Turkey Day Extravaganza!

Thanksgiving is an extravaganza to be indulged at every age. The day is all about indulgence in your favorite activities. AMC has all the Godfather movies. There are college hoops, college football and the pros. A buncha abundanza. Many folks will make some effort to re-enact or recognize the “first” Thanksgiving. There will be plenty of political talk at the table. Some adult may look at everyone and suggest everyone say what are they thankful for today. Should that happen here is how tBoW will reply [ed. it did, he did].
I am thankful for being alive during an era of wine production that is wonderfully wide ranging in terms of regions and styles. I am thankful the Parker era is finally past. I am thankful that I am living at a time when local wine bars are sprouting like truffles in the fall. I am thankful Dotoré takes my calls and that I have plenty of great friends (IGTY, Mouse, M&J, Large) and family (Mrs. tBow, tBow kindt, the TOs) [ed. Turkey Queen stage left, her creation above] who have good palates and appreciate wine because it is so interesting.
What about the Bird? A partner-in-wine is essential if the guest list will be lengthy [ed. Large partner below]. The T-day meal has become a vinous gauntlet. The only thing missing is Sly Stallone to shoot/punch/explode the corks off the bottles. Yo Pinot! Cut me Mick. G’head. Do it.
Maybe you dined at your sister-in-law’s like we did. Did she produce a fat brown bird or two bathed in truffle suffused butter? Stuffed with oysters and cherries? The only part of the Thanksgiving meal I will concede has gotten out of hand is the license for anyone to make an awful side dish…and serve it. This year it was a candied yam casserole topped with mini marshmallows. Like Billy Wilder’s closing line from “Some Like It Hot”, when Jack Lemmon pulls off his wig so Joe E. Brown can see he has just proposed to a man in drag Joe E. replies…nobody’s perfect.
Here is what got opened.
NV Charles De Fere Blanc de Blanc $10: That is correct sir. A U20 champagne. Yeast streams out when the cork is pulled. Acidic, citric but not lemon or lime. Have to go to the flavor wheel. Has a bite. At this price, quality, alcohol level and cachet it is a wedding planners dream. From Du Vin, an outstanding wine shop in West Hollywood. 12%
2006 Domaine Alary La Grange $14: French Rousanne and another U20 winner. Good tannins with soft fruit makes it an easy Old World pick. Imported by Weygandt-Metzler makes it another easy pick for price and quality. 14.5%
2005 Sea Smoke Southing $50: The big ticket big rep wine of the day. Went so quickly tBoW could to get a second pour! Muscular strong nose. Alcohol is in your face. Extracted fruit. For my palate it is hard to distinguish Santa Rita Hills Syrahs from the Pinots. So excuse me for saying these wines are completely over-rated. There are quite a few other Santa Rita Hills fruit bombs out there less than half the price. Dotor√© has a 2001 and a 2002 that will be sampled shortly. Large and tBoW Jr loved it. So call me a curmudgeon. Maybe if I could have gotten that second pour…? 14.7%
2005 Andrew Murray Syrah Roasted Slope Vineyard $30: Speaking of SRH Syrahs here is one of those often touted. Sweet juice. Nicely balanced. So unlike Old World Syrah, i.e., no roasted meats or coffee flavors. Like the other SRH/Central Coast wines best with food. 15%
2004 Linne Calodo Sticks and Stones $145 in Atlanta restaurant: If you like a big alcohol jammy fruit bomb this is your wine. Matt Trevanian likes non-traditional blends however this is his Rhone style from Paso Robles; 57% Grenache 23% Syrah 20% Mourvedre. In the moth it is still somewhat restrained for a really ripe wine. 15.8%
2006 Palama Mavro Salento $29: Picked this up at 55 Degree Wine shop in Atwater Village in LA. Charcoal nose less pleasant to The Large who likened it closer to paint thinner. However, it was agreed this Southern Italian wine from Puglia was the best with the Bird. Middle weight blend showing rich dense dark berry flavors that contrasted well with the Central Coast wines also strutting their stuff. 80% Negoramaro 20% Malvasia. Special thanks to blog with same interests for the label image! 13.5%
1985 Conti Boca $40: Score a double win for Italian wines. The Mavro took down the Bird Trophy while this rare and unusual wine took the Wine ‘O Day hardware. This wine was contributed by Chef Tash (picut4d above) who learned of it at a Barolo tasting. It is in the northernmost corner of the Piedmont. At 24 years the wine is on the downside although that should not be taken to mean it is “over the hill” or any such diminution. This is sipping wine. It is like a great Barolo made in the style of the Piemontese old masters, think Giacomo Conterno and Rinaldi. Funky muted nose right away that opens for the next hour. Deep red brick color. The wine blends Nebbiolo with a local varietal Vespolina and sometimes Bonnarda. Like classic Barolo it is slow to open but as it does we get the delicate if masculine flavors of the high hillsides. All tannins have melded. Soft, pure, delicate dark fruit. A treat. This is the kind of wine that I will guarantee locals in the know [ed. Nino of Da Felicin] are sure to collect. Please read about the region’s vinous history, this particular house, and this particular vintage! 12.5%
Black Friday observation…the watch collection from Burberry advertised in the Nordstrom catalog seems without inspiration. This is the best they can do? A Timexwith a “signature” plaid strap?