That’s the kind of challenge that we like, so we called our friends Cynthia Howson and Pierre Ly and organized a dinner tasting. Twomey Cellars: 2011 Russian River Valley Pinot NoirĪ shipment of four Chilean Sauvignon Blancs arrives at our door (courtesy of Wines of Chile) along with a request to see how they paired with seafood. Trione Vineyards and Winery: 2010 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Trione Vineyards and Winery: 2012 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc Stonestreet Winery: 2011 Gravel Bench Chardonnay and Broken Road Chardonnay Silver Oak Cellars: 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon There was something to enjoy at each table and several of the wines really surprised and delighted us.Ĭhoose well, Americans, and your local wine (or in any case an American wine) will be the highlight of your Thanksgiving table - something we all can give thanks for! But I would say that overall the quality of the wines we tasted was impressive and they can make us proud of American wine. And I might have cheated a little bit - there were too many wines to taste them all so I let the winery recommendations from Jancis’ and Linda’s book steer me to particular labels in many cases.Īnd as with any tasting, we liked some of the wines better than others. No one is going to send a bad wine to an event like this even if some questionable wines are made. How were the wines? Well, first a couple of caveats.
#2013 NOTTINGHAM CELLARS PETIT VERDOT REVIEW PLUS#
The event presented a cross section of American wine ranging from regions with high name recognition (Sonoma County, Santa Barbara) to others that would be better known to wine historians than to contemporary wine consumers (Maryland, for example, plus Virginia and Missouri). I’ll paste a list of the wine regions represented and the specific wines that they poured at the bottom of this column. Which is why we motored down to Portland recently to join the fun at the Great American Wine Festival, an event organized to coincide with a wine tourism conference.
It is a rare treat to be able to taste them. Very few make it into the broader distribution channels.
Most of the wineries are small and rely mainly upon cellar door sales. Idaho with 50 wineries doesn’t make this list, but we tasted many outstanding wines when we visited there in October.Īn opportunity to sample the wines of Missouri, for example, or Oklahoma does not frequently present itself. and Michigan wines at Riesling Rendezvous and other tastings and I can attest to the high quality of the best wines. Well, I have tasted many New York, Ontario, B.C. What is the state of the art of wine in these states and regions? Perhaps fewer have sampled wines from further down the list: New York, BC, Virginia, Texas and so on.
Most of us have tasted wines from California, Washington and Oregon and while some wines are surely better than others, it is clear that the best are world class products. The Californians made a vast majority of the wines measured in either value or volume, but there are active wineries in all of the states and so lots and lots of “local wines” for anyone wanting to support the local industry. Wines & Vines reports that the United States boasted more than 7400 wineries in 2012 and of those about 3500 were located in California. While most of America’s wines are produced in California, most of America’s wineries (by a small majority) are in other states! And as Jancis Robinson and Linda Murphy’s recent book American Wine reminds us, we do not need to limit our choices to wine from the “usual suspect” states and regions. There are many good choices depending upon the components of the meal, but we tend to lean towards American wines here at The Wine Economist office. A festive meal is generally part of the Turkey Day plan and so the question always comes up, what wines should we serve? Thanksgiving is the distinctively American holiday and we are happy to share the idea of a day of appreciation with other nations.
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