| November 25, 2005 We love Thanksgiving. It is a chance for the family and friends to get together, eat wonderful food, and be grateful for what we have as a family. Dory made the turkey, I made apple and pecan pies (she made a pumpkin chiffon pie), and we had mashed potatoes, sausage dressing, brussels sprouts, and started it all off with roasted squash soup.
Usually we have American wines on Thanksgiving, with a white as a starter, followed by a red wine with the main course. Often we start with champagne followed by an Oregon Pinot Noir. I really like that combination. But this year we changed our wine pattern. Our starter this year was a Viognier Vintners Selection 2004 from Bridlewood Winery in Santa Ynez, California. Dory picked it up on her recent travels out there. It is a big wine at 14.5% alcohol, well balanced, with a nice flavor and a lingering aftertaste. It was a bit too sweet for me, and Dory thought it was sweeter than she remembered from the tasting room. It was a nice compliment to the soup, and we all enjoyed it.
The red was a wine we had been given as a gift and was the sort of bottle you want to like but have some scepticism about. It was Earl's Reserve from the Lovers Leap Winery, since renamed The Last Chance Winery in Crawford Nebraska. We received it in 2002, but the bottle was undated and in fact also didn't list the alcohol content. It was garnet red, medium bodied, with a pleasant aroma. The label did report that the wine was aged for three years in french oak, and we could taste the wood, but the overall effect was very pleasant, very well balanced, and a nice companion to the meal. We raved about the wine, and the fact that it was from the heartland of America made it particularly enchanting. After dinner was over we rested while I made espresso for everybody. Later we had pie, three thin slivers, one of each. We feel extremely thankful that we have good health and a wonderful family, and the opportunity to drink and enjoy good wines. I liked the fact that we were adventurous with our wine and it turned out perfectly. There are many wineries out there from "lesser known" wine regions, and I'm making a point to try them more often.
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