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Thanksgiving Recommendations - All Are Perfect!
Six Great Options for Your Thanksgiving Dinner!
Dear Friend,
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I love all our holidays, but on Thanksgiving there is no stress of gift-giving or finding the perfect costume or even the danger of blowing off a finger! All we have to do is gather with good friends and our families and share a nice dinner and reflect on how lucky we are to have each other. The fun part, for me, is always finding interesting wines to pair with this complex array of flavors. There are always so many different dishes from sweet to salty, bitter to umami, so you need wines that are softer and more versatile rather than powerful and tannic.
We are always trying to find wines that offer great value, and this year is no exception. Right now, most of us have less disposable income, but we can still enjoy great wine! Below are six different wines that I feel offer tremendous value and are a nice mix of flavors to take you through the entire day.
If you are interested in any of our Thanksgiving recommendations, please reply to this email, call your nearest location or click the Shop Now Button to order. Curbside pickup or delivery is available. These wines are in stock at all of our locations.
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving 2022!
Sincerely,
Alek Leontie
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Banshee Ten of Cups Sparkling Brut - California 750mL
I am a big fan of Banshee wines and have carried many of them for years. They started in 2009 when the founders borrowed money to buy 8 barrels of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with the idea to make wine that tasted like top California offerings but at a price most could afford. Since then, they have only grown their offerings and you will find many of them on our shelves. This Sparkling Brut is a new one for us from Banshee; it is made in the traditional "méthode champenoise" style with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier, aged on the lees for 24 months then disgorged. This is bright, aromatic, complex and creamy on finish. A perfect start to the day.
91 Points – Wine Enthusiast
“This elegant, well-balanced wine is trim and compact, offering subtle crisp apple and bright lemon notes lightly accented by toast and ginger. Relatively light and restrained, it is wonderfully appetizing and will make a great aperitif.” - Jim Gordon
Sale Price: $18.39 (Save 20%)
Regular Price: $22.99 each
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Forge Cellars Riesling “Classique” 2019 – Finger Lakes, NY 750mL
Forge Cellars is an artisanal producer who specializes in Riesling. One of the great producers in the Rhone Valley, Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme, is a partner here so we are talking about top-notch Riesling. Forge from Seneca Lake makes Riesling from 16 different vineyards, each very different in style. The "Classique" we are offering today is a blend of each of the 16 sites to make one wine that Forge feels best represents what the small, 8-mile region of Seneca Lake can do with Riesling. I have to admit I was shocked when I learned the price after tasting this. This is excellent Riesling at a fraction of what something like this would cost if it was from Germany or Austria. This wine has been on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list a couple of times in the last few years, including #31 with the 2018 vintage. I always open oysters on Thanksgiving and will certainly have some of this on hand.
91 Points - Wine Spectator
"Vibrant mustard flower, white peach and chamomile notes make this white racy and vivid, with mouthwatering cut on the finish" - James Molesworth
Sale Price: $13.59 (Save 20%)
Regular Price: $16.99 each
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d'Arenberg “The Hermit Crab” Viognier - Marsanne 2021 - McLaren Vale, Australia 750mL
d'Arenberg is one of not just the top but oldest wineries in Australia. They started with vineyards in 1912 in McLaren Vale and today Chester Osborn is the fourth generation running this great winery. We have worked on and off with many of their reds, all which have catchy names like "Stump Jump", "The Dead Arm" and "The Laughing Magpie." Today's wine, however, has been a constant, "The Hermit Crab," is a super value, year in and year out. It is a blend of Viognier and Marsanne, Rhone varietals that are both floral and fragrant. The wine is dry and medium-bodied with flavors of stone fruits, lemon curd and ginger. A real complex white that can be enjoyed with many food options on the table.
91 Points - JamesSuckling.com
"There’s a little Marsanne in the mix here. This has attractive apricot viognier fruit on the nose with some sweet florals. Fleshy feel on the palate with a riot of stone-fruit, fresh-citrus and green-mango flavors. Such good value and so much flavor on offer. I like the textural qualities, too." - James Suckling
Sale Price: $13.59 (Save 20%)
Regular Price: $16.99 each
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Summer Water Rosé 2021 – Central Coast, CA 750mL
Summer Water is more of a "Brand" that came out seven years ago. I was skeptical at first, but a highly respected distributor told me the wine was the real deal. I am always cautious when I see a wine with a lot of social media coverage, figuring they are covering up something, but the wine is excellent and was one of our best-selling Rosés this summer. It is light and crisp like a good Provence Rosé with notes of strawberry, guava, and stone fruit. Rosé is a great choice for Thanksgiving. If you are choosing just one wine, this is great with turkey and all the fixins!
91 Points - Wine Enthusiast
“It’s quite impressive that this wine stays fresh and vibrant even though it’s a rather large production, available nationwide. Fresh and crisp aromas of melon, pink rose petal, citrus peel and strawberry pop on the nose, while the palate picks up a lightly rocky minerality before fresh citrus cuts into emergent stone fruit flavors on the finish.” - Matt Kettmann
Sale Price: $15.19 (Save 20%)
Regular Price: $18.99 each
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Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Grands Cras 2021 - Burgundy, France 750mL
Cru Beaujolais is one of the great "food wines" you can find. They are such balanced wines that sommeliers especially love them and the versatility they provide with foods, not to mention they can be outrageous values. These are some of the highest scoring wines with the lowest prices, in the wine world! Jean-Marc Burgaud is based in Villié-Morgon, in the heart of the most celebrated of the Crus. A relative newcomer to the wine scene in France, Burgaud has a tiny operation, with only two employees, yet the wines have been stunning since day one. I feel Morgon is my favorite of the 10 Cru's in Beaujolais. Morgon is more on the structured side of Beaujolais, meaning they taste more like the wines from Burgundy just to the north than some of the others, they drink great on release and will age extremely well. This is a fabulous alternative to Pinot Noir if you are looking to try something new this holiday season.
92 Points – Wine Advocate
"Notes of wild berries, plums, smoked duck and orange rind introduce the 2021 Morgon Grands Cras, a medium to full-bodied, ample and succulent wine that's supple and sensual, with lively acids and a saline finish. It's another wine that shows the lighter vintage at its best. Drink thru 2026." - William Kelley
Sale Price: $18.39 (Save 20%)
Regular Price: $22.99 each
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E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2018 - Rhone Valley, France 750mL
The winery that Etienne Guigal started is truly remarkable, not only for how he changed the Rhone Valley but really the wine world. Their wines have become benchmarks for the Rhone, and some of the Cote Rotie bottlings are among the highest scoring wines in the world. Etienne was sent off from his family when they could not afford him at a very young age. In the early 1930's, when he was 14, he got a job at a winery pruning the vines. After 15 years, he became cellar master and in 1946 started his own winery. In 1961, his son Marcel started with the winery, and he has led the firm since making not only some of the great wines the world has ever seen but also continuing to make inexpensive wine from the Cote du Rhone that are always stellar values. This red is unlike almost every other Cotes du Rhone, as it is based on Northern Rhone Syrah, which is much more aromatic but also much more costly to produce than most of the Grenache based wines from the Southern Rhone. Aromatic with spice and black fruits, the wine is full, round and zesty, it screams for food and can work with lots of options. I love it with turkey and a savory stuffing.
90 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
“I’m always amazed at the quality this estate gets in the Cotes du Rhone, especially at the quantities produced. Their 2018 Cotes Du Rhone is well worth seeking out and has a medium-bodied, round, silky style as well as textbook peppery herbs, violets, bouquet garni, and both red and black fruits. It shows the supple, charming, forward style of the vintage and is ideal for drinking over the coming 4-5 years.” - J.D., 2/2022
Always Low Price - $15.97
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