Wine!

[Lindorm]

Seems like a lot of people here are fans of relatively big and muscular red wines. Have you all been brainwashed by Robert Parker?   

On a more serious note, while I certainly like some hefty red wines -I absolutely adore some of the portugese Dao ones, not to mention some South African ones, for example, I am also quite fond of white wines. Even though oaky chardonnay wines are turning into a muchness of an overabundance today, with just about everyone+dog jumping on the bandwagon, there are actually a few of them that I find quite good. Lindeman's Bin 65 from Australia is one I like, but there are others.

Now, what can really set me off drooling and ranting incoherently, are some of the white wines from Alsace and parts of Germany. A nice, crisp, Riesling, with lots of pear, citrus and bergamot in the nose, followed by a splash of fruity acids and with a deep, deep base of shale and perhaps some petrol deep down... Yum! Of course, if there is a confit of duck and some nice bread nearby, things get even better. Or even a choucrute garni...

Another type of white wine I like is actually green -the Vinho verdes of Portugal. None of them are especially complex or well-developed, but a lot of them have a very nice crispy freshness that I find very attractive -and go very well together with summer, nice company and a plate of grilled shrimp with lemon and chile pepper. 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Don't you know that white wines are for girls?
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I would drink more white wine if the one I like wasn't $30+ a bottle... (true Champagne* )
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Seriously, I used to buy some Blanc de Blanc although I haven't seen it much lately, good recommendations on white wines are very appreciated. 

*who said "cheap" Champagne isn't good? Try Nicolas Feuillatte.

[Opsa]

The U.S. white wines tend to be too sweet or acidic in general for my tastes, but I agree with both of you guys about the others.

There are a few local whites that I like, but am not ga-ga over, and they are way too pricey for anything but the occasional holiday purchase.

I haven't had a truly lovely champagne in a long time. We get one every New Year's, but the past few years they have been pretty "Meh", in my book. It is probably because we cannot afford the decent ones. The best moderately priced champagne I've had in recent years was a Chandon Argentina, which I can no longer find. It was like effervescent pears. I can find Chandon California, but it is not so hot.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I can find Spaniard bubbly and French from the outskirts here, usually in big bottles (1.5 lt), those are fine but the real stuff is, well, better? What I can honestly say is that while I can tell the cheap stuff from the good one I can't tell the difference between the lower high end and the very high end, that is, I can't tell the difference between a Nicolas Feuillate and a Dom Perignon (which costs 4-5 times more). It may have something to do with the frequency I drink them?

[Opsa]

Me too, but then again, I have so rarely had any expensive champagnes. Most of the low-end stuff has no flavor to me, it may as well be club soda!

[Aggie]

Mmm.... I like club soda.

Prefer it with potassium compounds though - club kali?

[Lindorm]

A champagne that I find eminently good, but still priced in such a range that you can afford to quaff decadent amounts of the stuff once in a while is Piper-Heidsieck. Their standard champagne with the red label is quite nice -dry, some pronounced grape and mineral tones, with a bit of a tang to it. While it is not the stuff that brings tears to your eyes and makes you talk to god, it is the kind of stuff that makes you smile and do silly things with your friends at a party. Costs about SEK 250 / €25 per bottle at the Systembolaget stores in Sweden, which is including a lot of alchohol tax, to give you an idea of the price range.

While a lot of the cava sparkling wines form Spain are terrible, cheap and nasty, there are also some absolute gems among them, without the prestige component of the champagne price tag. Of the more widely available varieties, both the basic Codorniu and Freixnet Carta Nevada are perfectly drinkable and /or quaffable, at a price tag about 1/3 of the Piper-Heidsiecko one. These are, of course, mass-produced bulk bubblies, so don't expect anything sensational, but a good and bubbly drink. They are also good for using in cooking, where some of the more subtle flavours and aromas of, say, a vintage champagne would be lost in the cooking process and other flavourings. Grilled fish served with a sauce of airy beurre blanc, into which you have delicately folded a generous splash of cava just before serving... Or mussels in a cava and cream sauce...

There are also lots of small artisanal labels of spanish cava, with some of them definitely coming into the seeings-stars-and-talking-to-angels variety, but they can be both quite hard to find, and quite pricey. But if you do have a good wine store in the area, talk to them and see what they can reccommend and supply!

[Opsa]

Oh yum, those seafood'n'champagne dishes sound fantastic!

I'm hungry, now.

Here in the U.S. we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday. What goes well with turkey? (or spinch souffle for us vegetarians?)

[Lindorm]

Oh yum, those seafood'n'champagne dishes sound fantastic!

They certainly can be... go ahead and experiment! Mussels steamed with a bit of bacon or chourico and a healthy splash of smoky malt whisky is also a yummy variant, although wine-free.

Here in the U.S. we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday. What goes well with turkey?

Here in Old Europe, we don't particularily estimate such Colonial exotic fripperies as turkey-fowl, nor their common and uncouth festivals for the vulgar masses. 

Seriously, though, I have never eaten turkey in the classical US:ian manner -turkey in Sweden is mostly sold as cold cuts and charcuterie, and most of it rather bland and boring. I suppose you could start off thinking about "tastes like chicken, but gamier". A more full-bodied white perhaps? Perhaps one of those Californian oaked Chardonnays? Or a somewhat lighter red wine, with a bit of spice and fruit to it -say, a pinot noir or tempranillo? From what I have read of traditional US thanksgiving dinners, they seem to be rather heavy on the food, so I suppose you would want a wine wiht a bit of character to be able to digest everything.

(or spinch souffle for us vegetarians?)

Ah! Spinach souffle is much approved by Old World food snobs. Spinach is a bit like asparagus or artichoke -the acids in them can interact in strange ways with wine, making everything taste a bit metallic or off. Spinach is, however, by no means as difficult to pare with a wine as asparagus, which is more or less impossible. I'd try a rich white wine -say a dry white Bourgogne with lots of fruit and acid, or their german equivalent -a weisser Burgunder, preferrably a Spätlese or Auslese (late harvested) -they tend more towards fruit and petroleum than the minerals of the Rieselings I lauded in my earlier post.

And a slightly unconventional suggestion: Perhaps a nice rosé wine could fit the bill, for both the turkey and the spinach? One with a bit more muscle and spice, not one of those "raspberry juice for adults". There is a Chilean rosé called Casas Patronales available here in Sweden, which could very well be available in USA, too, which could fit the bill. I have no idea of how it would work out -I suppose it would depend a lot on the flavouring of the bird and the souffle, as well as the accompaning dishes, but it would certainly be an intriguing experiment, and one I think could pay off handsomely. Is it possible for you to make a small trial before the big occassion?

Good luck!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Before I forget (and unrelated to the latest discussion) I tried a Spaniard Garnacha the other day and I have to say the I liked it very much. This is a wine with a very rich aroma, I dare say  medium/full bodied but very easy to drink.

I wish I could make a more detailed description (Lindorm has more experience on this than me) but I -sadly- don't have an open bottle in front of me now.   

[Bluenose]

In my family we always have turkey for Christmas dinner and we serve it with a sparkling red wine (we're not allowed to call it Champaigne over here because of the Frensch getting all thingy about their names, but it's made the same way).  Grape varieties like shiraz and durif make good choices.  The wines tend to be crisp without excessive dryness yet still quite fruity.  Goes very well with turkey.  Anderson's (from Rutherglen in northern Victoria) make a truly spectacular sparkling shiraz, which I believe most of which they export to the USA, so it may be possible to get some.  However, I have no idea what the price would be over there.  At the cellar door last time I bought some, it was about AUD $28 (I guess that't about USD $25 on the current exchange rate) so Iimagine it may well be a bit on the expensive side. 

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I've seen sparkling rosé but not red. I would love to try that.

[Aggie]

I've had an Aussie sparkling red before - probably a Wyndham Estates sparkling Shiraz.

I think I found it a bit of a strange combination, but it wasn't bad and was probably reasonably priced.

[Opsa]

Nice idea! I tried a very good sparkling red wine at a wine shop a few years back. Can't remember where it was from, now- but I liked it.

I just happen to have a white Zinfandel (technically a rose) in the fridge. Do you think that would do?

[Bluenose]

Well, it wouldn't be the same, but it would probably go well.  I think the trick is to have a wine that is not too astringent, that carries a bit of fruit, to go with turkey.  So if the sparkling rose sounds like that I would give it a go!  Let us know what it is like, if you decide to try it!