Noir. The light-bodied Pinot Noir has many of the same characteristics as Riesling. It has a core of cherry fruit, refreshing acidity and a distinct earthiness that borders ethereal. Because I’m focused on fruity yet fresh, I usually skip the hot climates in California and head to the cooler vineyards in Oregon for this occasion.

A to Z Wineworks offers a great entry-level Pinot. It’s has the typical cherry berry fruit, as well as hints of herb and hot stone on the finish. It’s the perfect wine to bridge the various flavors of a fork full of dark turkey meat, sausage-sage stuffing and a knife tip of fresh cranberry sauce. Garnet Wines & Liquors sells it for $18, and like most wine stores, gives a 10% case discount, because this is one bedmate worth keeping around.

Frontier Oenologist is deeply embedded in the cellars of the secret and often dangerous urban wine underworld. He lives in Brooklyn.