What We Had For Thanksgiving

In a word... wine. This year we attended two Thanksgivings, one served at the house and one at a Tio Ely's. It made for an exhausting but fun day and of course an opportunity to share from the wine stash. The offerings we had were fairly traditional but of course there are reasons for traditions, in the case of wine, because they go well with the typical Thanksgiving meal. In no particular order those around us got to share the following:

2007 Louis Jadot Beaujolais: What a pretty wine, a lovely garnet in the glass that delivered what you would expect from a Thanksgiving wine. Very fruit forward with crushed strawberries, hints of cherry and peppercorn leading the way. Excellent acidity and gentle tannins make this a favorite of mine for Thanksgiving (or just when I want something light and fruity).

2008 Alex's Red Barn Grenache: A newer offering from one of my Temecula favorites, this wine is loaded with black fruits, high-finish acidity and smooth tannins. An extremely food-friendly wine for most any meal with roasted or braised meat.

2007 Fess Parker ATR Pinot Noir: Since I recently reviewed this wine I won't say anything more than this wine did not disappoint and was as expected a crowd pleaser.

2008 Baily's Temecula Valley Dry Riesling: Had to throw a white in and this one was lovely. Slightly less dry than the name suggests this wine, this was a crisp, lightly spicy, "appley" wine that blended stunningly with the turkey.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 220 (not counting the Fess Parker since it was recently reviewed)

Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett 2007

It's the end of a warm (nearly) summer day and after a lot of activity with my beau it's time to wind down by watching American Psycho (you know, Christian Bale is wearing far too much make up, terribly prominent when you watch it on Blu-Ray). I'd had a bottle of Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett in the cooler for a couple of months and for some reason this seemed the perfect time to open it. Lightly golden and slightly frizzante this wine looks light and friendly in the glass. This wine has a pretty nose, full of honeysuckle and nectarine and promises to be loaded with fruit. On the palate you get a full mouth of lovely fruit balanced with zippy acidity and just a hint of minerality. There appears to be some sweetness but I chalk it up to fruit rather than simple sugar, something I like within the Kabinett style of wines. A near perfect wine for a warm summer day.

Number of wines reviewed in 2009:186

Cinq de Mayo?

Well, didn't hit any of the typical Mexican places for Cinco de Mayo but instead hit one of the local OB joints, The Vine. One recent update, they serve wines in half-glass portions now, allowing for you to taste more without paying more. The food, as always, was great (I tried to get a little "South of the Border" by having Empanadas for dinner). The wines I enjoyed were:

Molitor Riesling 2007: A lovely little Kabinett from the Mosel region in Germany, all peaches and spice with good acidity. Refreshing and a lovely opener with the cheese board.

Vincent Girardin, Rully 1er Cru, 2004: From Germany to France, a nice Burgundy (Chardonnay for those who want the varietal and don't know the AOC rules). Medium to full bodied, good acidity, hints of green apple tartness and yeast, nice finish.

Ca de Rocchi Valpolicella Montere Ripasso: Let's just make it all European with this little Italian. Lovely wine to go with dinner.Bright ruby red in color, hints of prunes and sour cherries with a touch of earthiness. Bright acidity, smooth tannins and a medium finish made this an excellent choice.

Wines reviewed in 2009: 169

Von Buhl 2005 Armand Riesling Kabinett (With Intro To German Wines)

Finally, my last "country-level" exam for wine certification! What I never realized is just how different Germany's wine classification is different from most of the rest of the world. Here German law makes classification a mix of region of origin, whether sugar has been added, and the ripeness of the grapes. The most recent overhaul of the German wine classification system occurred in 1971 creating four levels of "quality":

Deutscher Tafelwein: German table wine.

Deutscher Landwein: German country wine. Grapes must come from one of 19 Landwein regions and must be either dry or off-dry.

Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA):Quality wine from a specific region. This is the lower of the two "quality" levels. Wines are produced exclusively from allowed varieties in one of the 13 wine-growing regions and the region must be shown on the label.

Prädikatswein (until last 2007 these wines were known as Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP)). Prädikatswein range from dry to very sweet (though most often dry or off-dry unless specifically stated)and always contain a noticeable amount of residual sugar. These wines are considered the top-quality wines.

Confused? Wait, it gets more fun. Depending on the amount of sugar level in the grape must there is a second classification:

Kabinett: Fully ripened light wines from the main harvest, typically semi-sweet with crisp acidity.

Spätlese: Literally "late harvest", typically semi-sweet and more full-bodied than a Kabinett but not anywhere nearly as sweet as a dessert wine.

Auslese: "Select harvest", semi-sweet or sweet wines (some botrytis allowed), covers the largest category of German quality wines.

Beerenauslese: "Select berry harvest", made from hand-selected extremely ripe, botrytis-affected grapes producing rich dessert wines.

Eiswein: "Ice wine", wine made from grapes frozen on the vine. Very concentrated wines with sugar levels at least that of Beerenauslese.

Trockenbeerenauslese: Something like "dry berry select harvest", these are the intensely sweet dessert wines.

And this is just for starters! To save your sanity I'll stop here and get on with the specific wine tasted.

Von Buhl 2005 Armand Riesling Kabinett is a Prädikatswein (or since it is a 2005, a QmP). This is a German Riesling, highest quality designation and lowest sugar classification. To be more specific, this is a semi-sweet wine, low alcohol (9.5%) and lovely racy acidity. Very clear and clean looking, this light wine is pretty tasty. The nose delivers an undertone of petrol covered by layers of peach and pineapple that bring to the mouth a lovely ripe stone-fruit flavor accompanied with very nice acidity with a medium-length finish that makes we wish I had some spicy Thai food. When you factor in the price it makes a great introduction to German wines (and a lovely certification companion).


Wines Reported On In 2009: 68