Ah, Thanksgiving. This was truly a time to give "thanks," though the normal,
celebratory meal was far different than most. Mother-in-law has recently been
confined to a wheelchair at her near-by assisted-living facility, and good
friend's son-in-law has become very ill and was air-lifted to a hospital in
the city. While he's doing better, he's still in CCU. MIL's wheelchair will
not fit into my wife's car, unless you have a burly longshoreman handy. MIL
cannot step up into my Landcruiser, so we showed up with two autos. Brought
MIL and a friend to the house early. Our friends, with their daughter were to
arrive a bit later. Got MIL and her wheelchair down all of our steps (no way
into the house without them), and set the wheelchair up in the breakfast area.
Wife finished with the meal - much of which was catered from a local
restaurant owned by a James Beard Award-winning chef. Friends arrived with
daughter and the meal began.

Appetizers were Brie wrapped in phyllo and mission figs in phyllo. Had planned
on doing a GV (Weingut Türk, Kremser Weinberge Grüner Veltliner ‘03 US$17) for
the appetizers, but backed off, due to the figs. Went with the Gainey, Limited
Selection Santa Ynez Valley Dry Riesling ‘05 US$18 and it went well with both
the Brie and the figs.

Soup course was a double-header of Butternut Squash and a Wild Mushroom. Most
had a bit of both. Wines were the Acacia Napa Valley-Carneros Pinot Noir ‘05
(which I planned on keeping around the table throughout the meal) and a Dr. F.
Weins-Prüm, Ürziger Würzgarten, Feinherb, Kabinett Riesling ‘05 US$22. The PN
handled both soups, but the Riesling was a standout with the squash. Then came
the turkey (Young's Farm breast oven baked with apple cider), garlic mashed
potatoes (with Chef Vincent's turkey gravy with beef-jus), sweet-potatoes with
candied pecans, blanched green beans with shaved almonds, French Country
Cornbread Stuffing with chestnuts, Chef Vincent's wonderful Dauphinois
Potatoes and wife's Cranberry-Pecan relish. Wines were the Acacia PN, the Dr.
F. Weins-Prüm Riesling and I added a Wolfgerger, Vin D'Alsace Equisheim
Gewürztraminer ‘03 US$24 and Edmeades, Mendocino County Zinfandel ‘05 US$32.

Rating the wines: The Gainy Rielsing was very nice and light, with citrus all
around. Almost clear, with a light greenish tint, it was lighter than a
Kabinett, but had the acid and fruit to stand up to the Brie and the fig. On
DaleW's scale (which I really, really like), I'd give this domestic Riesling a
B, and I'm usually not a fan of domestic Rieslings.

The Dr. F. Weins-Prüm Kabbinett Riesling was more to my personal profile of
what an early-harvest Riesling should be (though the Gainy scored some good
points), with a pale yellow and greenish tint. It too was light, but had some
white peach and lighter citrus notes, plus a tiny hint of Riesling "petrol."
Again, a B. It handled the soups nicely, and still stood up to the turkey and
various potatoes quite well - though the sweet-potatoes did overwhelm it some.
Maybe a Spätlese would have worked better with this one dish.

The Acacia PN (always a favorite of mine, for fruit-forward, but not overly-
concentrated PN) stayed on the table throughout the entire meal - glad that I
had several bottles of this one. It was a deeper purple, than I am used to
from this wine, with just a hint of rust at the rim. (While I like this PN
young, I also appreciate it with some age. This one was very young, but showed
that browning at the meniscus, that I associate visually with aging). It had
strong hints of cherry, both red and black, a very faint bit of earth and
truffle and was silky smooth, glass after glass. Definitely a B+. Year after
year, I choose this one as my "house PN."

The Wolfgerger Gewürztraminer was the one that I had planned on showcasing,
but a bit let down by its performance with the food. It was "tight," and never
really did open up. Though it had a wonderful silky/oily mouthfeel, it seemed
as though it just wasn't ready to let go of its potential. The nose was that
of an empty spice-drawer - filled with wonderful aromas, but maybe too mingled
to pick up anything distinct. I followed this wine all night and never quite
got the hang of it. There was also an edge on the taste - not unpleasant, but
noticeable, and just a bit off-putting. It was a medium yellow with a green
tinge at the edge - more dense in color, than any of the other whites. I'd
speculate that with some more years, it would develop into something better,
though when I came back to it, after having sat ¼ full on the side-board, it
had still not evolved. A bit of a disappointment and a C.

Speaking of "disappointments." The Edmeades Mendocino County ‘05 Zin was one
of the oddest Zins that I've ever had. I normally love the big, fruit-forward,
highly-concentrated Zins from Edmeades. Their Alden Ranch is the biggest
fruit-bomb Zin, that I have ever encountered but still a wine to enjoy It's
right up to the top, but not "over" it. I've also had the Mendocino County on
many occasions, along with a myriad of other bottlings from Edmeades. All have
been exactly as I had expected them to be - nothing subtle, but still finding
balance in their "bigness." First the "interesting" nose. I did a double-take
here. Checked my yet-to-be-filled glasses for some form of contamination. Hm-
m, what was I getting here? Work at it, you know what your smelling, but put a
name on it - damned it! OK, got it. It had the aroma of a wet Bourbon barrel.
Yes, a wet Bourbon barrel. Odd. The color was concentrated, almost opaque
purple with only a tiny bit of clearing at the edge. Corked? No, but odd.
Let's taste it. Similar tastes to the nose, but on the retro-nasal, the barrel
changed. It was still a distilled spirits barrel, but now it was definitely
Scotch, not Bourbon! Friend is a big Single-Malt (and a Zin) fan, and he
really got into this. At 15.4% ABV, I expected some spirits someplace, but
this was much more, than I had bargained for and much more than I had expected
from this wine - glad that I didn't pick up the case, that I had contemplated.
The spirity harshness marred its drinking with any of the food. It never did
evolve either, as I was hoping that some VA would blow off. Maybe a few hours
of decanting would have helped. I'll try another bottle this weekend, but am
not holding out much hope - too big, too strange, just "too" everything! C-/D
on this one.

At this point, everyone broke to get MIL and friend, plus that danged
wheelchair back to the home, and others to take daughter back to the hospital
to be with her husband. We re-convened for dessert of a Cheesecake Soufflé and
Chef Vincent's Southern Pecan Pie plus some Taylor 10 Tawny. By now, I was
quite full, so my dessert WAS the Taylor 10 and a contraband Montecristo #2
Torpedo Cuban, which went well with the Tawny. I would normally have pulled
out the Porto Barros 20 Tawny, but they are in the back of my cellar, which is
filled to the brim - partly for storage of my friend's wine, as he builds his
new home and cellar. The Taylor was nice and warming, as the evening had grown
cool. Their 20 is probably my favorite, followed closely by the Barros 20,
especially with wife's pecan pie. Finally got around to Chef Vincent's
version. It was good, but not up to my wife's standard, which sets the bar,
for all others - B+. Went back to both the Zin and the Gewürz, but nothing new
to report on either front.

This year was more about giving thanks, than food and wine - thanks that
health issues are being handled and that the patients are progressing - thanks
that the wheelchair should soon be gathering dust and cobwebs. Here is hope
that Thanksgiving ‘07 will be a more traditional celebration and that the
trials of ‘06 will be behind all of us.

Hunt

Hunt, thanks for the notes. Sounds like you have your priorities
straight!