How carefully do you plan holiday wine selections?
For me, there isn’t a logic. Since Thanksgiving is a time for family, I just choose some true favorite wines to share with people I love. I don’t tend to think about what pairs well with turkey or with any of the sides. This year we drove to Hubby’s sister’s home a little over an hour away to spend the day.
I pretty much had my wine plan together before waking up Thanksgiving morning. Any gathering that is meant to be fun needs to start with bubbles. My go-to Virginia bubbly for the past few years has been an Ankida Ridge Blanc de Noirs (they had a Blanc de Blanc prior to this release, I think). This year, I had a bottle of Stinson’s 2022 Sparkling Mourvedre on the rack, and that was the first selection for the day. Bubbles just bring the fun and set the mood. If there are finger foods to get the day started, the bubbles generally go great with those. In this case, we enjoyed these bubbles with cheese, meat and crackers. It was totally the way to go, and everyone really enjoyed these bubbles. Hubby was surprised I didn’t bring the Blanc de Noirs, but this is quite a special bottle, and a good one to share. A few folks commented that this one was different from many other sparklings they had previously, and I talked a little about how unusual Mourvedre is for Virginia and for our sparklings. Personally, I can’t wait to get more!
For the main meal, I almost always go with a bolder red. For the past few years that has been Ankida Ridge’s 2017 Reserve Pinot Noir. This year I chose……Walsh’s What Will The Women Drink – vintages 2020 and 2021. We opened the 2021 first (2021 made generally bolder wine and the 2020 vintage is subtler, so I went for power). It was a resounding hit with the crew. A Petit Verdot heavy blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc to round it out, it packs quite a punch while also not overwhelming your tastebuds. Pleasant fruit, low oak profile and smooth as all get out. While we finished the 2021, we did not open the 2020, and that was left with my sister-in-law since I failed to help clean up the kitchen after the meal (I ate waaaay too much, and may have drank a little).
With our chocolate bourbon pecan pie and pumpkin pie, we enjoyed the Ankida 2015 Patiné. Everyone also loved this sweeter wine (5% residual sugar) as part of the dessert. I imagine this is made with chardonnay grapes from the property – the label notes that its fermented in barrel with residual sugar and aged longer – at 9 years old this sweet sipper is a nice after dinner drink. It went great with the pies.
It was a lot of great food and amazing wine. I’m sad to realize I got no pictures of the Sparkling Mourvedre. I wish I had. But I know it’s still for sale on their site, along with a still red version of the wine in a well-priced two-pack deal. This is one to be certain you don’t miss out on.
What was on your thanksgiving wine menu?
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