Last week we covered Thanksgiving whites to enjoy with your upcoming holiday feast. This week we will tackle the reds.
If you inquire in your local wine store about which reds would go best with your Thanksgiving dinner, you will likely be directed to pinot noirs or possibly Chiantis as they are both supremely food friendly wines. Many of those wines are light- to medium-bodied, and most have long, dry, often bright, and fresh finishes that enhance foods by cutting through fat and heaviness. But pinot noirs and Chiantis are not your only options.
Thanksgiving Red Wines
A Long Island wine that can easily rival any pinot noir or Chianti in the area of food friendliness is the 2014 Ben’s Blend from McCall’s Vineyard. Winemaker Gilles Martin crafts this Bordeaux style blend with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. The wine is aged for 18 months in French oak and this dry, flavorful blend is only produced during excellent vintages, that is years where the grapes are at their best. The flavors are an artful blend of fresh cherry, coffee, earth, and very light notes of bittersweet chocolate. This wine complements, not competes, with food. It retails for $62 and drinks like an old-world wine worth every penny.
If you’d like to have some wine with your dessert, or wine instead of dessert, the 2015 Cabernet Port from Pindar is an excellent choice. Made from cabernet grapes that have been aged in small oak barrels for two years, this Port wine has flavors off toffee, chocolate, and ripe cherry. The ripe cherry flavor actually keeps this sweet wine from being too sweet. Enjoy it with coffee, dessert, cheesecake, and cannolis. This wine retails for $28.99.
