2006 Bodegas Alma Negra Brut Rosé Mendoza Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 92 Tasting Note: The advantage to sparkling wines is that they are able to operate as palate cleansers, no matter what goes on the table. The high acidity--grapes are usually picked at low degrees brix, ensuring high acidity--and refreshing character enable them to accompany a wide range of foods. And if they're pink, so much the better. The Alma Negra Brut Rosé is a medium-bodied sparkling wine based on the Malbec grape, Argentina's icon varietal. Fine eye appeal is thanks to a bright salmon pink color. Lovely, lively, clean aromas of red fruits, especially strawberry and other red fruits, with a whiff of toastiness. Flavors capture strawberry and a hint of aromatic brown spice. Lingering in the finish, this well-balanced wine can see dinner through from start to turkey, although we'd not suggest it for dessert as it's too dry. This one is done in the traditional method, in stainless steel, with 12 months bottle age before release. Serve well chilled, about 45°F/7°C in tulip-shaped Champagne flutes. Start the meal with some crawfish cakes or grilled bacon-wrapped scallops with rémoulade sauce; crab or shrimp Louie; roast turkey with sausage stuffing; Cajun deep-fried turkey; roast duck or Cornish hen. Honestly, go lazy and pick up some Picadilly roast turkey with cornbread dressing, standard yellow turkey gravy, standard cranberry sauce, that wonderful carrot soufflé they turn out, and watch this go with every bite--as I just did. The 2007 vintage is released and in the warehouse. Georgia Distributor: Atlanta Wholesale Wine/NDC $22.00 2005 Schlumberger Wein und Sektkellerei AG Brut Rosé Burgenland Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 92 Tasting Note: Brut rosé goes with so many foods, it's almost impossible to mess up a pairing (only cheese might be tricky). This one originates in Austria, thus is pronounced with a hard "g" and not, as with the Alsace Schlumberger, with a soft "g." Grape type: Pinot Noir, here known as Blauer Burgunder, the wine presents a lovely delicate pink hue. Delicacy aalso marks the soft red fruit aromas, while the full-bodied mousse settles down to a fine, pinpoint persistent bead. Elegant, fresh red fruit characters and good acidity to refresh the palate keep one coming for more sips. Just 8 grams per liter of residual sugar, making it well below the brut threshold (15 g/l). Serve chilled, about 45-50ºF/7-10ºC in tall tulip-shaped Champagne flutes. Enjoy with light appetizers: tiny Asian dumplings with Ponzu dipping sauce; skewered grilled shrimp; small crab cakes with rémoulade; crawfish salad; grilled tiny ribs with mild barbecue sauce. Georgia Distributor: Peach State Wine & Spirits $20.00 2006 CARM Douro Grande Reserva Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 90 Tasting Note: A few decades ago, Portuguese white wines were a mess. A national program swung into action to correct conditions that produced gallons and gallons of wines that were tired, flat and dull tasting upon release. Now, they're alive with fresh, bright fruit. This is just such a wine. Medium-bodied with a medium yellow color, this dry white wine exhibits exotic aromas of pineapple and mango with an alluring nuttiness from oak just as a grace note. On the palate, sweet fruit characters vie for attention with just a hint of oak, all nicely balanced and elegant. Nice yellow stone fruit character semerge in the finish as the wine develops in the glass. Potential for near term cellaring. Traditional grape types: Verdelho, Siria, Rabigato and other Portuguese varieties from vineyards older than 60 years. Serve moderately chilled, 50-55ºF/10-13ºC). CARM = Casa Agrícola Roboredo Madeira. Foods: Seafood, such as shrimp/lobster terrine; shrimp paste; butternut squash- or pumpkin-stuffed ravioli with toasted pine nuts or crushed hazelnuts and fresh parsley; roasted turkey breast; curried turkey salad or curried turkey over rice. Georgia Distributor: Ultimate Distributors $28.00 2006 Adegas d'Altamira Albariño Rias Baixas Brandal Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 90 Tasting Note: For the seafood warm-ups many people enjoy as first courses at Thanksgiving, an albariño goes a long way toward providing the kind of wine that appeals to a wide collection of palates. This one is a light- to medium-bodied wine with a medium-pale yellow color. Aromas focus on white fruits, and there's a hint of stony minerality that's also picked up on the palate. A tangy saltiness ness influences the citrus-highlighted fruit in the Grape type: Albariño. finish. Serve moderately chilled, 50-55ºF/10-13ºC). in a medium-sized tulip-shaped glass. Anything coming out of the sea works with this wine, including crab legs with drawn lemon butter, crab-stuffed flounder, simply grilled sea scallops (vieiras in this part of the world, where it's nearly the national dish) with French-style herbed tartar sauce (Delouis Fils) or Colman's tartar sauce; smoked salmon terrine or mouuse; smoked trout, crab cakes. But also roast chicken breas and has enough body to handle white meat turkey. Atlanta Wholesale Wine/NDC $15.00 2004 Vinoptima Gewürztraminer New Zealand Ormond Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 91 Tasting Note: Dry wines aren't exclusively the best choice with turkey. One may use a well-balanced sweeter wine as well, but it must have some acidity to cleanse the palate and enliven the food. Just such a wine is this Gewürztraminer from New Zealand, which does superb ines with that grape. Showing a lovely medium gold color, t.This one is full-bodied and voluptuous, but neither as sweet nor as rich as a dessert version. Yet it could carry the meal. The aromas target the classic characters of the grape: spice; lychee nut, and less of the rose petal--with flavors that grab a mouthful of sweet yellow and white stone fruits. Clean acidity allows the palate to stay alert. Serve moderately chilled, about 55°F/13°C in tall tulip-shaped white wine glasses. Foods: pumpkin ravioli with aromatic spices in the filling, butter and toasted pine nuts; shrimp/crab ravioli with a curry cream sauce; roast turkey breast with mashed sweet potatoes seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon; stuffing with some curry accents; strong creamy cheeses, such as French Münster, ginger snaps or ginger-influenced desserts that aren't too sweet, such as a pumpkin roulade. Georgia Distributor: United Distributors $50.00 2007 Bodegas Agustin Cubero Calatayud Stylo Rosado Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 89 Tasting Note: Never mind that it's fall. A lovely rosé (or rosado or rosato) is an excellent aperitif or first course wine for Thanksgiving dinner, never mind that it will also happily accompany some turkey preparations. Made from Garnacha (Grenache), this full-bodied dry rosé shows a vibrant strawberry pink color. It's aromas embrace candied apple and red fruits, and on the palate, flavors of red fruits--red raspberries and red cherries--lead to a cry finish. Serve moderately chilled, about 60°F/15°C, or even a notch warmer, to capture this lovely fruit. Use a medium tulip-shaped glass. While I thought it would go better with dry salami than it did (and it still wasn't bad), it really liked spicy seafood fare, such as bacon-wrapped shrimp or scallops with rémoulade sauce; a spicy shrimp dip, crab, red pepper and lobster mousse; Creole barbecued shrimp; and amazingly sage-rubbed turkey breast with pan juices, smoked turkey breast, roast chicken.. It could be a winner with Cajun deep-fried turkey. Georgia Distributor: Bacco Fine Wine $15.00 2006 Catena Alamos Bonarda Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 88 Tasting Note: Bonarda is a grape type associated with California's Charbono and more likely originating in the Savoie, France, on its eastern border with Switzerland, rather than in Italy. The grape produces lush, ruby-red, dark-colored, aromatic red berry-flavored wines with soft tannins. This one hews classically to the type, with its lovely ruby red nearly opaque color, full body and tasty red berry fruit permeating both aromas and flavors. Tannins are ripe and graceful, so won't interfere with anyone's enjoyment. Finish is moderately long, clean. Good value. Serve cool, about 60°F/15°C in large-bowled tulip-shaped glasses. Foods: Salamis and other cured meats; lasagna; roast turkey with sage; roast or grilled duck (try raisin bread stuffing if roasted whole); Cornish hen split and grilled, basted with some of the wine and red currant jam, melted. Georgia Distributor: Georgia Crown $10.00 Three Sisters Vineyards Dahlonega Gold Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 90 Tasting Note: Thanksgiving desserts typically focus on fall's bounty, meaning they're based on pumpkin or apple, both of which Georgia produces in abundance. Georgia also produces a very worthy choice for Thanksgiving desserts and cheeses at Three Sisters Vineyards and Winery near Dahlonega. Dahlonega Gold is a nonvintage medium- full-bodied wine with a medium pale yellow color. While silky and viscous on the palate, the wine shows lovely balance. Pear and sweet white melon dominate the fruit in both the aromas and the flavors, and the finish is long and luxurious. This late harvest white wine is made from Vidal Blanc, a French-American hybrid grape that makes lovely dry wines as well as tasty dessert wines. Serve moderately chilled, about 55°F/13°C in small tulip-shaped glasses. Enjoy with foie gras, chicken liver mousse with Porto for openers and with not-too-sweet desserts such as pumpkin mousse; creamy blue cheeses (awesome Cambozola),and sautéed pears, pear tart, apple-almond tart, pumpkin roulade. Georgia Distributor: Three Sisters Vineyards $30.00 Rey Fernando de Castillo Pedro Ximenez Antique Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 95 Tasting Note: To end a holiday meal on a nearly sybaritic note, reach for the unctuous richness of a Pedro Ximénez. This is the grape that is the foundation of one of Spain's most luxurious wines. The grapes for the wine are dried on straw mats for more than a month, reducing their water content and concentrating their sugars. This one hews closely to the classical model; a full-bodied wine, with substantial alcohol (15%) and a rich, deep opaque, amber brown color. The aromas offer rich, dried fruits with touches of caramel, toffee3 and brown aromatic spices. On the palate, the wine's pleasure comes as much from is texture as from its taste. Luxuriously rich, with serious concentration and intense flavors, it's a dessert all by itself served at cool temperatures, about 60-65°F/15-17°C. in small "copitas" or Port glasses, tulip-shaped and slightly closing at the top. With the high alcohol, you don't want to overpour. But its richness alone limits how much you can drink of this sensuous libation. Food pairings are somewhat limited, but nonetheless satisfying: toasted, lightly salted almonds; torta de higos; rich, aged firm cheeses, such as a curado Manchego; pound cake; simple ginger-molasses cookie; pecan tart that's not too sweet (if making your own, cut the sweetness with a little lemon juice). Georgia Distributor: Georgia Crown $60.00 2006 Balleto Vineyards Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 87 Tasting Note: Pinot Noir may well be the ideal red wine with turkey. Not heavy, its classic flavors, especially those from Russian River Valley, focus on red cherries and other red fruits. Some, in my view, can be over the top, when a little restraint would go a long way to making them more useful with food. This example doesn't make you go "wow"; it's quiet and restrained. Savory rather than sweet. The aromas are fairly closed still, and there's no earthiness, but the flavors contribute nicely to the red fruit reputation of Russian River Valley Pinots. As a result, the wine dos very well with sage-and-herb-crusted roast turkey--both white and dark meat, as well as duck, roast chicken, and roast Cornish hen. It will do nicely, too, with pre-meal nibbles, such as smoked liverwurst (Patak), creamy liver mousses, or grilled chicken livers w finished with a touch of Madeira. Also consider the Pinot Gris and Zinfandel with your turkey.; just keep that sage away from the Pinot Gris. Georgia Distributor: Empire Distributing $24.00 2003 Monteoliveto Dolcetto d'Alba Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 92 Tasting Note: Italian red wines are great with turkey, as well as with other fowl. You could almost throw a dart and pick something that would work, as they're rather like heat-seeking missiles, knowing exactly what the target is and where it is. Try this medium- full-bodied dry red wine with a medium deep ruby red color, for example. The complex aromas emit scents of dried dark fruits, wet straw, and earth. Just sniffing it is compelling enough, but do go on to savor the palate, where the dried dark fruits take up the cause and complete the experience. A lingering finish with sweet fruits and a hint of almonds closes the show Grape type: Dolcetto. Serve cool, about 65°F/17°C in large tulip-shaped glasses. Bring on the feathered (and furred) game: roast duck; squab; roast turkey with sausage stuffing; grilled duck breast with fig vinegar glaze; soft cheeses; dark chocolate. Georgia Distributor: Bacco Fine Wine $22.00 2004 Viña Estampa Carmenère-Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot Colchagua Valley Gold Assemblage Review Date - 10/1/2008 Score - 88 Tasting Note: Not everybody goes for fowl for Thanksgiving. IN some households, a standing rib is the order of the day for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The richness of such a meal requires a full-bodied red wine, but one that still has good balance. This one works well with beef, but also doesn't disrespect roast turkey, smoked turkey or chicken. And it's very nice with duck. A blend of five Bordeaux varietals--thus, it could be a Meritage were the producers members of that group--this full-bodied red wine shows a lovely almost opaque deep ruby red color. The grapes are Carmenère (a Bordeaux original), Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Its aromas present fresh red fruits, with none of the herbaceousness typically associated with the dominant Carmenère. Flavors continue red fruits with an additional hint of soy. The long finish ends with a bit of heat, which is tempered by reducing the serving temperature closer to that of the cellar, around 60°F/15°C. Serve in large-bowled tulipp-shaped glasses. Besides prime rib, it still tasted good with roast turkey, duck, and even chicken, and would probably do very nicely with squab (obtainable at the Asian markets in Atlanta). Firm, aged cheeses and dark chocolate would make nice meal-enders with this wine. Georgia Distributor: New World Wine $20.00