What's Our Resident Brit Drinking for Thanksgiving? Domestic Wines!
Wow! Thanksgiving snuck up on me this year. Where did the last couple months go!? So, excuse my lack of a long, poetic story to lead into my recommendations for your Turkey Day feast this year. I’ll just start by saying that I’ve tried to give a nice broad selection of wines, whites, reds, and others somewhere in between. I’ve tried to pick things across a range of styles and price points in the hope that anyone reading this will find something that piques their interest.
As I’ve written in years gone by, Thanksgiving is one of the funnest meals to pair wine with because, although you have the basic building blocks of what the spread will probably look like, so many folks have their own traditions and speciality dishes they contribute to the ensemble, giving endless opportunities to find new and magical food pairings. It’s also typically a long day of food preparation, socializing, and, quite frankly, some good old day drinking. So, keep refreshment in mind and always have some nice crisp, fresh, white wines on hand to keep that palate energized for the finishing stretch of chewing on a turkey leg or that extra scoop of stuffing you probably could have done without! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving shared with loved ones new and old. And without further ado, here are a few wines I think might work to wash it all down!
2023 Filomena "Unti Vineyard" Dry Creek Valley Vermentino $24.95 Bright, aromatic, refreshing whites are perfect for the Thanksgiving Day marathon. They provide much needed refreshment and are typically versatile with a wide range of foods. Filomena is a great project from talented winemaker Luke Nio. After several years working in the cellars of top-notch producers such as Bedrock Wine Co. and Green & Red Vineyard, Luke now makes the wines at Sonoma-based Kivelstadt, as well as making some super exciting wines under his own label Filomena. Named after his great-grandmother who is also featured on the label, a black and white photograph taken in 1926 (in the middle of prohibition). The Vermentino is from one hillside block at Unti in Dry Creek Valley. It captures the beautiful golden fruit of the varietal with stony minerals from the intensely rocky soils, plus some great texture from time on lees in neutral French oak. Just 110 cases were made. A real pleasure to drink!
2021 MaidenStoen "Zabala Vineyard" Arroyo Seco Riesling $19.95 94WE Mike Callahan is passionate about Riesling. So passionate in fact that he decided to start his own brand dedicated to single vineyard California Riesling. And, while it’s perhaps not the safest business plan for making money, remember the old saying about finding a job you love… and you will never have to work a day in your life? Well I think perhaps MaidenStoen fits the bill for Mike. Zabala Vineyard is a fascinating site in Arroyo Seco. The vines grow in extremely rocky, gravelly soils, an old riverbed similar to the galets you might see in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The site is farmed organically and has a long, moderate growing season thanks to the howling winds that funnel down the Salinas Valley like clockwork every summer afternoon from the Monterey Bay. The wine is bursting with ripe citrus, nectarine, preserved lemon, riverstone mineral, and juicy acidity that makes your mouth water. Fantastic value!
2023 Orixe Sotelo "ALBOR" Calaveras County Albariño - Godello - Treixadura White Blend $29.95 I love the wines of Gustavo Sotelo at Orixe (oh-ree-shay) Sotelo. Alongside his day job making the wines at Scribe Vineyards in Carneros, Gustavo and his wife Jackie, decided to start their own winery inspired by the wines from the north coast of Spain (where Gustavo’s family heritage traces back to). The 2023 ALBOR is a racy, fresh, textural white made from Albariño, Godello and Treixadura all from the Metate Hill Vineyard—located in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Grown on schist soils at 1,500ft elevation. The wine is native fermented in 500L neutral oak puncheons and rested sur lees for eight months prior to bottling. A fantastic wine if you want something fresh and zesty, but with a little more textural depth than your typical Albarinño or Sauvignon Blanc.
2022 Talley "Estate" SLO Coast Chardonnay $29.95 94DC I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Eric Johnson at Talley Vineyards consistently makes some of the finest Chardonnay in the country. If you really want to see the pinnacle of his craft check out their Rosemary’s Vineyard bottling…but, for a very modest price, combining fruit from several of their top notch estate plantings, the SLO Coast bottling from Talley overdelivers in every way possible. A dead ringer for Mersault, this wine manages to incorporate a flinty, struck-match quality that leads into shaved almond, raw hazelnut, crushed quince, apple pie crust, and salty minerals. It’s got everything. Depth, complexity, great fruit, nice texture, a racy acid line that keeps everything perfectly tense and vibrant on the palate. Just fantastic Chardonnay through and through. Probably the best you can buy at this price.
2021 Marine Layer "Marine Layer Estate Vineyard" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay $49.95 97TWI 95VN Another one of my favorite Chardonnay producers in the state, the wines from Marine Layer are just spectacular across the board and they’re starting to get the massive scores to prove it. After starting, growing, and selling off the wildly successful Banshee Wines brand, founder Baron Ziegler and winemaker Rob Fischer refocused their efforts into making the best of the best tiny-production wines from the far western reaches of the Sonoma Coast. While continuing to source fruit from the very finest and famous vineyards in the region, they also planted a small 5-acre vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills that became home base for Mariner Layer wines. Old Wente-selection Chardonnay grows in powdery, moondust-like, Goldridge soil. The vines are constantly buffeted by cooling winds coming through the Petaluma Gap, and fog is very common at this relatively low (500ft) elevation site. This long, drawn-out growing season, plus the miniscule yields from the Wente-selection vines, produces a Chardonnay of uncommonly high concentration and flavor intensity. It’s rich and powerful, but also has searing acidity and wonderful freshness and drive across the palate. Just one drop on the tongue and the flavors spread across the entire palate. Very compelling wine that is worthy of the hype.
2022 I. Brand & Family "Eden Rift Vineyard" Cienega Valley Pinot Gris (Ramato) $29.95 A little more of an esoteric selection, but one I think goes super well with typical Thanksgiving fare. This is a totally delicious ramato (skin contact) style of Pinot Gris from Ian Brand. Sourced from steeply terraced vines at the historic Eden Rift property in Cienega Valley. These vines, terraced into an east-facing hillside, were planted in 1996 and have deep roots in the decomposed granite and limestone flecked soils. After five days on skins, the wine was pressed off and fermented with native yeast in neutral, large format oak casks. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine presents almost as a slightly copper tinged rosé, the aromatics are bright with alpine strawberry, golden raspberry, jasmine, white peach. A subtle grip from the skin contact gives a gentle phenolic element, but this isn’t a funky, natty, skin-contact orange wine… it’s complex and fun, but safe enough for the less adventurous drinkers at your holiday table.
2023 Vinos Finos “Sabroso” Central Coast Red Blend $22.95 95WE Here’s a very fun, playful selection for the holiday table. A delicious chillable red made from Ted Glennon’s Vinos Finos. The Sabroso red is an explosively aromatic blend of old-vine Grenache with Cabernet Pfeffer, Zinfandel, Barbera, and Ruché. It’s OK if there’s a few grapes there you’ve never heard of, because trust me, this wine is incredibly easy to enjoy. The fruit comes from San Benito and is all organic, mostly whole-cluster, all neutral oak and tank—bright, fresh, crushable! This fun bottle was a huge hit with our staff at several recent tastings and is about as glugable as they come! Plus 95WE to boot! If that turkey gets a little dry, this is the perfect wine to wash it down.
2023 Rootdown "Cole Ranch" Mendocino Trousseau $29.95 Mike Lucia’s Rootdown project is fascinating. A few years back Mike bought the historic Cole Ranch Vineyard in Mendocino. This unique vineyard, which actually has its own dedicated AVA, was planted in the late 1960s mostly to Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. While Mike continues to farm, sell fruit, and make wines from the old-vine Cab and Riesling, he has also embarked on an ambitious project to graft several blocks over to traditional varieties from the Jura region of France. Trousseau is one such variety and seems to be flourishing here! This wine has such lovely floral aromatics like an alpine meadow. Fresh, red fruit mingles with some more savory briar patch notes, crushed rock minerals, and earthy spices. Fine and silky on the palate, elegant but full of flavor. The Rootdown wines could certainly be considered natural wines, as the winemaking is very non-interventionist: native ferment, some whole-cluster, aged in neutral oak, minimal SO2, bottled unfined, unfiltered, but the wines are very clean and pure (which makes me happy)!
2023 Turley "Bechthold Vineyard" Lodi Cinsault $29.95 This wine is somewhat unique in the Turley stable coming in at around 13% ABV and quite a bit lighter in body than most of the other wines in the range. Sourced from the legendary Bechthold Vineyard in west Lodi planted in the 1880s and thought to be the oldest Cinsault on the planet. This stunning site produces amazingly pure, crunchy, fresh red fruited wines with crystalline acidity that's reminiscent of the fine sandy loam soils composed of decomposed Sierra Nevada granite. Very refreshing and quaffable, I’ve served this several times at Thanksgiving, and it’s always been a huge hit! An incredible value that bottles up a piece of California’s vinous history. I personally buy this wine every year without fail.
2023 Hundred Suns Willamette Valley Gamay Noir $32.95 Hundred Suns are gaining legendary status here at K&L, every wine in their lineup is exceptional, and the staff are always excited when new bottlings arrive. The 2023 Gamay Noir is from vines planted in fractured basalt soils in the Chehalem Mountains. I love Grant’s approach to Gamay Noir that has become one of my go-tos year after year. He creates the wine from three different ferments. One completely carbonic, sealed for 2-3 weeks. The next 100% whole-cluster, but open top and foot trodden. The third lot is completely destemmed and punched down like traditional Pinot Noir. The three lots are then aged in mostly neutral oak of various sizes and 25% aged in clay amphora, and combined for the final bottling. Such a beautifully aromatic and compelling wine. This can stand shoulder to shoulder with top Cru Beaujolais bottlings.
2022 Peay West Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $49.95 97DC Most of you will likely be considering Pinot Noir to go with your turkey, so here’s a perennial benchmark wine from the Sonoma Coast. Peay’s West Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a perfect wine for Thanksgiving. Suave and sophisticated with highly perfumed exotic summer berry fruits, pomegranate, baking spice, forest floor, agar wood. So silky and perfectly balanced on the palate. The 2022 comes 80% from Peay's Annapolis estate, plus the remainder from a neighbor's vineyard that the Peays planted and help farm. You can't go wrong here, a stunning bottle of Pinot Noir for $50.
2022 Domaine Drouhin "Laurène" Dundee Hills Pinot Noir $74.95 97JD 97IWR 95DC Domaine Drouhin’s regular Dundee Hills Estate Pinot Noir is one of best selling Oregon Pinot Noirs year in and year out, and, for $45 it over-delivers every time. However, sometimes it's nice to have a splurge during the holidays, and Drouhin's flagship “Laurène” bottling is the perfect upgrade! Made from very specific parcels on the estate and the very best barrels, Vèronique Drouhin makes a meticulous selection to go into this reserve bottling named after her eldest daughter Laurène. Instead of looking for the biggest, boldest, most powerful barrels, true to her Burgundian roots, Vèronique specifically looks for barrels with complexity, depth, sense of place, elegance, and purity. It's a stunningly refined and polished expression that oozes luxury and pedigree. This really shows the quality of the 2022 vintage in all its glory.
2022 Purple Hands "Shea Vineyard" Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir $54.95 96JD 96IWR The entire range of Purple Hands wines in 2022 is spectacular. Honestly, I'd list them all here in my Thanksgiving picks if I could, but I'm going to focus on one that has a particular pedigree, the Shea Vineyard bottling. If you don't know, Purple Hands is a rising star winery making truly world-class Pinots from some of the very best vineyards across the Willamette Valley. At the helm is Cody Wright, son of iconic Oregon pioneer Ken Wright. Clearly the apple didn't fall very far from the tree with Cody as his wines are phenomenal across the board. The Shea bottling is one of the finest expressions of this Oregon Grand Cru site I've tasted. It comes from a parcel of old vine 777 clone, planted in the early 1990s on the highest ridge of the estate. Intensely aromatic with crushed rose petals, dried herbs, lavender, pine forest, dark berries, and spiced citrus peel. Powerful on the palate, as is typical with Shea, but energetic and reverberating with freshness and drive. Serious Pinot—decant and enjoy with the dark meat on Thanksgiving!
2022 Mike & Molly Hendry "R.W. Moore Vineyard" Napa Valley Zinfandel $29.95 (Elsewhere $45) 93WA One of the most common questions I run into during the lead up to Thanksgiving is folks looking for some wine that will work with a traditional Turkey Day menu, but is a little fuller bodied than your typical Pinot Noir of Gamay. It’s OK, there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you just like wine with a little more umph! My main suggestions are to stay away from things with high tannin, or lots of new oak, both of which I think tend to clash with the holiday staples that will likely be on your table. Zinfandel is often a perfect wine for this situation; it typically delivers great fruit and richness without the tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon, and is often subjected to less new oak because of that. The R.W. Moore Vineyard bottling from Mike and Molly Hendry is stunning. Hailing from a vineyard in the heart of Coombsville planted in 1905. If you’ve ever seen or enjoyed a bottle of Turley’s “Earthquake Vineyard” Zinfandel, then it came from these very same vines. Over 115 years old, these ancient, gnarled, dry-farmed, head-trained vines grow in one of the very coolest parts of Napa Valley. The Zin planted here is mixed with some Mourtaou (Cabernet Pfeffer), Carignan, Mourvèdre, and Petite Sirah. It’s a bold, ripe, fruit-forward wine with lashings of brambly blackberry and liquored cherry fruit. There’s also some lovely baking spice, new leather, and warm crumbly earth. It’s really fresh, balanced, and expansive on the palate. Not overly jammy or raisin-like; just wonderfully pure, satisfying old-vine Zinfandel fruit. We struck a great deal on this with Mike Hendry and our price is exceptional given this historic site and quality of the wine!
2021 Denner "Ditch Digger" Paso Robles Red Blend $79.95 96WA 96JS 95JD And finally, another big wine, but one that I think can certainly work in this application is the 2021 Ditch Digger from Denner. The immensely talented Anthony Yount ferments and ages this Châteauneuf-du-Pape style blend in concrete and neutral oak. This really lets the quality and purity of the fruit shine. A blend of 33% Grenache, 32% Mourvèdre, 22% Syrah, 5% Cinsaut, 4% Counoise, 2% Tannat, and 2% Carignan, the wine has so many layers of concentrated dark fruit, all-spice, lifted floral elements, scorched earth, cured meat, and dried herbs. It’s really firing on all cylinders, wave after wave of flavor. Not a subtle wine by any stretch, but one that is finely balanced and not overpowering despite its intensity.