PROVENCE WINEZINE PICKS WINES FOR THANKSGIVING 2017

So you want to add a little French flair to this quintessentially American meal?  But a wave of anxiety engulfed you when you remembered that seven years ago, UNESCO deemed French gastronomy to be “a world intangible heritage.”

The French just know how to do it.  They invented the art of the table.  How to set the table, how to arrange the place setting (because every plate, glass, and piece of silverware has its own place on a French table), and where in the world does one park that napkin? (Never in the shape of a turkey peering up at the guest.)  Then, there’s their renowned cuisine and legendary wines and—mon dieu—the task of pairing the food and wine. It’s enough to make one reach for a Xanax before the meal even starts.  But, don’t. Provence WineZine can help…at least in the wine department. (You’re on your own with the correct placement of gramma’s set of antique butter picks.)

This year, each contributor to Provence WineZine offers his or her suggestions for wines that will marry well with your Thanksgiving feast and add a touch of France to the menu.  Not surprisingly, most of the wines hail from the Provence and Rhône Valley wine regions.  (This is Provence WineZine!)  Short of a Butterball Turkey Talk-Line for French wine pairing on Thanksgiving, this article is your best alternative. Breathe, and forge ahead.

You may wonder why one would want to add a dash of French flair to the annual all-American meal.  After all, you may say, the Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock—who allegedly had the first Thanksgiving meal in the New World in 1621—were English, not French.  Oui?

Actually, it appears that the French may well have been the first to reach the New World. (This is not Fake News, I assure you.) Known as Huguenots, these French pilgrims settled just south of Saint Augustine, Florida and, like the English who crossed the Atlantic some 50 years later, this group of Protestants also fled the religious wars that ravaged much of Europe. Sadly, they were slaughtered by Spanish troops in 1565. Perhaps there is good reason to tip our Pilgrim hats to the French, and what a conversation starter!

Other fodder for conversation at Thanksgiving—and another nudge to include a little French wine at the table—centers on our third U.S. President:  Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809) who was also the first U.S. Ambassador to France (1784 to 1789).  There, he was completely captivated by France—its art, its architecture, its gardens and, mais oui, its food and wine. A wine aficionado before his five years in Paris, he honed his palate while in France with his visits to Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, and Provence. Jefferson amassed an impressive collection of age-worthy French wines. He returned home the same year George Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday.  I wonder if he had any French wines on his Thanksgiving table.

If you are lucky enough to have spent some time in France, you’ll understand why it always warms a Francophile’s heart to find a little French infusion at the table–even if the table is set for the most American holiday of the year.

Read on for our wine recommendations!  À votre Santé!

Pamela O’Neill

Pulling off Thanksgiving is always a daunting endeavour.  But this year’s PWZ challenge to select Provence wines to accompany that oh-so-American meal has me in a tizzy.  Though dutifully thankful to be ensconced in Provence, I am spoiled for choice, unbound by availability, sans excuse for blunders.

Nevermind.  Let’s do this.

When my all-too-Provence-wine-knowledgeable guests arrive, I will beguile them with a flute of festive fizz.  I’m going with Sparkling de Léoube, barely rose rosé from the vineyards of Château Léoube, resting on the Mediterranean shores of Bormes-les-Mimosas.  With a predominance of Cabernet Franc, its fresh white fruitiness and hint of minerality make it lively company for an assortment of canapés.

The first course, a pumpkin and orange soup with fresh herbs and saffron, will go swimmingly with Château Montaud’s Le Chevalier de Rascasse Rosé. Named for the scorpion fish (sometimes called turkey fish, hah!), a requisite ingredient in traditional bouillabaisse, this single varietal IGP Maures is 100% Tibouren, an ancestral cépage essentially limited to the Var region of Provence.  With an aroma of dried apricots, it is fresh yet complex with hints of orange rind, allspice, and nuts with a long, slightly salty finish.

Next up is a Viognier.  Typically associated with the little appellation of Condrieu in the Northern Rhone, my selection hails from just up the road in Fox Amphoux.  Bomont De Cormeil’s Viognier is an IGP Coteaux du Verdon.  Partially fermented in French oak, it’s wonderfully aromatic and tastes of stone fruit and caramel, ending on a zesty citrus note.  I’m thinking a match made in heaven with a grilled pear, Roquefort, and bourbon-glazed pecan salad. 

Now to the main event.  The turkey and fixin’s will be replete with fresh woody herbs, wild mushrooms, garlic and onions, and enough butter to choke a horse.  So I’m going toward big with Mas Negrel Cadenet Rouge from Mas de Cadenet in Trets-en-Provence.  Selected from the domain’s oldest vines, it blends equal amounts of Grenache and Syrah with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Its fruity, spicy, rich flavor can stand up to anything a Thanksgiving fiesta can dish out, with enough light tannins and acidity to complement the most decadent butterball side dish.

It’s hard to imagine a cheese course after all that stuffing, so we’ll head right to a traditional finale of pumpkin, apple (o.k. maybe cheddar), and pecan pies partnered with Le Thoronet vineyard Sainte Croix La Manuelle’s Muscat, which is a relatively light sweet wine with notes of honeysuckle, orange, and nutmeg.  Round and smooth, it finishes with a dash of tart apple. 

Happy Provence Thanksgiving!

David Scott Allen

As a fan of “big whites” (POTUS not one of them), my perfect wine for the day would be the Domaine Chante Cigale white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Hands down. To bring in a red, which many prefer, I suggest the Louis Latour Domaine de Valmoissine Pinot noir. And there is nothing that would finish a meal better than a glass of the Domaines Ott Vieux Marc Rosé. It would be perfect with apple or pumpkin pie.

Elizabeth Gabay, MW

Not being much of a meat eater, I find it easier to think up wines to go with a vegetarian meal full of autumn flavours. Planning rosés to match with a meal allows me to think up some unusual wines to accompany distinctive flavours.Festive occasions for me are always a great excuse to start with fancy nibbles which can be munched on with a sparkling wine to set the mood. I particularly like little round slices of toasted baguette with tapenade, the traditional Provencal olive paté. Its salty almost bitter taste is a great palate cleanser with a sparkling rosé – maybe decorated with a few festive cranberries. As a recent convert to beetroot, one of my favourite starters is beetroot with feta cheese. The sweet earthy richness matched with the salty cheese is a match made in heaven with Cabernet Sauvignon based rosés from Slovakia, such as Velkeer’s Tri Ruze, with their touch of residual sugar, fresh black fruit and green, leafy acidity.

Moving onto the main course, roast vegetables for me are the key flavour whether roasted pumpkin, sweet potato, onions, potato and any other vegetables. For me, the key here is that caramelised flavour these roasted vegetables take on. This is when a rosé with a bit of age can really star. Looking for a high-quality Provence rosé with more than three years of age may seem a strange recommendation, but with some age, these rosés start to take on subtle hints of dried fruit and even a hint of orange peel which, combined with still fresh acidity, are perfect with a rich meal. Tavel wine such as those of Mordorée, Maby or d’Aquéria or a Bandol rosé such as Tempier, Pibarnon or Bastide Blanche are probably the most easily available aged rosés.

Blue cheese with bowls of nuts always screams out port to me – and luckily pink port is also available, try Croft’s. Less tannic and heavy than red port, the wine has plenty of sweet rich fruit. In Provence, vin cuit (a wine cooked and reduced to a tawny port-like intensity) is the traditional Christmas drink to have with dried fruit and nuts. Alternatively, a selection of hard, cheddar like cheese with their salty tangy acidity, can fight a bit with port so I would choose a rosé with long fresh mineral acidity, especially those from the coastal region around La Londe, whose wines have fresh a saline minerality: Domaines Léoube, Ste Marguerite or St André de Figuiere.

For dessert – well, no choice, a deliciously sweet Cabernet d’Anjou is a delight such as those of Domaine de la Petit Roche or Château Passavant. Ranging from off-dry to honeyed richness, these wines come from the same hills as the unctuous white Bonnezeaux and Coteaux de Layon in the Loire Valley. Their perfumed richness make them perfect with fruit and cream desserts.

Jill Barth

Pierre Amadieu Le Pas De L’Aigle AOC Gigondas Rouge – Made from old vine Grenache and Syrah, this is a big, fresh bottle. This wine is sleek and silky with balanced fruit and pepper. Gigondas is a true crowd pleaser, a treat I love to share with family and friends. Perfect for mushroom dishes and long-roasted meats.

Domaine Dalmeran Château Dalmeran Red – Wines from Les Baux-de-Provence AOP blend the Provence atmosphere with the robust flavors of the Southern Rhône. This Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet-Sauvignon blend ages in oak for 24 months then rests in the bottle for five years before release. A balanced blend that will suit rich sauces and seasonings.

Jerry Clark

Susan Manfull

With so much food going in and out of ovens, on and off burners, into bowls and onto platters, the opportunity for error, or even catastrophe, is quite high on Thanksgiving.  In our home alone, there was the time, early on in our marriage, that Towny miscalculated the cooking time—or maybe it was the number of pounds the humongous turkey weighed—and by the time Godzilla bird and our guests met at the table, hours after planned…well, let’s just say the wine pairings no longer mattered. A few years later, having mastered the fine art of timing required with such a cacophony of foods, our dinner came to a screeching halt shortly after we took our seats.  A dear friend’s sleeve caught fire as she reached across the table (and over the flame).  The funniest part of the whole episode is that, not wanting to disrupt the conversation, she kept the incident to herself until the smell of burning hair wafted across the table.

More recently, when my daughter’s boyfriend (at the time) was a guest at the table (and we were all endeavoring to make a good impression), I went racing through the kitchen between courses and caught my apron on the open door of the convection oven, pulling it right off its hinges effectively eliminating an essential appliance for cooking the rest of the meal.  (It seemed a long evening after that mishap.) Sometimes, the incidents are inconsequential, like the time we served roasted acorn squash slices topped with funky spices and every plate came back to the kitchen empty except for a singular acorn squash slice on each one.  I shredded that recipe and hoped no one would remember the awful squash but I knew they would.  Thinking back on my  own early Thanksgivings at my grandmother’s house, to this day, I remember only the Sunbeam Brown ’n Serve White Rolls, the bottoms of which my grandmother burned black every year.  I understand why people dine out on this day and briefly consider it myself every once in a while but then I think of the stories I’ve collected and, oh, those left-overs.  And I soldier on, always glad I did.

Okay, the fourth Thursday in November is barreling down once again and, echoing Pam’s words above, “Let’s do this.”

On such a holiday as festive as Thanksgiving, a little bubbly is, well, obligatory.  When in Provence, I would head straight to Château Léoube for a bottle of their incomparable Sparkling de Léoube.  Closer to Lourmarin, where we hang our hats and keep our flutes, I would seek out Château du Seuil’s sparkling wine, Le Grand Seuil, a new addition to their line-up.  Léoube’s sparkling elixir is made from Cabernet Franc and Seuil’s is from Ugni Blanc. Both are traditional method sparkling wines and both are quite dry.

While the men finish shucking the oysters—yes this is sexist—I will open some of our favorite Rolle-centric whites from Provence to accompany our briny bivalves, served with Towny’s mignonette and fresh lemon wedges.  (No cocktail sauce because, uh, then what’s the point in including the oyster?) I am very fond of the Rolles (maybe with a little Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, or Ugni blanc in the cépage) produced by Château Margüi and Château d’Esclans.  As a general rule, raw oysters are best enjoyed with a cold, dry, crisp white wine, especially one with a clean finish so that it does not compete with the oysters. These wines fit the bill!

David Scott Allen, who writes our food and wine column, makes a lovely Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque Soup that we will start with at the table.  We’ll stick with Provence white wine here, although a slightly different white with a little more weight and aromatics such as Château Vignelaure Blanc (a blend of Roussane, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon), Château Barbebelle Heritage (a mix of Rolle, Grenache blanc, Ugni blanc, and Sauvignon blanc), Château Léoube Blanc de Léoube  (Sémillon, Rolle, and Ugni  blanc) or Domaine Richeaume Columelle Blanc (a blend of Clairette, Rolle, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc).

For the turkey and the trimmings which, try as I may, always ends up a cacophony of flavors (albeit delicious ones) ranging from the sweet and sour cranberry relish to the caramelized tastes of the roasted carrots and fennel to the rich turkey gravy slathered atop the mashed potatoes.  The wine must have a presence but not so much that it overpowers.  I’d like to offer our guests a savory rosé and a quietly confident red. 

For the rosé, I recommend Château Guilhem Tournier La Malissonne (2016) rosé.  Predominantly Mourvèdre with 10% Cinsault, this Bandol gem has the right presence for such a meal.    Château Sainte Anne, also in Bandol, makes a lovely red, a blend of Mourvèdre, Cinsault, and Grenache that has just the right amount of structure and weight.  We recently tried the 2016 and the 2007 vintages, both of which were excellent but the latter was a standout and perfect for this meal.  I would also be delighted with any of the Tavels mentioned by Elizabeth or Towny.

For those of you who are serving ham instead of (or in addition to) the turkey, here’s a shout out to Château Malherbe Pointe du Diable (2013) Rouge, an immensely elegant red wine that will grace the table—alongside that ham—with  notes of spices from the nose through the finish.  My daughter and I discovered this estate last summer and loved this red.  I noticed that the tasting notes recommended baked ham as a good partner for this wine.  (How often to you see that?) I think it would also go very well on the turkey side of the table, too.

Skipping over the traditional French cheese course, we will move right to dessert:  a Persimmon pudding, a spicy cake made of the pulp of fresh persimmons and served with a dab of molasses-infused whipped cream.  It is my grandmother’s recipe (not the one who burned the rolls) and it’s been a part of our Thanksgiving or Christmas for many years.  The perfect match for this unusual dessert is Mas de Cadenet’s Vin Cuit, a cooked dessert wine, elegant with a gorgeous, deep golden amber color; intense and complex flavors from the first wave of aromas to the lingering, faintly smokey finish; and a silky mouthfeel.  In September, we saw it cooking in a huge cauldron on the edge of the vineyard.

When Thomas Jefferson traveled to Provence (around 200 years ago), he apparently developed a special affinity for vin cuit. On his January 7, 1822 record of “Stock of Wines on Hand,” 17 vin cuits de Provence were listed.

Finally, a great ending to the meal is, as David wrote above, a Vieux Marc de Provence.   As much as I like the Domaines Ott Marc he opted for, I am going to go for the Château Peyrassol version.

Mike Dater

Apparently the world is made up of oenophiles, wine connoisseurs, sommeliers, and the rest of us schmucks. The rest of us schmucks don’t know from a wine’s bouquet, or its subtle nose, or its complexity. We don’t know from fruity or oaky either.

Enter the local wine guy down the street. He owns a wine and cheese shop whose motto is “wine for the table, not the cellar.” I’m feeling more comfortable already. This is the kind of place it’s safe to ask for something to pair with a peanut butter sandwich. (And he’s back, quick as flash: “strawberry jam.”)

This guy gets it. Not everybody is a wine freak, but we still drink the stuff. Today I need something to take to our daughter’s house for Thanksgiving. He picks out a nice red and says that I’ll like it (and I know I will). OK, now maybe a white. Ditto. I’m happy, he’s happy, my daughter’s happy. And the whole family is guaranteed to have a good Thanksgiving, providing, of course, nobody mentions Donald Trump.