Thanksgiving dinner wine list

I am always interested in see what bottle of wine people chose to drink on that special occasion or holiday. As a family that lives, breathes and drinks a lot of wine we tend to pull out some really great and occasionally disappointing wine selections. Last night for Thanksgiving all sorts of wine was open to celebrate….here is a re-cap:

For starters as a tradition we always start with a champagne toast and appetizers. In my opinion there is no better producer of sparkling wines in California then Schramsberg! Two bottles of their Reserve Sparkling wine and Thanksgiving was off to a great start.

Next was the salad and Artichoke Crustini course. For this course we break out a family favorite, the 2005 Rudd Bacigalupi Chardonnay. This Chardonnay comes from the original Paris tasting block that was the main component in the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the 1976 Paris Tasting in France. Only about 2 acres remain of the original vineyard and for the past 5 years we sell the fruit to Rudd in Oakville. This Chardonnay is unlike any other I have ever had, it is creamy, oaky and buttery, not your average Chardonnay by any means and for me it is always a treat when we open a bottle.

On to the main course which of course included Milton, our 25 lb turkey, a stuffing recipe by my Great Great Grandmother Olie, yams, mashed potatoes, two types of cranberry sauce, rolls and roasted vegetables. Pinot Noir was the wine of the night as we opened a 2000 William Selyem Pinot Noir and a 2001 John Tyler Pinot Noir. This 2001 was the first unofficial bottling by John Tyler Wines. As an “experiment” my Dad and Tyler crushed one barrel of second crop Dijon clone Pinot Noir in 2001. They hand pressed and bottled and corked about 20 cases. The wine is showing beautifully 7 years later. We also opened an Everett Ridge 2005 Pinot Noir from our 115 Dijon clone vineyard and a Seghesio 2006 Pinot Noir.

My Grandmother Helen is arguably the best pie maker in Sonoma County. She made 3 pies all from scratch. Pumpkin pie, Minced Meat pie (my Dad’s favorite) and an Apple Pie. For our dessert drink we opened a Mauritson Rockpile Port called Independence which is made entirely from Portugal varieties. Very tasty!

So overall quite a line up for Thanksgiving dinner… who knows what will be on the Christmas menu???