The notion of cooking a roast turkey can be daunting to many home cooks but really folks, it’s just bigger than a chicken… and the perfect wine match?
With Christmas not far away it’s time to make the appropriate preparations for the most important lunch of the year. For those who enjoy cooking and entertaining at home, Christmas lunch is a relatively straightforward and traditional menu yet a very rewarding experience.
Our Wandering Palate wanders down to the cellar – the merits of off-vintages from top Bordeaux Chateau.
A Chateau Leoville Las Case wine dinner held recently by the Singapore wine merchant Hermitage wines highlights the virtues and intrinsic worth of less-exalted vintages from a producer with impeccable standards.
As some of my readers will know, I am not exactly enamoured with Bordeaux. I concur with James Laube in his assessment and commentary in his latest column in Wine Spectator, 30 Sept, “A Farewell to Bordeaux.”, who said that “I have enjoyed Bordeaux, but I’ve been driven away both by prices and a style of wine that no longer holds the same allure for me that it once did. I moved on a long time ago. There are simply so many other enticing wine experiences to discover and enjoy.”
Conventional wisdom would point to chardonnay as a logical choice, ideally with some bottle age.
Roast turkey certainly calls for a white wine with texture and richness or even opulence, which is why this year, my perfect match is Seresin Pinot Gris 2008.
One of my personal favourites in Seresin portfolio their pinot gris is made in style that one associates with the Alsace region in France with a textural richness and complexity yet has very little oak influence.
Christmas is a time to share with others. Gather other holiday `orphans’ and stage your own dinner – complete with a glass of fine wine.
If you haven’t planned your Christmas celebration yet, I suggest you dine at home with the carte du jour and wines that we will enjoy. There is a great deal of satisfaction in entertaining at home, rather than looking like lost souls in a hotel restaurant.
