Ahhh, yes! I can smell it now. The turkey and all those fixings slowly filling the house with a cacophony of aromas. I’m getting snoozy just thinking about it.
Thanksgiving, the greatest eating holiday of them all, is upon us and with it comes the endless lists of what to pair with all that stuff that you will be piling on your plate over and over again.
The LCBO ‘s Vintages release this weekend will attract a lot of buyers with various wine suggestion lists on their iPhones trying to grab that one wine that pairs so perfectly with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, those yucky jelly things, myriad vegetable casseroles with myriad cheese sauces, Brussels sprouts, and that thing your aunty brings over every year that no one eats.
Yes, oh yes, it’s high season for popular wine writers to wax on about wine + turkey and what you should and should not be putting on the table.
The mother of them all, Natalie MacLean, is popping up all over TV, magazines and websites with her annual Thanksgiving advice that really hasn’t changed in the past ?? (insert number here) years or so. You can tune in Friday to CTV for her words of wisdom or just go to her site here for some sage advice on holiday food-wine pairing (Zinfandel? Really?).
Or, you can read on for the best advice EVER on what wine to serve with Thanksgiving dinner. Are you ready?
Here it is: Serve what you like to drink.
That’s right. Buy and serve what you enjoy drinking. It’s simple, really, nothing matches perfectly with all that stuff that will be hitting your plate, so simply serve wines you enjoy drinking or wines that you think those around your table will enjoy and all will be right with the world.
There are no wrong suggestions, there are no right suggestions for Thanksgiving, although I tend to go local in honour of the bounty we have in our own backyard. We can at least give thanks for that.
But it’s not imperative. In fact, I’ll be damned if I serve Uncle Bob a great Niagara Riesling if he drinks nothing but cheap crackling rose. Bob gets crackling rose, the cheaper the better. Sister Kim likes Malbec. Malbec it is. But Brother Mark, he’s the cool one, loves and adores the hidden gems from Ontario. I will dig deep into the cellar for something for him no matter what the variety or blend.
Thanksgiving is about family, friends and comfort foods. It’s about sharing and enjoying. Don’t add stress by looking for the perfect wine for the dinner. There simply isn’t one.
Here’s what to look for from Niagara in the Vintages release Saturday (by the way, these are all perfect for Thanksgiving):
Angels Gate Sussreserve Riesling 2010 ($14, 88 points) — Gorgeous and fruity nose of ripe citrus, lime and touches of white peach. I love the fresh, tart citrus on the palate with tangerine, pear and grapefruit notes. A good example of the sussreserve style.
Featherstone Cabernet Franc 2011 ($17, 88 points) — Featherstone owner David Johnson has a real love affair with this variety. He believes his 2010 version “was the best wine I’ve ever made.” It was a beauty and hard to live up to especially in an uneven vintage like 2011. This is made with 100% new American oak. It shows sweet cherry, dried herbs, raspberry and spice on the nose. It’s a pleasurable Cab Franc, perhaps lacking the depth of 2010, but still some nice red fruits, smoky notes, licorice, herbs and evident tannins.
Stratus Wildass Red 2011 ($20, 89 points) — This assemblage benefits from the challenging 2011 vintage as much of the Stratus Red vineyard grapes were declassified into this wine. The nose shows ripe wild berries, raspberry, cassis, toasted oak (100% aged for 246 days in 11% new barrels), vanilla, spice and touches of licorice and smoke. It’s quite rich on the palate with a foundation of red fruits to go with bramble, spice and grippy tannins throught the long finish. A nice wine for $20.
A few of other Niagara wines released but not reviewed:
• Peninsula Ridge Reserve Meritage 2010 ($25)
• Malivoire Gewurztraminer 2011 ($25)
• Sue-Ann Staff Cabernet Franc 2010 ($18)
•••
A note on the big Napa Valley release at Vintages
So, I’m flipping through the Vintages release brochure for Oct. 12, which features a pile of Napa Valley wines.
I get to Page 7 and right there emerges one of my favourite Napa wines: Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon. I am surprised because we rarely see this iconic label at the LCBO for some odd reason.
But it’s back and I’m excited until I see the price.
$84 for Heitz Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. Wait, read that again. $84?? This isn’t the legendary Martha’s Vineyard or any of the single vineyard Heitz wines, this is the simple estate cuvee Heitz.
I go online to see what others are selling this wine for. K&L Wines in California ($39.99), Prestige Wines and Spirits in Buffalo ($39.99), Heitz online ($45), SAQ in Quebec, and some say the most expensive wines in the world, ($62) and at wine-searcher.com the low price is $31 and the high price is $44 in the U.S.
So, I ask myself why is the LCBO charging $84 for this wine? It seems inconceivable to me that the world’s largest wine buyer has the worst possible price of anywhere in the world (at least from my searches).
Two possibilities exist here: Either the LCBO got hosed, or we’re getting hosed. Bottomline: We’re getting hosed.
I check some of the other prices for Cali Cabs in the release:
• Corison Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($114 at Vintages, $90 at the winery)
• Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 ($138 at Vintages, $90 at the winery, but sold out)
• Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 ($40 at Vintages, $44 at the winery)
I can live with those markups, but Heitz at nearly double of what the winery sells it for? And more than double for what I can buy for with a 20-minute drive to Buffalo?
I don’t think so. Not in this lifetime.
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