Hello, everybody, and Happy Thanksgiving. Welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s
and Brian’s wine and food blog. Are you
having a crowd over for Thanksgiving?
Are you thinking about what wine you’d like to serve? Or are you going to somebody else’s home for
the holiday and thinking you’d like to take a bottle of wine to share?
Thanksgiving dinner is a mélange of flavors, textures,
spices, conversation, and people. Some
of those people are interested in and appreciate wine. Some don’t.
Some enjoy wine but don’t really think about it. And some are like Cousin Louie. He’s a nice fellow who comes to your house for
the occasion. You have provided a lovely
dinner with a selection of nice wine after days of shopping and preparation. As I read in an article recently by Matt Kramer, Louie doesn’t know much about wine, mixes the
Chardonnay with the Cabernet Sauvignon in his glass, throws in a couple of ice
cubes, and says, “Look I made white Zinfandel.
Now it’s good!”
Thanksgiving is stressful enough, especially for the
host. The good news is that many wines
complement the meal just fine and you don’t need to spend much. After all, it is the love of family and
togetherness that are important, not the wine.
The idea is to have several bottles open with white and red choices,
maybe even a rosé. They shouldn’t cost
much, but they should be fruity, preferably refreshing, and not too heavy.
We recently hosted a wine and food event to consider just
these issues. We selected three whites
and three reds. In keeping with the
holiday, all but one of the wines were American. The food choices were classically American
… turkey, dressing, gravy. I went all out and prepared Yorkshire pudding
popovers. We had a first course of cream
of butternut squash soup and a dessert course of three wonderful American
cheeses and nuts. This was literally a
soup-to-nuts event. If you’re interested
in great wine choices with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, you might find our
experience useful. Here goes!
We begin our discussion with a classically Thanksgiving
dish. Dressing (stuffing to all y’all
Californians) is like many dishes.
Everybody has a treasured special recipe. Mary’s version is Cajun style in honor of our
part of the country here in the Gulf South, close to Louisiana, with
extravagant vegetables, seasoning, and spicy smoked sausage. She prepares it a day ahead, allowing the
wonderful flavors to integrate more than same day cooking. Here she is to talk through the ingredients
and the preparation.
Brian actually found this recipe years ago and now I make it every year. Our family that comes for the holiday has
come to expect it. The recipe calls for
smoked sausage and cornbread, seasoned with onions, celery, bell peppers,
garlic and spices. I make the cornbread a day ahead so it can dry out a little.
The sausage is browned in butter, then the veggies are added: bell
pepper, onions, celery -- the Holy Trinity in Cajun cooking.
Spices go in at this point and everything is cooked until the veggies
are tender. The garlic, green onions and
cornbread are added and stirred to blend.
At this point, I take it off the heat and let everything cool down so I
can add beaten eggs. If I have time and have made it a day ahead, I put it in
the fridge overnight and add the eggs the next day. If I have enough homemade
chicken broth, I definitely use it because it’s sooo much better, but this time
we needed the broth for the soup and the gravy, so I used canned broth. The
dressing is so flavorful that the canned broth is fine. I learned from Brian’s
mother to make the dressing a little soupy when it goes into the baking dish so
it doesn’t dry out in the oven.
Here’s the finished product: colorful, spicy, aromatic, and
delicious! Yum!
Brian here again. I
handled the soup course, but didn’t take photos other than this dish after serving. I peeled, cored, seeded, and diced a
butternut squash, which is actually more than needed for six portions. I also chopped a large onion and a couple of
carrots. They all go in a soup pot with
a little salt and 5 cups of homemade chicken stock. The stock is the real secret to the richness
of flavor. The soup was kept warm in a
crockpot, then half a cup of heavy cream was blended in at the last
minute. A dollop of sour cream completed
the presentation. Let me tell you,
everybody loved this soup. I got lots of
compliments, but it was Mary’s homemade stock that made it magical.
I blogged last year about Yorkshire pudding, which you can
find by clicking on the dates at the right side of the blog. They are basically a batter poured into
muffin cups with hot fat, which can be the drippings of a roast beef, ham, or
just melted butter. They make these
wonderful little muffin-sized popovers which were a hit with the soup. They were also terrific with the main course.
Here’s Mary to talk about the bird. We originally thought we would roast a whole
bird, but the only one I could find locally a few weeks before the actual
holiday was 20 lbs! Too big! So, I bought a couple of turkey breasts with
the skin and roasted them. They were
just fine! They were moist, tender, and
delicious and I didn’t have to worry about overcooking part of the bird to get
other parts done. These are just as good
as whole birds, maybe not as dramatic a presentation, but waaay easier. I’m doing these from now on!
Here is the plated main course. I’m happy with how it turned out. We got lots of wows around the table. We had a friendly group, eager to learn
together, enjoyed each other’s company, shared stimulating conversation, what
fun! Here are photos of our friends,
Darren and Babbette and Sara and Lisa.
Instead of the usual pumpkin pie, we chose a cheese course in
consultation with Richard Sutton at Saint James Cheese Company in New Orleans (http://www.stjamescheese.com). Richard is truly an expert. I tell him what food and wines we’re serving
and he always recommends excellent choices.
Once again, I asked for artisanal American products.
The first cheese was Harbison cheese by Jasper Hill Farm in
Vermont, a pasteurized cow’s milk cheese.
This cheese is very interesting.
Aside from the delicious, mild creaminess, almost a sweetness, the way
it is made is fascinating. It is very
soft and spreadable. The small rounds
are held together by tree bark! You can
see what I mean in our photos. You might
also find this video of the cheesemaking process interesting. Go to http://bit.ly/tYhUcu.
The second cheese was Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands
Cheese in Wisconsin, an unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese. It was similar to gruyere, kind of an alpine
character. The third cheese was
Clingman’s Tomme, a hard, raw sheep’s milk cheese from Locust Grove Cheese in
Knoxville, Tennessee. The name is a riff
on Clingman’s Dome, the highest peak in the Smoky Mountains, which will be
familiar to our Georgia and Tennessee family readers.
The cheese course also included a delicious combination of
pistachios, local pecans toasted with butter and pumpkin pie spice, walnuts,
golden raisins, and a drizzle of wildflower honey from one of our neighbors
here in Mississippi, less than a mile away.
Now for the wines.
The three whites started with a California sparkling wine, Roederer
Estate from the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County. The second was a delicious Pinot Gris from
Elk Cove Vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The third white was a Napa Valley Spring
Mountain District Riesling by our friends Charlie and Stu Smith at
Smith-Madrone. To me, it is the only
California Riesling that is as good as a fine Mosel or Alsace Riesling.
As is usually the case, the wines were perceived and
preferred differently with and without food and differently with the main
course and the cheese course. Everybody
enjoyed the sparkling wine and the Pinot Gris.
The Riesling didn’t make quite as much an impression on its own. It was mature enough to have somewhat reduced
primary fruit flavors and a little more of the petroleum quality of a Riesling
with some years on it, but it was delicious with food. I imagine that would please Charlie and Stu.
The reds included one wine from France, a cru Beaujolais
from the village of Morgon. The cépage or red grape of Beaujolais is
Gamay, a fruity, smooth, refreshing red wine that is perfect for
Thanksgiving. Not to be confused with
the better known and exuberant Nouveau Beaujolais, a cru Beaujolais is a higher
quality and more serious wine, yet easy to drink, not too complex, and
complements a variety of food.
The classic red wine of Thanksgiving is Pinot Noir, of
course. For our event we selected an
excellent example by Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara County. This particular version had a few years of
maturity and was specifically from Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria
Valley. The wines of Au Bon Climat can
be counted upon for balance, elegance, and food friendliness. It was a consensus favorite of the evening,
especially among the reds. The
quintessential American red grape is Zinfandel, the big red kind, not the
pink. Zinfandel is big, powerful, ripe
with flavors of wild berry, cherry, plum, and chocolate from the oak barrel
aging. It is fruit-forward and high in
alcohol. As predicted, it made a big
impression when first tasted, lots of smiles.
It wasn’t quite as good with dinner, but did very well with the hard
sheep’s milk cheese that came later.
Here are my notes on each of the wines.
Roederer Estate
Sparkling Wine Anderson Valley Brut NV.
This was a really nice sparkling wine, perhaps not as complex as a fine,
more expensive Champagne, but very good, especially for the price. On its own, I actually preferred it to the
Riesling among the whites. It paired
very well with the turkey and the cheese and was well received by the
group. It had lovely aromas of
grapefruit, apple, fresh mineral notes, and a baked bread quality that is
common to many good sparkling wines. The
texture on the palate was fresh, minerally, smooth, with medium body. The flavor profile additionally revealed
lemon citrus along with the grapefruit and apple, plus a nice, cinnamon spice
on the finish. Beautifully balanced,
nicely complex, long finishing, and excellent wine. It was terrific with all three cheeses. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 12.0%
alcohol. We paid $21 at Briarwood Wines
in Jackson.
Elk Cove Vineyards
Pinot Gris Willamette Valley 2010. This
is a really lovely wine and makes me want to try more Pinot Gris from Oregon
and Alsace. The color in the glass is
pale with flecks of green, nearly colorless, the aroma redolent with peach,
apricot, and floral notes. It is plump
on the palate, not heavy, medium in acidity and body. Lovely peach and perhaps even some tropical
notes of pineapple and banana appear on the palate with some spicy elements on
the finish. Nicely balanced, complex,
with medium length. It was my favorite
white on its own, but didn't perform quite as well with food. 13.0% alcohol. This wine was $17 at Colony Wines in Madison.
Smith-Madrone
Vineyards Riesling Napa Valley Spring Mountain District 2005. This dry-style Riesling is the only American
Riesling we've tried that we think is as good as a fine Alsace or Mosel Riesling. As it matures, the aroma profile has a
definite petroleum or organic solvent quality with a little fruit in the
background. On the palate, it shows
bright acidity and medium body. The
flavors are much fruitier than the aroma with peach, pear, a floral quality,
fresh minerality, and an interesting, faintly honeyed note. Nicely complex, beautifully balanced, medium
length, it is not what I would describe as a hedonistic wine, but it did really
well with food, especially the spicy elements of the Cajun-style dressing and
the mild, creamy Harbison cheese. 12.9% alcohol. We paid $22 for this wine during one of our
visits to Charlie at the winery.
Domaine Pral Morgon
Les Charmes 2009. The fruitiness of
this wine makes it a nice choice with traditional Thanksgiving fare. Aromas of berries, flowers, perhaps rose
petals, herbs, and a delightful earthy, mushroomy quality all appear on the
nose, quite complex. The palate was
medium-plus in body, had a nice, smooth texture, medium acidity, with
raspberry, strawberry, savory, and maybe hints of anise. We don't often drink Beaujolais, so we were
surprised and pleased with the level of complexity. It was well balanced and long finishing, an
excellent wine. It was not my personal
preference, but it was well received by the group. 13.0% alcohol. $20 at Briarwood in Jackson.
Au Bon Climat Pinot
Noir Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido 2005. Jim Clendenen's wines are always
well received. This Pinot Noir with a
few years of maturity was a consensus favorite of the evening, with and without
food. It is just so versatile, pairing
well with every course, literally from soup to nuts, as Mary says. Medium garnet in color, it had lovely earth,
forest floor, cherry fruit, and a smoked meat aroma profile. The palate was fresh, had good acidity, silky
texture, and that great mouthfilling quality of a good Pinot Noir without being
heavy at all. The same earthy, cherry,
exotic mineral and spice notes appear on the flavor profile. Beautifully balanced, complex, long
finishing, tough to beat this, at least among U.S. Pinot Noir. 13.5% alcohol. This wine cost $25.
Karly Winery
Zinfandel Amador County Pokerville 2009.
As Zinfandel goes, this was very well received. It had the exuberant berry and ripe plum
aromas and flavors, chocolate, and peppery notes. It got lots of “ahhs” when first tasted and
gives that immediacy of impression. The
palate showed a rich, full texture, smooth, low acidity, and flavors of jammy
blackberry, raspberry, dark, ripe plum, chocolate, and black pepper. It was a little warm for my preference, but
it was well received by the group, did particularly well with the cheese
course, especially the hard sheep’s milk cheese, had moderate complexity, and
medium length. At 14.5% alcohol, it was
definitely the powerhouse of the evening.
We paid $13 at Briarwood in Jackson.
Here are more memories of our Thanksgiving event. It was such a pleasant evening for everyone.
.
That’s our post for today.
We hope you like it and find it interesting and enjoyable. Keep coming back to Cépage et Cuisine for
more wine and food adventures. In the
meantime, Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
Cheers,
Mary♥Brian
