THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411110092
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: HUMBLE STEWARD
SOURCE: JIM RAPER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
WHEN I AM asked to recommend a wine for a Thanksgiving feast, I never have a quick and simple answer.
Sure, I might know in a general way what foods will be served - turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, perhaps sweet potatoes.
But no two cooks prepare the traditional meal in the same way, and the variation in raw materials has grown during the past decade as kitchen arts have thrived.
My safest recourse is to offer tips that can be broadly applied.
The Thanksgiving meal my mother served was fairly standard: oven-roasted turkey, herb stuffing, creamy gravy, mashed white potatoes, baked sweet potato slices (sometimes with a marshmallow topping), green beans and cranberries.
The first wine that comes to my mind for this type of meal is an oaky and buttery chardonnay that meshes with the creamy gravy and doesn't clash with the cranberries. The wine should not be sharply acidic.
Since as Virginians we can lay claim to the first Thanksgiving feast, it is only appropriate that we consider serving a Virginia chardonnay. Try the Prince Michel 1992 or 1993 Chardonnay Barrel Select, Oasis 1992 Chardonnay Barrel Select, Montdomaine 1993 Chardonnay Ivy Creek, Montdomaine 1993 Chardonnay Barrel Select, Hollerith 1992 Chardonnay Cuvee Montpelier or the Williamsburg 1991 Chardonnay Virginia Vintage Reserve. (All cost between $14 and $18.)
If you prefer a red wine with this standard meal, try a fairly straightforward, fruity one such as a Beaujolais or an uncomplicated, round merlot. Look for a recent-vintage Georges DuBoeuf wine from the Beaujolais district of Brouilly (about $12) or a Chateau Ste. Michelle 1992 Merlot Columbia Valley (about $10). A Chilean merlot from Concha y Toro, Cousino-Macul or Undurraga ($6 to $11) would be a fine choice as well.
For a more festive gathering, the standard Thanksgiving meal can be accompanied by a sparkling wine of soft acidity. The recently released Martini & Rossi Demi-Sec Asti (about $15) is refreshing and not as sweet as most Asti Spumante. Also consider a sparkling rose such as the delightfully berry-infused Mumm Cordon Rose Nonvintage (about $23).
Some folks pep up the standard feast by putting oysters or sausage in the stuffing. Others serve country-cured ham with the turkey.
If oysters are used, try to find a Muscadet de Sevre et Maine that has been bottled ``sur lie'' (often available for about $12). This is a French white from the Loire, near the Atlantic coast.
For sausage stuffing or country ham, the white wine of choice can be a gewurztraminer. Most domestic gewurztraminers are a little sweet. I prefer a dry Alsatian gewurztraminer from a producer such as Trimbach or Beyer (about $16).
An inexpensive California white zinfandel blush wine also would go well with the sausage stuffing or country ham.
Another way to alter the traditional feast is to smoke the bird, substitute a dark berry sauce for the creamy gravy and drop the cranberries altogether. I love smoked fowl with blackberry sauce. (Dissolve one part pure-fruit, seedless blackberry jam in three parts reduced meat stock, simmer a few minutes and season.)
The wine for this meal would be a forward, jammy red. On retailers' shelves now are some intense red Burgundies in the $12 to $20 range from 1989 and 1990 vintages. An example is the Alain Burguet 1989 Bourgogne ($17), which is imported by Williamson-Mallet in Williamsburg. In the same price range are some lush Californian pinot noirs. Ask your wine merchant to recommend a ``big pinot.''
And for a special treat, you can search out a De Loach 1990 or 1991 Zinfandel O.F.S. Russian River Valley (about $23). This is about as big and jammy as a wine gets. The O.F.S. stands for ``our finest selection'' and I can believe it. It is an old style zin made from grapes that were nearly bursting with sugar when they were harvested. If this wine is not available, your wine merchant can recommend another rich, old-style zin that complements smoked fowl and berry sauce. MEMO: The Humble Steward is a biweekly feature of Sunday Flavor. Send
questions or comments to: The Humble Steward, Sunday Flavor, The
Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk,
Va. 23510. If possible, give complete label information when naming
wines, and list the vintage year. Please include your name and phone
number. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Wine choices for a Thanksgiving meal vary widely, depending upon the
food served - ham or turkey, for instance - and method of
preparation.
by CNB