A Thanksgiving with Robin Meredith
We continue our tour of contributor’s Thanksgiving plans with Robin Meredith, our newest contributor.
As with many Americans, our Thanksgiving
is a "melting pot" affair, with at least four family groupings,
three generations, and two major ethnic groups gathered around the table.
The menu is usually fairly traditional but, needless to say, beverage
preferences vary pretty widely in a group like that.Of course, Karen and I are always expected
to bring the wine. We usually tend to focus on crowd-pleasing wines
with some local flavor — this is not the occasion to break out the Corton-Charlemagne!
I always tend to think big bottles have a nice celebratory feel,
so this year we’ll be bringing a magnum of the 2002 Comtesse Therese Traditional
Merlot (a gift from Theresa Dilworth — thank you Theresa!) and one or two
magnums of Macari’s 2002 Merlot (an exceptional wine that was still available
in magnum at the winery as recently as last summer).Most of our crowd prefers reds, but
I am partial to whites with the Thanksgiving meal, and I usually try to
sneak in one or two special bottles and make sure they land on my table.
This year I have my eye on a 2004 Cour-Cheverny Cuvee Renaissance
from Francois Cazin, an absolute beautiful rendition of Chenin Blanc with
just a touch of residual sugar to help it stand up to the food. Alsace
is another great choice for Thanksgiving — the 1998 Cuvee Frederic Emile
Riesling from Trimbach is drinking beautifully right now, although it is
a bit on the dry side — just have to keep it away from the candied sweet
potatoes and cranberry salad!
