Tag: pinot grigio

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Giving Thanks for Good Wine, Today and Everyday

Spanish Wine at Bocado

Spanish Wine at Bocado in Wellesley

Many families celebrate Thanksgiving with their annual traditions. Each year, they follow the same routine, and enjoy the same family recipes. A great way to enhance your Thanksgiving meal without sacrificing tradition is to try new wines to serve with your favorite dishes. Pairing wines with such an important meal can be a bit intimidating. There are so many flavors to complement, and so many people to please, all with different palates. Luckily, the work has been done for you. When hosting, it is always important to choose at least one white and one red wine, despite your personal preference. You also want to practice moderation when it comes to the wine’s structure; moderate fruit, tannins, oak and body. That way, the majority of your guests, if not all of them, will be pleasantly surprised, even if it’s not what they “normally drink”.

Tres Picos BorsaoA white wine I absolutely love for holiday meals is Viognier, (pronounced vee-OHN-yay), the best generally hail from the South of France, but Australia has some surprisingly delicious examples. (This may offend some, but you can just skip over the California Viogniers. Sorry, Cali.) Because it comes from a warmer region, it offers ripe fruit notes of mandarin and apricot, with a very pretty floral nose of orange blossoms. It has a full body which will please oaky chardonnay drinkers, without having strong oak characteristics that often overpower food. The aromatics and freshness will please the guests that prefer lighter style wines. The ripe fruit complement the sweeter side dishes, the full-body stands up to the flavorful turkey, and the acidity makes it incredibly food-friendly, while still being palatable enough to sip on. A second white choice would be a Pinot Gris from Oregon. This will please all the Pinot Grigio drinking Aunties, but will offer more finesse than the Italian versions they are used to. Oregon Pinot Gris is still lighter in body, but it has beautiful stone fruit notes of white peach and nectarine and elegant texture that will impress your guests.

My go-to red wines for the holidays are Grenache and Shiraz. They are actually often blended together to offer the best of both worlds. You will see them in the form of a “GSM” blend in Australia or in a red Cotes-du-Rhone from France. It is important when choosing a Thanksgiving red to stay away from strong, grippy tannins, because they will overpower the food, and make the savory dishes taste bitter, so my inclination is to steer towards the Aussie versions. The Grenache component will please wine drinkers that prefer brighter reds. The Shiraz offers depth and smokiness for those that prefer a bolder style. The Mourvedre offers structure and earthiness that will please your guest that insists they do not enjoy Australian reds, and have them asking for a second glass. The juicy fruit complements all the bold, savory flavors of Thanksgiving, the subtlety of oak proves that less is more, and the combination of new world fruit with old world balance make these interesting wines crowd-pleasers with one of your favorite meals of the year. Spanish Grenache or “Garnacha” most certainly deserves an honorable mention and a place on your dining room table. Garnacha from Cariñena or Campo de Borja has silky texture and a unique expression of blue fruit and balsamic that is worth spending time to seek out.

Now that the most important part of your Thanksgiving meal is taken care of, you have time to focus on other minute details like the turkey, decorating, family disaster emergency preparedness plans, etc. Enjoy your time with your loved ones this Thanksgiving and enjoy great wine while doing so.

Yalumba Viognier

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Orange Wine… Not Your Mother’s Pinot Grigio

This article was contributed by Katie Kelly, the Wine Director of The Citizen Wine Bar in Exchange Place in Worcester.

About two months ago, a server was asked for orange wine by a guest at our wine bar.  It was the first time I had heard of this, and I thought for sure the guest was mistaken and must be thinking of rosé, which can have a salmon hue, which I suppose could be considered orange.  Little did I know, that this is actually a fast-growing trend in the wine industry, and technically the opposite of rosé.  Rosé is made from red grapes that are macerated less time than normal, so that less color and intensity of flavor is extracted from the skins of the grape.  Orange wine is made from white grapes that actually see time on the skins, which is not normal for white wine, in order to increase color and intensity of flavor.  Maceration time can range from 24 hours to 30 days, creating a vast contrast in style.

After learning about this winemaking technique, I needed to get my hands on this wine.  Social media actually played an important role in my search.  One Facebook post reaching out to my sommelier friends, and I now had several reference points to research.  Orange wine is actually not a new trend, it is a product of an old-fashioned winemaking technique originated in Slovenia and the northeastern region of Italy, Friuli.  It is commonly seen with the white varietals Pinot Grigio, Ribolla Gialla, and Grenache Blanc.  White wine was originally produced in this method because grape skins contain more natural antioxidants, which allow for natural wine preservation.  With the resistance to using sulfur dioxide in wine, and the eco-friendly wine movement, I can see this technique gaining popularity very quickly among winemakers.

After reaching out to my wine reps, asking all of them about orange wine, explaining exactly what it is, and begging them to hunt one down, I finally got one.  One wine rep, who always seems to come through, brought me Tommasi’s “Il Grigio Ramato”, from northeastern Italy.  It is actually categorized as a rosé under their website, which can cause further confusion, I’m sure.  This orange wine did not disappoint.  It was truly unlike anything I’ve ever had before.  Not because it was so incredibly complex and serious, and would be considered one of the greatest wines of all time.  It was just so delicious, but so unusual at the same time.  There were bright, juicy notes of Clementine and candied lemon, a floral bouquet of jasmine and orange blossom, and a clean bitter almond finish.  Every flavor is so pronounced and in your face, it’s hard to believe it’s made from 100% Pinot Grigio grapes.  What’s really cool is that there are slight tannins, too, offering structure for all the round juiciness of the wine.  This is the perfect summer wine that could be just as thirst-quenching as homemade lemonade, but much, much better.  Even though it’s not summer, maybe this is the perfect wine to pretend that it is.

This rare, but highly sought after wine is found in trendy wine bars in metropolitan cities like Manhattan and LA.  And now, due to my slight obsession, it is sold at The Citizen Wine Bar in Worcester, MA.  If you are in the area, you have to come in and try it.  Even if it is not “your style” of wine, you will appreciate the concept and want to share your new discovery with your friends.