Thanksgiving in The Finger Lakes

First and foremost, an apology for not having posted recently. The good news is I have collected many anecdotes from Virginia wineries regarding how they celebrated Virginia Wine Month and am compiling those stories and will write a much-belated summary of how wineries fared during October soon.

Second, I have read, and will write a post reviewing The Wine Trials in the near future as well. It is a fascinating book with some very good suggestions for some stellar wines for under $15. Pick up a copy, or wait for the Beltway Bacchus Book Review that will be coming soon...

Finally, with Thanksgiving having just passed, and most of us now in serious leftover mode, I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday and were able to pair their traditional Thanksgiving meal with good wine. We spent the holiday with Caitlin’s family in the Finger Lakes. There was lots of family, more food, and plenty of wine that Caitlin picked up after perusing the list of recommended wines from the Wine Trials.

The standout wine, in my opinion, was Gnarly Head’s Old Vine Zin 2007. The 2007 zin is medium-bodied with a spiciness that worked well to accentuate the tastes of the traditional Thanksgiving foods. I especially enjoyed this wine with the mashed sweet potatoes, where the wine’s kick was nicely balanced by the sweetness and butteriness of the dish, and with the stuffing and gravy - because who doesn’t like stuffing and gravy?

Although zinfandel is not necessarily the first varietal people think of when they think of wines for Thanksgiving - I would wager that most people assume that the white meat of the turkey would good well with a white wine - introducing reds that are a bit bolder make for an even more interesting meal. The zinfandel certainly worked well, if not better, then the Mirassou Pinot Noir that was also served and is another of the recommendations from the Wine Trials. I found that the silkiness and fruitiness of the Mirassou did not go as well with the heavy food, though it is still a fine-drinking red in its own right.