I started writing about wine on facebook, after several people inquired what wine to serve at Thanksgiving.
I published my first wine-focused ‘note’ with the intent of spreading the word. After more than a year of being pestered to start a wine blog, I’m finally taking the plunge- and I have my 60+ entires of historic wine notes to include.
So…welcome to The Cellar! For ‘historic’ notes, I’ll include the header From JvB’s Cellar and include the date so you can quickly decide to read, browse, or ignore any of the submissions you might recall, or wish to re-visit. Please let me know with your comments if it’s working out for you- as an established writer I want the writer-reader relationship to be beneficial, and I’m trying to figure out how to make a blog worth your time. Fair enough?
—————Thanksgiving Wines (originally posted 11-23-10) ——————
This has been requested by a half-dozen different people, so I’m making it a note.
Here’s my $0.02 on Thanksgiving wine, and I’ll try to stay on the inexpensive side of wines, 9-15/bottle, for large groups like this. At Thanksgiving I tend to serve several wines: A main white, a second white (Reisling for the reluctant drinker), a gentle red, and a serious red.
1) I always serve a dry white (either a Bordeaux like Lamothe de Haux ’09, Chateneuf Herzog, or a white Burgundy like the Latour Macon-Lugny Les Genievres, each @ $10/bottle). It helps get people to the table, great to drink while cooking or chatting, and a good dinner wine for people who don’t (or can’t) drink red, want something to clear their palate, don’t really like to drink wine much but want a glass at the table, or similar reasons.
2) I also always have a bottle of a dry Reisling on hand. Some people can’t digest the tannins of reds and the whites are often too mineral-tasting or too dry without food, and a demi-dry white or a dry Reisling is my secret weapon. At about $9/bottle, I have found my wife and mom both love bottles like Mosel Germany’s Clean Slate ’08 and Relax ’07, which are unpretentious, tasty, and fun to drink without being too sweet, while being a decent food complement for those non-wine drinkers who just want a little something in their glass to enjoy. They are often screw-cap, which makes them easy to serve & save.
3) For reds, in the last three years I have turned from my traditional “too-heavy” cabernets to the balanced and more appropriate Pino Noir for Thanksgiving red. I serve either the Joseph Drouhim Nourgogne Pinot “Laforet” ’07, the Chamarre’ Grande Reserve Pinot Noir ’07, or Louis Latour Pinot Noir Bourgogne, all in the $9-$12 bottle range. If I have guests who are Californian wine drinkers, the Ramsay North Coast ’08 Pinot, which is big and bold, is a great choice around $14/bottle.
4. Lastly, I always keep a serious red on hand, just in case I have a serious red drinker. It also is great as the meal progresses or if you have a red meat course or a flavor that is looking for a big wine to complement it. On the low end of the price scale, I adore Los Vascos ’06 Cabernet Sauvignon which is a Rothschild (Lafite) grape grown in Chile, and is an outstanding value at 9/bottle. There are also always a lot of great Bordeaux out there in the 10-15 range, Chateau de Costis, Chateau du Pin, Chateau Greysac (Medoc) ’06, Chateau Lascaux ’05, all solid choices. If I want to step that up a notch, there are some excellent choices in the 18-25/bottle range, such as Lafite Reserve Speciale (Medoc) ’06, Chateneuf-du-Pape and Margaux which will largely vary on the vintner and year depending on where you buy wine.
Happy Holidays!
jvb uncorked 
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