Thanksgiving 2008

You've probably read all you can stand about turkey dinners and the attendant side dishes, so I won't repeat that drill. Besides, you come here to read about wine, so here's a Thanksgiving post with as little mention of food as possible.

To summarize, we drove down a case of wine to Los Angeles and fortunately lots of wines tasted wonderful. I wish wine tasted this good more often. I knew we were having prime rib on Thanksgiving... well ok rib eye, but I also knew that most wine is drunk without food on its own typically before the meal. The host likes red and the hostess likes white. I like red, which is what really mattered.

On turkey-day starting before dinner, we had

• Jim Barry 2006 Cabernet, Cover Drive ($16). Flavoful berry with nice acidity. Extremely good initially but my palate fatigued on repeated sips. Given the intensity, this should age through 2011, but drinking nicely now. My score: 89.
• Yalumba 2007 Viognier, Eden Valley (WS 91, #55, $12 CC). A perfect viognier with floral notes, citrus and pear fruit and lots of freshness. A tiny bit of oak creeps in the end. Everybody liked this a lot. My score: 91.
• Montes 2006 Syrah Alpha (WS 91, $16, CC). This is on its way to being my wine of the year. Super strong and complex nose. This bottle was also very flavorful on the palate. Complex dark fruit, smokey holiday spices, tobacco and more. Lean but balanced. Wow. My score: 94.
• Montes 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Alpha (WA 90, $16, CC). A modern oaky cabernet, well done. Has obvious cab berry flavors with vanilla and oak. Nicely balanced, smooth and a pleasure to drink. My score: 90-91.
  
• Chateau La Vieille Cure 2000 Bordeaux (WS 88, $16?). A good bordeaux with tobacco, coffee notes. Well balanced and smooth but just a bit underwhelming, as many "elegant" bordeaux are, even with the steak. My score: 89.
• Neyers 2007 Chardonnay, Carneros (WS 93, $26 CC). A big slightly smokey chardonnay with ripe fruit. It had a mix of "complex" flavors, but there was a bit of bitterness, which is typical of this style (Beringer's top of the line is like this). It went down fairly quickly. But not worth the price (yes, I'm poo poo'ing a 93 point wine for under $30). My score: 90.

The next night eating leftovers we had

• Moon Mountain 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($16?). This wine has historic significance as we had a cab from the same winery at Bouchon in Las Vegas two years ago and we all thought this was a truly amazing wine. My brother in law said it was the finest wine he had ever had. I remember thinking "Wow.. this is so so good... say 94-95 points". But I've had bottles of Moon Mountain since then, and none have been amazing. This was the best, with good cab flavor and everybody liked it saying it reminded them a bit of that wine. A good cab, smooth and with a bit of richness. My score: 89.
• Concha Y Toro 2007 Carmenere Maipo Valley ($8 TJ). The 2006 was a lovely coffee, toffee wine and I wish I had bought more of it. But the 2007 isn't as nice. Not as flavorful and a dull with occasional hints of the 2006. My score: 87.
• Columbia Crest 2007 Chardonnay Grand Estates ($8 TJ). I wanted to try this new year, as the 2006's are starting to dwindle in the supply chain. Note as fruity or creamy but more spicy and lean. I prefer the 2006 but the 2007 isn't bad. My score: 89.
  

The next night we went to Chinois on Main. I didn't know their corkage, but my brother who made the reservation thought it was $10, which seemed low given that it was $20 a few years ago, but we took 3 bottles. When we got there, we found it was $25, but after a bit of negotiation, we got a bit of a discount. Chinois is a fancy riff on Chinese food, which meant largely seafood, as we had dishes of scallops, calamari salad, cod and a deep fried catfish. Their wine list is not online. Once there, it is a show case wine list. I noticed lots of expensive ($150+) California Cabernets that wouldn't actually go well with much of the food. There was surprisingly little for less than $45 a bottle.

So we went with the wines we brought, which were surprisingly good.

• Dr Loosen 2004 Riesling Spatlese Erdener Treppchen Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (WS 91, $19 WC): I only got a taste as many others wanted to try this. I don't think I distinguish rieslings very well, as they all taste pretty good, but never amazing to me. A bit more restrained than I expected with lots going on. Well balanced with mild sweetness and acidity. My score: 90.
• Meridian 2003 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara Reserve ($9): I'd been saving this cheap pinot much too long. (Cheap pinots are almost never age worthy). But this seemed like an ideal dinner to try this. Very funky and dirty upon opening, I was ready to toss this. But after an hour it had cleaned up leaving an acceptable damp earth with cherry with a tart body. Our wine server liked this. I found it interesting and educational, but I didn't love it. My score: 73 becoming an 87.
• Rosenblum 2002 Syrah England Shaw (WS 93, $26?): The wine of the night. This huge beast had mellowed wonderfully into a smooth, rich wine with equal parts dark berry and coconut with leather and spice and oak. Just seamless. What a wine at its aged peak should taste like. Our wine server loved this, as did I. My score: 94-95.

I have a bottle or two of the Rosenblum 2003 Syrah England-Shaw and I can't wait to try them now.

I also noticed I was drinking wine in warm situations, and things tasted much better.... perhaps at home it is too cold for maximal enjoyment. Maybe it isn't the wine, but it is me who is too cold.