Holiday Wine Sharing
Jeff & Sally Toister Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 12:26PM 
The holidays are an excellent time to share a bottle(s). After years of crashing friends and family, it was time for us to host our first Thanksgiving Dinner. With family in all week, we shared quite a few bottles and they all paired very nicely with the food currently up for grabs.
Thanksgiving Day was all Cuvaison ~ an appropriate choice as we are very thankful for all the great wines they produce. We started the afternoon with the 2010 Vin Gris and washed down our Thanksgiving dinner with the 2009 Bald Mountain Zinfandel.
2010 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir
We are not normally fans of rose’ wines. And, I will admit, when the Vin Gris arrived as part of a club shipment I mentally put it on the ‘gift it’ list. We later visited Cuvaison in Carneros and it was on the tasting menu. At first sip, we realized this was not a typical rose’ ~ a great surprise ~ and it quickly moved from the ‘gift it’ to the ‘it’s a keeper’ list!
The wine has bright, fresh fruit without being overly sweet. Like its parent wine, Pinot Noir, it has a very elegant, smooth structure. The biggest hit of the day was pairing it with the prosciutto wrapped melon. Quite enjoyable, and all were bummed when the bottle went empty!
Check out this short video from the winemaker, Steve, where he describes the wine in more detail.
2009 Bald Mountain Zinfandel
We tasted a lot of Zinfandel on our California wine adventure earlier this year. The ’09 Bald Mountain Zin really stood out ~ hands down the best we tasted on the trip. It has a nice berry fruit nose, smooth but jammy on the palate, with a light peppery finish. This full-body, fruit forward zin was a perfect pairing with our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
While it will probably age very well over the next 5-7 years, it is so darn good now I know our few remaining bottles won’t last that long. Only 685 cases were produced. If you happen to come across a bottle, snag it. It is a special treat!
What wine did you enjoy with your Thanksgiving feast?
Reader Comments (3)
I drank whatever was poured for me while I was cooking! But seriously, most of the day was spent drinking The Show Malbec. You know me and Malbec....I'll drink it anytime, anywhere, with anything.
What great friends you have to keep your glass full while working away in the kitchen! Ah, Malbec ~ always a great one... I'll have to keep an eye out for The Show and give it a try.
Fantastic write up. We love that we are part of your celebrations. Thank you for sharing this with us. What a compliment!
Cuvaison Estate Wines