The wine cellar is choc-full of “special occasion” wines. Some bottles have this emotional designation because of the cost, while others carry rich sentiment because of the place or experience when the wines were purchased. It’s funny how life circumstances can redefine just about everything, including what constitutes a “special occasion.” As previously penned, TUESDAY is a special occasion! Each day, each moment ought to be experienced as special, sacred, pure gift, because each moment IS a gift!
Nevertheless, there are occasions that are widely accepted as “special” because of who gathers around the table, the feast that is spread, and the communal experience of gratitude. Thanksgiving is, of course, one of these celebrations. If we cellarmasters don’t share our finest wines on these occasions, then we ought to have a serious conversation with Dicken’s Ebenezer Scrooge.
Friends and family gathered once again in our home to prepare and share a fantastic feast. Each person is to bring or prepare the dishes that, without that item being part of the feast, it would simply not be “Thanksgiving.” Our buffet included the obligatory turkey (prepared on the Big Green Egg – my own “must have”), stuffing reminiscent of one guest’s grandmother’s recipe, sweet potato “pudding” (a nod to another’s semi-Southern roots), and a cranberry salad that hinted at yet another’s grandmother’s “pond scum” (yes, it’s a thing — known as “green stuff” in my own childhood). Cheese plates, dips, mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, vegetables, rolls, pies, and even the seventh-grade home ec class recipe for “Poco Pepper Snacks” — it was one menagerie of a feast! And what a feast it was — a feast of food, a feast of deep love, and a feast of gratitude. Oh, and a feast of wine, of course!
The wines of Thanksgiving 2015:
2013 Dragonette Cellars Rose
Light and festive wine to celebrate cooking and preparation of Thanksgiving Dinner 2015. Fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries) with citrus and wildflower notes in the nose and mouth. So easily drinkable and reminiscent of summer days even in chilly autumn!
2009 Saarloos & Sons Loos Bubbles
A delightful bit of bubbly to toast friends and family gathered for our Thanksgiving feast. Words of gratitude to guests as this bright rose was poured into each stem, then a collective “Cheers!” as we realized the depths of our “thanksgiving.” The wine embodied this sense of gratitude — grown, crafted, bottled, and released as a gift from one family to others. In the words of the winemaker, “Loos is a celebratory wine befitting life’s greatest milestones and we believe that it should only be opened for such moments.” The “label” consists of the words “Loos Bubbles” and the winemaker’s signature scrawled on the bottles with a gold metallic marker. Personal. Unpretentious. Gift.
So it is with the wine itself. Not one of the world’s greatest sparkling wines, but truly a celebration in a bottle. Bright, fruity, balanced, and pleasant in every way. Gratitude in a bottle!
2005 Evan’s Ranch Chardonnay Las Brisas Vineyard
Notes coming soon
2010 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten
Notes coming soon
2004 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
Notes coming soon