Thanksgiving Sustainable, Organic Wine Recommendations

Nothing says holidays like family and nothing like family makes you want to drink more than family! Ah tis the season to by Jolly and nothing makes you more jolly than a nice glass, or few bottles, of wine. However, with over 110,000 wines produced, how the heck is one supposed to figure out which bottle of wine will give you the most jolly for your buck, and I don’t mean Santa’s reindeer either! Well, if you are like me, and want to get your buzz on without risking the lining of your stomach or being subjected to Aunt Ethel and uncle Bob’s bag-in-the-box Chablis, then read on.

With so many people celebrating Thanksgiving in different ways, there is no right or wrong wine choice, if you like boxed wine or then drink up. But some wines will certainly compliment your meal better than others. What is most important is what you like, and if you like it and it tastes good to you then you’ve hit the wine pot!

Thanksgiving dinner, in most cases, is not a seven course meal served in separate courses where you have the flexibility to pair fabulous wines with each course. It would be great if it was that simple, but when are holiday’s ever simple? Thanksgiving is a hodge podge of food thrown into the middle of the table that everyone descends upon in a mass feeding frenzy. On top of that you have a wide variety of palates sitting at the table to please. Oh the pressure! My recommendations below will help elevate you to wine star status amongst your friends and family.

It is no surprise that the wine that is enjoyed at many Thanksgiving feasts across America is your typical assortment of Chardonnay followed by Pinot Noir with some champagne or bubbly mixed in. While these are good choices, for good reason, it’s time to wench things up a bit. First, choose wines that are balanced, have good acidity and fruit. In red wines make sure you choose less tannic wines. Hint: Now is not the time to pull out your super bad ass, in your face, flame throwing California Bordeaux blend or Cab. You want to keep in mind that the food is the focus, so your wine should take a back seat and simply accompany and enhance the meal.

Ah, now the education part. The focus of this article and my wine recommendations is on Sustainable Vineyards & Organic, Sustainable Wines. I have much to say on this topic as it is near and dear to my heart, as well as wines that are produced from grape to bottle by one entity. Catch my interview with the team at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estates on the topic of Organic, Sustainable viticulture and wines.

Tom Stevenson, the author of The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, says in his introduction of the 4th Edition:

The bad news is the low number of top-performing organic wine producers. To be frank, I had no idea just how bad the situation was when I first decided to use “O” and “B” symbols to identify recommended organic and biodynamic wine producers, but the relative rarity of these symbols throughout the book rang alarm bells. It is one thing if someone gifted like Olivier Humbrecht of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace or Lalou Bize-Leroy of Domaine Leroy in Burgundy goes organic or biodynamic. When great winemakers with exceptional terroirs ‘go green’ they produce great organic or biodynamic wines. However, it is quite another matter when others less passionate about the quality of wine are organic. While they may well have a true passion for the environment, the majority of the worlds organic producers clearly have no idea how to make a superior quality wine. And considering that many have been churning out their green gunge for years, they obviously could not care less. Just as worrying are the organizations that certify organic and biodynamic production, because it seems as if they could not care less either. It is not good enough to certify the method of production alone. They should acknowledge the importance of quality by introducing some sort of superior award on the label…”

That being said, this year I worked and visited several Northern California wineries that live above and beyond the organic, sustainable standards. It’s more than a philosophy; it’s a way of life for them. To do anything other than that wouldn’t make sense. They see themselves as stewards of the land and they aim to leave the land in better shape than they found it in. As passionate as they are about making exceptional wine at affordable prices, they are equally passionate about preserving the environment and the natural elements and habitat that exist in and around the vineyards. Yet, unlike what Tom Stevenson beefed about, in my opinion, they don’t lose sight of quality in their pursuit to preserve the environment. While they are always seeking healthy alternatives to grow their grapes and make their wine, they aren’t turning out “green gunge”.

Most of my wine recommendations are from family owned and operated vineyards and wineries that mostly produce limited quantity wines, so their focus isn’t mass production. They implement sustainable farming practices that are labor intensive and balanced. If you are someone who likes terroir or a sense of place, more often than not, you will experience this from these smaller farmers and wineries. They preserve the quality of the soil which really allows for the terroir or “sense of place” to shine through.

One last note, there is much confusion regarding “organic” wines. While it is possible to have an organically produced wine, most wines that bear the organic symbol are made from organically farmed grapes. But that doesn’t mean that once they are crushed at the winery that sulfates being added or manipulation isn’t taking place. There is strict protocol that must be adhered to in order to claim it is an organically produced wine. Additionally, organic wines would have to be consumed in a very short period of time of being made because they spoil rather quickly due to oxidation, molds, bacteria that sulfates are used to kill. That being said, there are many wines that are made with organic grapes, but the wine isn’t “produced” organically.

Back to turkey day recommendations! If you’re like me, I only share my best wine with people who appreciate wine. If your aunt Ethel is happy with boxed wine, Thanksgiving is not the time to try and convert her palate, nor is any other time, save yourself the heartache and purchase her favorite jug or boxed wine. She will be thrilled and you will have the satisfaction of not wasting your good wine or your hard earned dime. There is nothing more disheartening then sharing fabulous wine with someone who just doesn’t appreciate it. My suggestion…enjoy more for yourself!

Here are my recommendations:

All these wines can be purchased directly from the winery, links are provided.

Bubbly
There is rarely a bad time for bubbles and no celebration would be complete without the bubbly! Whether starting your morning with a mimosa, sipping from your paper bag on breaks, or gulping as a night cap before putting yourself to bed, you just can’t go wrong with bubbly. Sparkling wine, Champagne, Prosecco, Spanish Cava, Bubbly, it is so versatile that it pairs well with just about everything and everyone. Bubbles just seem to make everyone feel good!

Two bubblies that are made sustainably and with organically farmed and grown practices are:

Prosecco Tiamo with fresh and rich fruity aromas of apple and pear with a hint of citrus fruit that fade into the floral bouquet. $13.00 to $19.00/btl   Purchase

Mionetto Prosecco Organic – This delightful Prosecco is bright yellow in color. Its perfume of delicate elderflowers leads to an explosion of golden apples on the palate. $10.00 to $17.00/btl   Purchase

You can drink bubbly through the entire meal, move on to a white, jump in bed with a red, or like many people are doing this Thanksgiving…going Rose instead because it crosses the bridge between white and red and pairs well with turkey and most stuffing.

Rosé
2009 J Vin Gris a dry Rose of Pinot Noir by J Vineyards & Winery. You will fall in love with the light and elegant nature of this wine with its refreshing acidity and delicate strawberry and cherry notes. It’s a fine complement to fowl or ham, is refreshing enough to serve as an aperitif and can even be paired with those crazy cranberries. $20.00/btl  Purchase

2009 Sanford Vin Gris Pinot Noir by Sanford Winery - The Vin Gris is a natural match, as it goes really well with a range of flavors. This wine has inviting aromas of strawberry, rhubarb and watermelon along with floral notes suggestive of orange blossoms. This dry rose has balanced acidity, which allows it to pair well with a wide range of foods. $18.00/btl Purchase

White
2007 RADOG Riesling Santa Lucia Highlands – The dominant aromatics are floral with white rose and orange blossom the dominant notes. If there were more spice it would almost taste like Gewürztraminer. There is a strong candied citrus note as well. The mouth is very sexy and despite the residual sugar the acid is active. The mid palate is particularly fetching sweet and smooth with an almost honeycomb taste.$14.00/btl Purchase

2009 Mauritson Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc – This sauvignon blanc has bright grapefruit and citrus aromas with crisp green apple and citrus flavors on the palette. This wine has rich mouthfeel even though it does not go through malolactic fermentation. The 100% stainless steel fermentation allows the wine to retain all of the pure fruit and bracing acidity it gets from hand harvesting and whole cluster pressing. $17/btl Purchase

Made from Organically grown grapes, the 2009 Le Bise Pinot Blanc by Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate is a crisp, dry and amazingly refreshing wine that sells for $24 and is one of their signature wines. Like all of their organically grown wines, this is a very unique varietal for the Dry Creek Valley area, best known for its Alsatian roots. It pairs magnificently with cheese platters and any tomato based sauces as the acidity of the wine is perfect for an acidic food pairing. It is also stunning with oysters and crab. $24.00/btl Purchase

One of the really cool things going on at Michel-Schlumberger winery is the combination of benevolence in the wine business. Where Michel Schlumberger is known for being stewards of the land, Humanitas Wines are nationally known charitable wines for human causes. Michel Schlumberger and Humanitas are joining forces. Making wine for nearly 10 years, Humanitas has received high praise from USA Today, the Today Show, and NY Times, among others for its charitable contributions on a local level. Humanitas gives 7% of revenues to local charities, most related to Food, Shelter, and Educational charities in the communities the wines are sold.

It makes sense to add this wine in to my recommendations because there is nothing like drinking for a cause. The 2008 Humanitas Chardonnay is the perfect wine for Thanksgiving in that purchases of this wine will “give back”. In this Chardonnay you will pick up all sorts of tree fruits such as apples, peaches, and pears in our 2007 Monterey ‘Oak Free’ Chardonnay. You should also pick up a hint of some tropical fruit…maybe a little pineapple…maybe a little guava…a smidge of banana. Yet the acid in this wine is crisp & bright, making a completely rewarding wine that is so easy to drink, goes well with just about every food and situation, yet has a complexity that seems to bring forward something new with every sip. $18.00/btl Purchase

2008 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay by Sanford Winery –This hand harvested, barrel fermented Chardonnay shows all of the bright citrus and pineapple aromas that make our appellation’s Chardonnays so great. In addition to the lovely fruit, this wine has complex characters of roasted nuts and minerality that carries through its long finish. This full bodied wine has nice acidity to keep it in balance and makes a nice complement to most seafood, poultry and pasta with lighter sauces, and makes and excellent pairing with mushrooms (especially chanterelles and morels). $22.00/btl Purchase

2009 Conundrum California White Wine Blend by The Wagner Family of Wine is a great wine to have handy to settle the “conundrum” of what wine pairs perfectly with the smorgasbord served! Gorgeous aromas of apricot, honeysuckle, and vanilla and lime zest enhance a deeply-flavored palate of tropical fruit, peach, pear, and honeydew melon flavors. The complexity of this wine is brought into balance with a rich, round, soft texture; fresh, supportive acidity; and a stunning, satisfying finish. $17.99- $19.99/btl Purchase

Reds
Moving on to the reds. Remember choose reds with fruit that are less tannic. Turkey is light and a white meat so choosing any big, bad ass wine will over power the turkey as well as the other food, potentially killing your meal.

2008 MEIOMI Belle Glos Pinot Noir by The Wagner Family of Wine is an easy drinking Pinot Noir that pairs well with turkey as well as fish, pork, and game. It’s amazingly diplomatic and compliments a wide range of food. The brown spice characteristics seem to play well with both sweet and savory dishes. I can’t wait to try it with pumpkin and pecan pie. $17.99-$19.99/btl Purchase

All of the Wagner Family brands (Caymus, Mer Soleil, Conundrum, and Belle Glos) are owned and produced by the Wagner family. All wine is grown, produced, bottled and brought to market by a family-owned-and-operated company that implements sustainable farming practices.

2007 RADOG Pinot Noir Monterey - A full flavored, full bodied wine with a touch of strawberry, blackberry and earth on the nose. In the mouth, round texture with blackberry fruit, a hint of black cherry, cola and spice, good acidity, and a long solid finish. $28.00/btl Purchase

Vintae’s MATSU 2009 El Pícaro – El Pícaro is a young wine of the author that was born out of the process of biodynamic viticulture. With this wine comes the completion of the collection of Matsu, a trilogy that is surprising for its ability to unite power with elegance. El Pícaro continues to pay a tribute to the viticulturist that have dedicated their lives to the vineyards. As the youngest generation in the Matsu line, El Pícaro embodies the characteristics of a strong young man, valiant, impertinent, and uncontrollable. This wine has a great robe and a profound color, an expression of its young age. It has an intense aroma in which one can find dark fruits such as blackberries and blueberries, mineral notes also appear, creating this fresh wine with complexity. In the mouth, again this wine dominates the fruitful sensations, perceived as a wine with body; though at the same time its leaves pleasant lickerish sensations, contributed by the maturity of the grapes from which this wine is made. I also recommend El Recio and MATSU. $14.00 to $19.00/btl Purchase from Info@TheWineWench.com

2007 Sangiovese by Acorn Winery. This wine comes from Alegría Vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Because it’s a versatile food wine that will go well with all the traditional Thanksgiving flavors. Subtle yet seductive aromas of toasty oak and ripe plum mingle with hints of rich vanilla and earth notes. A creamy texture, rounded mouthfeel, and bright acidity hold flavors of dark cherry, spicy plum, mocha, and black tea. The luscious vanillin oak layers over the spicy fruit and lingers into the long finish. $25.00/btl  Purchase

2009 Mauritson Dry Creek Zinfandel – The nose is full of dark fruits and a complex array of brooding flavors. Aromas of blackberry, minerals, cracked pepper, blueberry pie, and sweet oak mingle harmoniously. The front palate is full of ripe and juicy tannins. The finish persists long after the last sip is gone; a combination of the structure and balanced acidity that has become a Mauritson hallmark.  $27/btl Purchase

Additional favorites of mine where the wineries implement sustainable, organic viticulture and winemaking practices but are a bit more pricey: 2008 Portalupi Pinot Noir , 2008 Portalupi Barbera, Chiarello Family Vineyards, Long Meadow Ranch Wine, Oakville Ranch Vineyards.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING…Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

***A version of this article was originally written for and posted on REDBOOKMAG.com

Ricardo Perez Co-Founder of VINTAE & Rising Star Winemaker Raul Acha

Catch this interview with Ricardo Perez, co-founder of VINTAE Wines and his rising star winemaker Raul Acha. We had a challenging start to our interview when we couldn’t establish a connection, but after a few adjustments and about ten minutes into the show, we connected and had a great interview in spite of the language barrier.

VINTAE Wines is a young wine company producing some exceptional Spanish wines from six different regions in Spain.  They currently have seven wine projects they are working on including the renowned MATSU, Winery Arts, and Maetierra DominVm. They are firm believers in preserving terroir and practice sustainable, biodynamic viticulture.

Ricardo Arambarri Pérez, Richi, as his friends call him, is manager and co-founder of Vintae. Passionate and a wine lover, he travels all over the world to expand the VINTAE dream that the whole team is creating. Entrepreneur by family inheritance, his main wish is create and boost projects. Ricardo holds a Bachelor and MBA in Business Administration by ESADE Business School.

Raul Acha is the Technical manager and Winemaker of Vintae. The seven oenologic projects of Vintae

in six regions of Spain were born due to his great team of oenologist and the enormous quantity of kilometers that he drives every year along the different wine making areas in Spain. He was born in Cárdena, a small village in La Rioja in 1976. He grew up in a family of viticulturist from which he learned all the wine making tradition of Rioja. He holds an engineering degree in Agronomy, bachelor in Oenology and Diploma of Advances Studies of Oenology.

Join me as I interview each of these remarkable young men and learn more about their vision. Also try their delicious Tempranillo, “El Picaro”, from the MATSU collection.

Women vs. Men & Wine

Did you know that in 2005 the New York Times reported that women purchased 77 percent and consumed 60%  of wine in the United States and last year the Wine Market Council reported that Women account for 64 percent of wine consumers in the United States.

Where are all the men? Why has everything from wine to television come to us vs. them?

As I was researching wine and wine consumption I came across this article Marketing Wines to Women and Understanding How Male and Female Consumers Differ written by Marti Barletta and while I have no vendetta against her personally, I was offended by this article as a female wine consumer, I question her research.

Why does wine need to be “feminized”? Hell, why does anything besides tampons and commonsense things need to be “feminized”?

Geese, since when do women need everything made “women” centric? I like, love, many things that men love regardless of how it is packaged. I’m certainly not going to buy a car that is made just for women, remember Dodge tried that and it didn’t work.

In my humble opinion, are we taking female empowerment way to far? Me and my ‘empowered’ girlfriends seem to think so and I just wonder how many other females think as we do.

What I would like to know is who, what women, is this article referring to or is it just an attempt to sell marketing books?

Just so you know, you won’t see a wine label with a bunch of women sitting around chatting like they are having coffee in my wine portfolio…I actually prefer the first and second label she uses, as her bad marketing example, with all the art! While I do like people on labels, I like them for entirely different reasons then the reasons she gives. I think we are going way to far on this one. For example, Matsu has done an phenomenal job in branding their high expression wines by using real people from the vineyard to represent three generations that have devoted their lives to the vine. This type of marketing is making a statement. So while I sit and drink this lovely wine, by myself of with company, I get to wonder about those different men and what their lives are like. Intelligent marketing that tells a story and is very artistic. I don’t need a bunch of women on my bottle of wine to feel warm and fuzzy about my wine. In fact that will be the exact reason why I don’t purchase that wine.

Even the tone of the article has a bit of a male bashing ring to it, “men base their wine purchases on points and hoard their wine for their next pissing contest.” Isn’t it okay for men to evaluate, purchase and drink and store their wine in any manner they choose without being condemned for it. Is there a right way and a wrong way to buy wine? I have many guy friends who love wine and buy and store it as a hobby. If you were to sit down and talk with them they have very intelligent reasons on why they do what they do and they get all excited sharing why it matters to them. Is this a crime?

I’m just not convinced of this evidence and why there needs to be special brand wines exclusively for women. All my girlfriends, including myself, tend to pick more “manly” wines with all the body, structure, and alcohol content they come with. Maybe we are the exception to the rule but I am venturing to think there are a lot more like us, everyone is just a little nervous to speak up about it.