Thanks for the wineries…
Ah, yes… Thanksgiving… A time for giving thanks to family and friends… And what better way to give thanks than sharing a bottle of wine. But what to buy?
Every grocery store and wine emporium has their recommendations. And I would say give them a try… Or you can solve all of your wine woes right here on Wine Ponder. (Well, no hangover cures. So don’t overdo it.) Figure out who is on your guest list and how much you want to spend. Here is a list of wines that I personally recommend.
If you are doing a traditional turkey dinner, Pinot Noir is the varietal of choice. Why you ask? Well, because it tastes so darn good with poultry. I have mentioned Meiomi in a number of different posts. I think it’s one of the best Pinot Noirs out there for the money – $18-$22 (depending on where you buy it).
But here are some other wines to consider.
PINOT NOIR –
Sparrow Hawk Reserve Pinot comes from Santa Barbara County and Russian River Valley – two of California’s finest areas for growing Pinots. The wine sells for $35 at the winery, but Costco sells it for $16 ($13 if you can find it on sale). This was one of my “finds of the year” when it comes to taste, value and overall wine satisfaction.
Testarossa Cuvee 107 is from the Santa Lucia Highlands – which is where a lot of nice Pinot Noirs comes from. A medium-bodied Pinot that sells for about $20.
Montoya is a light-bodied Pinot that sells for about $16 ($11 if you can find it on sale) comes from Monterey County.
Ramsay Pinot sells for about $15. This is a little “bigger” wine than the Montoya or Testarossa. “Bigger” meaning a little deeper in color, a little “thicker” in mouth feel, and a little bolder in taste.
ZINFANDEL – Zinfandel is another good alternative to go with a turkey dinner.
Kirkland Zinfandel is a good find for $10 at Costco.
Cameron Hughes makes an amazing Zinfandel blend with Syrah and Petit Sirah for about $9 called Lot 467. This should be a $20 bottle, but don’t tell them that.
Girard produces an “Old Vine” Napa Zinfandel that Wine Spectator gave 90 points. The winery sells it for $28, but it can be purchased for $16-$18.
And I have mentioned Gnarly Head Zinfandel – a great wine for $8.
SPARKLING WINE – If you decide you want to try something with bubbles, which also works nicely with a turkey dinner…
A great sparkling wine – especially for the money – is LaMarca Prosecco. In case you don’t know, Prosecco is the Italian version of Champagne or sparkling wine. You can get LaMarca just about anywhere – grocery stores, wine stores, Costco – going for about $12-$15. The wine was recently featured in Wine & Spirits Restaurant Poll for “Top 5 Most Popular Italian Wines”.
Another wonderful sparkling wine is California’s Domaine Carneros. This is also widely distributed and goes for about $28.
Other comparable sparkling wines from California are Schramsberg Blanc De Blancs or Blanc De Noirs – both going for about $30.
If you find other great wines that you want to share with all of us at Wine Ponder, please post a comment below. This is the kind of research that we love to do.
And now let’s pause for a moment to give thanks to the wineries for making some great, affordable and delicious wines. Have a wine-derful and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Cheers.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Thanksgiving Wines
• Giving Thanks… For Wine
• Halloween Wine
• New Halloween Wine List
• Wine For The Holidays
• More Wine For The Holidays
• Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Festival