Tuesday, November 22, 2011

InTheCellar - Wines for Thanksgiving!


Give thanks, carve the bird, pile on the stuffing and pop a cork on GREAT WINE to go with it... check out great tips to pair with the hearty fare we serve at Thanksgiving from cranberry sauce to mom's pumpkin pie, we have got the wines for you!

In our tenth episode of In the Cellar, we head to the Club Room / Gourmet Kitchen at the Hy-Vee Premium Grocery in Liberty, MO and unwrap wines to pair for our upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday!



The first wine we review is the 2009 Marquee Classic Riesling - a lovely wine that pairs perfectly with the Thanksgiving meal and is not the "Sweet Riesling" that you may think of when you hear the term. Australia does a more dry style of Riesling and what we find is that this wine pairs well with a variety of foodstuffs, is lighter in alcohol and has lots of lime / lemon acidity to clean your palate between the different Turkey day tastes!

The second and third wines we are showcasing today come from Mendoza, Argentina and are of products of the grape type, Malbec. The first is a bright and fruity "rose", yes rose as in white zinfandel, but mind you this is a lovely wine as opposed to the tangy sweet White Zin's from Sutter Home that you may have tasted once before. The 2010 Pianissimo Organic Malbec Rose is fruity, fresh, has lots of strawberry, watermelon and light rhubarb qualities that make it a great chilled wine for thanksgiving that has enough body to match the sauces, turkey, stuffing and even pumpkin flavors of the season.

For those that prefer to drink red wine we have selected the 2010 Staccato Organic Malbec / Cabernet Blend as a "medium bodied red wine" that will pair well, but not overpower your food at thanksgiving. I like the choice of a lighter bodied wine as it allows the food to stay center stage on this occasion. I routinely also serve Pinot Noir for Thanksgiving, but this year in a tough economy could not think of a better wine for your value at only $9.99 than the Staccato Malbec / Cabernet Blend. PS - Like the family dog at thanksgiving grabbing table scraps, the family dog for this winery in Argentina actually loves to eat grapes straight out of the fields!

In the Kitchen and Marquee send out a special thank you to our friends at Hy-Vee for participating in this exciting series of wine education shows! The test kitchen is spectacular and we look forward to be coming back for more!

Marquee Selections has partnered up with the award-winning chef focused program " In The Kitchen with Bonnie" (http://inthekitchenwithbonnie.com) to produce an exciting new wine segment entitled "In the Cellar" with Marquee Selections . During each episode we will unravel the wine world one grape at a time! Each week we invite you to join us for an engaging conversation for our food and wine lovers to see why wine has been a worldwide tradition for centuries and how learning more about it can help bring the stories and flavors to life. Learn more about exciting regions, new wine types, varietals, how to pair wines with food, decanting, proper serving temperature, what wine goes best with pizza and more! A great 10 minute break from your day to learn and "wet" your taste buds for more"!

Please enjoy this web-episode of In the Cellar with Marquee and additional details are available below for more information on Marquee Selections! I am a bit new to the HD Camera, so please bear with me as I get my sea legs as an action reporter ( with today's technology you can find the grey hairs if you look) :) and thank you so much for tuning in and supporting Marquee Selections!

Check back next week for more exciting wine education from Marquee!

Cheers!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW
Marquee Selections - Green, Global, Grapes