Thanksgiving Wines— and Wines to Pair with Annoying Relatives!

I was looking through my blog stats today and noticed a huge amount of visitors reading the post I wrote about Thanksgiving wines in 2009! So I figured I better write another one and give folks something more recent to read with my selections for 2011. So here are what wines I’m drinking for Thanksgiving—and more importantly the three days after Thanksgiving. Plus a special bonus feature: Wines to Pair with Annoying Relatives—

Thanksgiving Day: What’s on the menu? Duck I think, I don’t know really. My husband is the cook. But it will all be good with these wines.

Rose: Shane 2010 Rose Ma Fille, Sonoma County 
Whites: Cartograph 2009 Gewürztraminer Floodgate Vineyard, Russian River Valley &
Quivira 2010 Viognier–Sauvignon Blanc 50/50 blend
Reds: La Follette 2009 Pinot Noir Manchester RidgeVineyard, Mendocino Ridge  – I love everything that comes out of the Manchester Ridge vineyard and this wine in particular is pure magic.
Baxter 2007 Pinot Noir Toulouse Vineyard, Anderson Valley –
Q: What’s going on in Philo? A: Some serious good wine.

Black Friday Wine—
Baxter 2006 Carignan Caballo Blanco Vineyard, Mendocino --I love this varietal and I’ll need the strong flavor profile of this Rhone variety to help me navigate the online sales.

Saturday 2nd Day of Leftovers Wine—
These wines will shine and make the leftovers taste divine.
White: Phillips Hill 2010 Gewürztraminer, Anderson Valley
Red: La Follette 2009 Pinot Noir Sangiacomo Vineyard Sonoma Coast – Every time I drive by this vineyard I think about this wine and it’s mineraly-minty-mocha-cherry-madness. Will pair great with the leftover duck if there is any leftover.

Sunday Everybody Please Go Home Now Post-Thanksgiving Wine—
Quivira 2009 Flight Dry Creek Vineyard, Sonoma-- the name Flight says it all—this fruity blend of 94% Zinfandel and 6% Viognier— is the right choice to serve after the holiday to those lingering too long . The name drops a subtle hint if  that doesn’t work simply say—“Go on, get going or you will miss your flight!”

The Thanksgiving line up. Start your engines!

Wines to Pair with Annoying Relatives—

Aunt A: Well she’s a lush and we all know it, but she's not super particular about what's in her glass. She drinks any old swill on sale at the market so just to mess with her I'll pour Phillips Hill 2010 Chardonnay Ridley Vineyard, Anderson Valley because it will make her really sit up and notice. She will love it, but then won't be able to buy it in her Podunk town, so it will be a passive aggressive win-win.

Cousin J: My pain-in-the-ass-know-it-all cousin:  I'll serve Bonny Doon Cunning a blend of 61% Carignane and 39% Mourvedre because he won't know the grapes and will smirk that it's a screw cap. Then the color will fade from his smirky-know-it-all face as he realizes how darn good it is and he'll be beside himself and fuming because he didn’t know anything about it.

Cousin MJ: MJ is such an utter twit. He is an investment banker... need I say more? No, but I will…MJ is a beady-eyed greed monster, obsessed with feathering his nest on the backs of others. He gives new meaning to the 1%.  For him I’ll pour La Follette 2009 Pinot Noir Van Der Camp Vineyard, Sonoma Mountain because it’s elegant and complex with a beautiful backbone. All the qualities he lacks. Wait, on second thought this wine is too good for that loser. I’ll save this for later.

If I had a favorite cousin I'd pull him or her aside and pour them a glass of Shane 2007 Syrah The Villain, Mendocino County – but I don’t—so I’ll just drink it myself.

Wine I’m Saving for Christmas: Baxter 2007 Pinot Noir Oppenlander Vineyard, Mendocino 

Cheers and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

NOTE TO READERS: I received the LaFollette and Quivira wines I discuss in this post as samples---BUT!!! I am already a Quivira Queue club member, and I purchase all their wines. I love La Follette and buy their wines regularly on my own as well. It was just a happy coincidence that I was sent samples. So don’t get all huffy about the fact I liked these wines because they were samples. I ALREADY BUY & LOVE THEM! Everything else I bought with my own money.

Living the Dream

This picture above captures the essence of the "California Wine Lifestyle" --it's the classic image seen in many glossy wine and lifestyle magazines-- Friends gathered in the vineyard, sun setting, wine in hand.

When I moved to California wine country I decided I wanted to sample that picture perfect life those glossy magazines were showing. I wanted to learn more about wine and all its aspects. I wanted to be in one of those pictures. Then I looked at the picture again… wait a minute here…I am in that picture! (click on photo above to enlarge)

Cue Talking Heads music…Once in a Lifetime (with apologies to David Byrne for slight lyric changes)

You may find yourself in a beautiful vineyard, with beautiful friends

You may ask yourself: well... how did I get here?

Yes indeed! How did I get here is the question.

Well I suppose it all started with a love for wine and meeting some very generous and amazing like-minded individuals. I started wine blogging to give myself a place to talk about the things I was learning. I never really considered myself a wine blogger as the bulk of the writing I do is about travel. But now, after attending two wine blogger conferences and countless local wine events, I guess I really am a wine blogger. And here I am living the glossy magazine fantasy I imagined less than a year ago.

The photo above was taken at Floodgate vineyards at a celebration dinner event to commemorate the launch of Cartograph Wines by Alan Baker and Serena Lourie on July 24th.

We began the evening by touring the vineyards in a modified hay wagon. Vineyard manager Warren Burton led the way telling us the background and characteristics of each area that was planted. Floodgate vineyards produce a multitude of wines and is planted with clones of Pinot Noir as well as Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyard tour was staged with stops that included a food and wine pairing for the particular grapes that had been grown there.

First pairing stop-- Prosciutto wrapped around melon paired with an outstanding Sauvignon Blanc by Atascadero Creek. This Sauvignon Blanc had the crisp fruity flavors and acidity that I normally attributed to SB from New Zealand. It was surprising to find that same balance in a local wine. I quickly took a picture of the label for future reference.

Pairing Station Two: Artichoke mousse tartlet’s with Cartograph Gewurztraminer. I love this Gewurtz. It’s endlessly satisfying and a delight to drink with it’s bight flavors and dry finish.

Pairing Station Three: Bacon and Blue Cheese with Pinot Noir from C. Donatiello Block 15 and Gary Farrell’s Alysian label Floodgate Pinot. These wines were quite different in style and showed the incredible range of the Pinot grape.

After the third stop I began to feel a bit like we were in the church of Floodgate and visiting the stations of the cross. I wondered when the collection plate would be passed around. But thankfully, this was not the church of my youth, this was a new religion altogether.

Pairing Station Four: Bruschetta and fresh tomato salsa paired with more Alysian Pinot.

While we sipped more Pinot on a hillside overlooking the property I noticed the rows at Floodgate were planted so straight that if Warren ever gives up his wine pursuits I think he’d make a top-notch orthodontist.

Pairing Station Five: Oysters on the half shell and a bit of Riesling as we watched the sun set.

Next we had dinner under the stars. Warren Burton kept us laughing all through out the meal and poured some Bradford Mountain Syrah. Our country BBQ feast featured grilled steaks and a host of side dishes including fingerling potatoes with mint that were deceptively simple--just butter potatoes and mint, but oh so good.

The glow and good cheer and camaraderie of that evening will linger with me for quite some time. It really was an evening straight out of a wine lifestyle magazine. But this evening was not a staged photo shoot. It was the real deal.

I’d like to thank Warren, Bobbie, Marlene, Maxine and Adam for their hospitality and of course Alan and Serena for making it all happen.

NOTE: This post is quite late because I was trying to recover my photos from the evening off a damaged camera disc. Unfortunately, they were all lost. But better to post late than never.

Cupcakes, Meatballs & Pinot

Any weekend that includes cupcakes, meatballs or pinot noir, is bound to be great in my opinion, but a weekend that includes all three is outstanding. I got to experience such a trifecta with cupcakes courtesy of Sift Cupcake Bakery in Santa Rosa. Meatballs from Serena Lourie and Alan Baker in Healdsburg at Pastapalooza! And Pinot at The Pinot Noir Summit produced by Barbara Drady and held in San Rafael. Albeit the last one was experienced vicariously via tweets because I was detained at a prior event and did not make it to the Summit in time for the grand tasting, but that’s the beauty of Twitter, it’s almost like the real thing.

On Friday, I attended the Grand Opening of Sift (@Sifted) in their new Santa Rosa location. We got a tour of the new facility from Shana Ray @sharayray and of course got to sample the cupcakes. There was a special sprinkle application zone and a custom frosting area where one could custom blend frosting with wine. The event was catered with small plates of food including some mighty tasty mini curry corn dogs!

I think I had a little too much fun with the photo booth that was brought in for the occasion and the props that were provided to enhance the photo booth experience. Who know feather boas could be so flattering?

Unfortunately we had to leave the party before the fortune teller began reading palms so that was a drag, but I’m sure the only thing she would have seen in my future was more cupcakes.

Next stop, Healdsburg for Pastapalooza at the home of Alan Baker @cellarrat and Serena @slourie. Alan and Serena hosted a pasta fest of epic proportions. Three kinds of sauces and 200 homemade meatballs! Serena claims she has no Italian ancestors but her meatballs say otherwise. At the party I finally met Deborah Kravitz (@whatdebpours) in real life and got to meet many other new folks as well.

In the meantime, I can't wait for Alan’s next wine release under the new label Cartograph. You can follow on twitter at @cartographwines , but you'll have to get in line behind me to buy some when it's ready.

On Saturday Barbara Dradys (@wineevangelist) annual Pinot Noir Summit took place. As I mentioned above I was unable to make it, but I almost felt as if I were there via all the great tweets that attendees were sending out. I'm marking my calendar early so I will not miss out again next year.