Thanksgiving Wines 2025
SPARKLING WINES
Quest Brut NV, Cap Classique
100% Chardonnay grown in limestone-heavy soils. 12 months aging on the lees. When we tasted this wine in October we knew right away this would be a perfect Thanksgiving selection. The wine is round and built for food, with great creamy length but it also has some salinity which gives great balance.
Domaine Bourillon Dorléans Vouvray Brut NV
100% Chenin Blanc 24 months aging in their cellar, some in French oak and then in the bottle on the lees. The color here is deeper and the wine is fuller in the mouth with frothy, forward richness but it remains clean and food-friendly.
ROSÉ WINES
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Bourgueil 2023
100% Cabernet Franc. The name means “place where the larks sing.” The seventh generation at the domaine farms vines on a limestone plateau. 30% is saignée and 70% is direct press juice. Fermentation and aging is all in stanless steel. They do not allow malolactic fermentation. The wine is lightly colored with soft, but bright, acidity and loads of minerality. There are some green and red apple notes and a dash of bright lemon as well. It is a very versatile wine with food.
Jenny & François Gaspard 2024
100% Pineau d’aunis from soils of clay and limestone. Jenny & François are importers who work with some of their growers to make their own ‘house’ wines. Gaspard is a traditional French boy’s name that means “bringer of treasure.” The wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel. The wine is on fine lees for 6 months. It is bottled unfined but with some filtration. Pineau d’aunis always has some white pepper on the nose, add a ripe pink lady apple with some floral notes and there you have it. It is slightly weightier than other rosés from the same grape but that’s perfect with Thanksgiving dinner.
WHITE WINES
Guillaume Gonnet Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc 2024
40% Viognier, 30% Grenache Blanc and 30% Roussanne from 40-45 year-old vines planted in clay and sandy soil on north-facing terraces. Stainless ferment and aging for six months. No malolactic fermentation. The Viognier lends aromatics and texture, the Grenache adds some zip and freshness and the Roussanne gives weight and complexity. A Chardonnay-like wine but without the oak.
Rockwerk Grüner Veltliner 2023
100% Grüner Veltliner from rocky soils. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in a combination of steel, concrete and old oak. It is fined and filtered. This is crisp and fresh and the minerality is complex and layered and intense. This will work as an aperitif but will shine at the table as it helps cleanse your palate between bites.
Pépièr Muscadet Sur Lie ‘Les Gras Moutons’ 2023
100% Melon de Bourgogne from soil with lots of clay and rocks plus some sand, limestone and gneiss. They farm two parcels for this wine, totaling 1.7 hectares. The vines were planted in 1956, 1981 and 1997 with Southwest exposure. No malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged for nine months in large, glass-lined underground tanks. Light filtration at bottling.
Defaix Frères Petit Chablis 2022
100% Chardonnay. All stainless steel ferment and aging. A classically fresh, tart style with long, subtle minerality. If you give it a decant the wine fills out a bit on the palate but this is certainly not required.
RED WINES
Aujoux ‘Les Sarments,’ Coteaux Bourguígnons 2023
80% Gamay and 20% Pinot Noir. Gamay and Pinot Noir get along beautifully and are a terrific match for a Thanksgiving feast. Light, pretty red fruits dominate with a little sappiness and bright freshness. Feel free to enjoy this with a little chill if you want.
Château La Vaisinerie Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion 2019
90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. This comes from a satellite appellation of the more well known, and more expensive, Saint-Emilion. It sits just to the north with similar soils, lots of clay, which Merlot loves. There is a little punch to the wine, as you expect from Bordeaux, but there is almost no tannin which makes it a good partner to a wide variety of food.
Weingut Dr. Heger Pinot Noir ‘Tuniberg,’ Baden 2020
100% Pinot Noir from volcanic soils. This is a warmer area in the south of Germany. This ages in oak but we believe it to be mostly neutral. Dusty cherry fruit and some ‘woodsiness’ set this wine apart. The color is lovely and the wine is friendly immediately out of the bottle.
Raptor Ridge Pinot Noir ‘Barrel Select,’ Willamette Valley 2023
100% Pinot Noir from scattered sites around the valley, including Chehalem, Yamhill-Carlton, Eola-Amity and McMinnville. About half of the wine is estate fruit and eight of their single vineyard bottlings contribute to the blend as well. About 20% new oak. This is full of flashy, deep fruit, including blueberry and boysenberry, with noticeable but well integrated tannin.
MAGNUM
Vajra Barbera d’Alba 2024
100% Barbera from estate fruit with mixed terroirs. The vintage was challenging in the vineyards but Vajra managed to produce a lovely wine with fresh aromatics (red fruits) and moderate alcohol. Three months aging in stainless steel. Magnums make any event feel more festive and we have plenty of them for this year’s gathering.