I received an email asking my opinion about serving the Castle Rock 2002 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir at Thanksgiving, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some thoughts on my experience matching wines with turkey and other tradtional foods on Thanksgiving.
I remember one Thanksgiving several years ago, probably 1999 (I remember vividly that 1997 was the currently available vintage for Chateauneur-du-Pape), when I brought five bottles of wine to a Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's house in New Hampshire. Given that turkey was the [food] focus, I brought a couple of whites (a Fume Blanc and a Chardonnay), a Pinot Noir, a medium bodied Zinfandel and a full-throttle Zin. My cousin-in-law, Richard, brought nothing but big reds (including the 1997 Domaine de Marcoux Chateauneuf-du-Pape, my first taste of wine of CdP ... and it was love at first taste!). The whites and pinot noir were pretty good wines, for their style, but as soon as I started into the big reds (for which I have a strong prediliction), they fell flat, and I couldn't bring myself to drink any more ... and I was grateful that I rarely go anywhere (for dinner) without bringing at least one big red with me :-) ... and, of course, I was grateful that Richard had brought all the "right" wine, as he always does ... but then that's his job -- literally (he is the wine department manager of the Brattleboro Food Co-op).
To my surprise, despite the "better" match with the turkey that might be predicted for the whites and lighter red (using conventional wisdom), even with the food, I liked the big reds ... I guess I nearly always prefer big reds, even with lighter or medium fare (a more recent example of this preference can be seen in my experiment in pairing salmon with pinot noir and sauvignon blanc).
Now, I still prefer a Pinot Noir (such as Castle Rock) paired with spicy Thai food than other, bigger, reds, but for a comparatively blander meal like turkey, I think the bigger the better. Since I like the Castle Rock Pinot Noir, I think it would be just fine with a Thanksgiving meal (though I suspect finding anything earlier than the 2004 vintage would be challenging at this point ... but I think the 2004 is very similar to the 2002). However, if I had any other wines I typically like better, in general, I would opt for those.
I welcome other insights and experiences on this topic that anyone else is willing to share.
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