A Sip and Puff Thanksgiving

Spending the holidays at home with the folks is always a great excuse for good food, good drink, and a relaxed atmosphere (unless you talk politics at the dinner table.) This past week I traveled to New England and spent a few days at my aunt Claudia's house, in the far northeast reaches of rural Connecticut. Claudia is a great artist, and you all should check out her website here: Claudia Lefcheck's art! Armed with food ingredients, wine, beer, and cigars, I was ready for a great day of eating and drinking in the pastoral wilderness of Litchfield County.

The first course is a homemade soup, courtesy of an old recipe by Don Reid at Butternut Farm. It's called "Battle of Lexington Soup," and is made with chicken stock, onion, pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg, and cracked black pepper. While I was making the soup, I grabbed the first wine out of the fridge. Since it was unseasonably warm, and I have been strangely interested in trying some new white wines lately, I decided to go with a Portuguese white wine - an Alvarinho.

The only Portuguese wine I've ever had is true Port, so this was interesting to me. Alvarinho is a white grape, sometimes called Albariño, originating in Galicia, Spain, but grown widely around the Iberian peninsula. This one is made in Moncao, Portugal, in the northernmost region of Portugal, bordering Spain.

I like the slightly effervescent nature of the wine - little tiny bubbles in the glass, with a light clear gold color. The flavor was pleasingly tart; it had a sort of green apple zing to it. It was buttery - smooth, with no sharp oakiness - with a crisp finish, again reminiscent of tart green apple juice. It's refreshing and delicious, and more complex than a Riesling or a Gewurztraminer. I thought it was a great prelude to the soup course, which would be a little heavy for the white.

After finishing the white, then having the soup, it's time to talk red wine for dinner. A full segment on choosing a wine is forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but for now you should know that several factors go into choosing a wine for dinner. For me, I was interested in something more full-bodied and strong, since the turkey was delicately seasoned but we also had heavy foods like mashed potatoes, etc. Too delicate or old of a wine would end up being lost in all the spiced Thanksgiving flavors.

Hence, I chose a 2013 Filón grenache, from Spain. Grenache (sometimes spelled Garnachia, or Garnaxia) is a grape very widely grown, and although it's not uncommon to see straight grenache, it's generally blended with other wines, and I've reviewed numerous of those blends (grenache / syrah / Mourvedre / tempranillo / etc. blends of varying combinations.) Today's wine is just straight grenache, a strong red wine with some character. The table is set, everyone's seated, so let's pour this wine.

It pours dark, almost black, with a little brownish-red on the meniscus of the glass - this is called "bricking" and is a sign of aged wine. However, Grenache has been known to brick even in young bottles, so don't look too much into it. It had a young, grapey aroma with a taste to match - bright, strong, and a little hot and sour. It wasn't as polished as I would have liked, and perhaps I should have chosen another bottle, but overall it performed nicely and was enjoyable.

Now on to dessert. We served the usual pumpkin pie, ice cream, apple pie, and chocolates, and normally I would have brought along some single-malt or a Port. But today I figured I'd take along a 2010-vintage Old Guardian barleywine from Stone. It's one I've had in my cellar since 2010, and is part of the ongoing experiment to see how well those beers age. As you may recall, I've reviewed them a few times over the years: once in 2013, and once earlier this year. I've also referenced them in various posts.

Nice color when candled - we used to call it "neon Thanksgiving turkey." Taste-wise, it was super strong, hoppy, and sweet, with flavors of ripe tangerine, baker's chocolate, and prunes. The aging certainly changed the taste and hop profile, and turned the alcohol and winey flavors up to 11. I enjoyed the strength of this, coupled with those aged and strong flavors that I come to expect in an older barleywine. 

And to round out the evening, I chose a Montecristo No. 2 Yellow torpedo-tip cigar, sized 6x50. A great smoke to wrap up a delicious meal!

Drouet Freres - 2013 "Privilége de Drouet" sauivgnon blanc

Today's wine is a special bottle, purchased from friend and wine merchant Charles Bissell in Glastonbury, CT. It's a Sauvignon Blanc, made in Central France in the Val de Loire by famous French wine house Drouet Freres. Val de Loire (Loire Valley par anglais) is a region central France known for winemaking, so much so in fact it's sometimes called the "Garden of France."

And perhaps now is a good time to say that my opinion of white wine has changed. I used to be against it - never having had a good glass of white - but over the years, I've come to enjoy various whites for their qualities. Today's wine is a sauvignon blanc - a green grape varietal originating from the Bordeaux region of France, but grown across the world. It's a common and famous grape; but depending on the climate, can have wildly varying taste and flavor profiles. Today's is a French grape, grown in the Loire Valley near the town of Orleans, France.

This is a wine best served cold, so it sat in the fridge for quite some time before pouring.

I like the cloudy color of the wine. Very little carbonation out of the bottle. The nose is clean; very muted aroma with not a lot of noticeable scents.

I was surprised at how delicious this wine was, even after aging for a year or so. It was very crisp, with no tart flavors or "grapefruitiness" that some other Sauvignon Blancs have (I'm looking at you, New Zealand!) This wine has a solid body of clean fruit and citrus, and I was pleased to see both no skunky notes or sour flavors. The wine is crisp, a little thin in terms of mouthfeel, but has a pleasing pear flavor on the finish.

Aftertaste developed a nice minerally note, which reminded me pleasantly of a beachside vacation I once took, sitting on the hot sand at midday with French cheese, medjool dates, and a crisp bottle of Torrontes grape by my side. You can buy this retail for around $13, and I think it's well worth it, both in the cooler weather and the hot summer season.

4 Hands Brewing Co. - "Constellation" IPA

Today's beer is a 6.1% ABV India Pale Ale from St. Louis, MO brewery 4 Hands Brewing Co. It's their "Constellation," an IPA made with Brettomyces yeast and Citra hops.

Brettomyces, also known as "Brett," is a kind of wild yeast used in  brewing. Yeast itself is crucial to the beermaking process - yeast converts fermentable sugars into alcohol. There are many kinds of yeast, each giving a certain taste and flavor profile, and brewers can choose which kinds of yeast to use in beer, much as they can choose what kinds of hops. The Brett-type yeast is often found in saisons, as well, most notably Boulevard's "Saison-Brett."

Brettomyces yeast in action. Photo credit: ryanbrews.blogspot.com

The beer is rather thin, with a hazy golden yellow color. I can tell you it's very fresh and aromatic right out of the bottle.

The aroma does a good job of preparing you for the taste. The beer is clean and fresh. super bright, with lots of citrus flavors there (think lemon.) I like the tang of sweetness there; throughout the beer, I don't notice much hops profiles. However, the aftertaste definitely shows IPA pedigree - some sharp hops on the tongue afterward. I like the brightness of it, and there's a pleasant aftertaste for sure.

While I am a fan of this kind of fresh-hop, bright-and-tasty IPA, I am not a fan of the price tag here. Unfortunately this beer was very expensive - $14 for 22oz bomber - which I feel given what you get, is a gross overcharge. Not to say the beer isn't tasty, but given what you get, I think you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.

21st Amendment Brewing Co. - "Toaster Pastry" India red ale

Today's beer comes to me from San Francisco, CA. It's 21st Amendment Brewing Co.'s "Toaster Pastry, a 7.6% ABV mashup between a red ale and an IPA.

A 7.6% ABV Pillsbury Toaster Strudel. 

It's called "Toaster Pastry" since apparently the brewery operates in a building that formerly made toaster pastries.The format is rather fun - it's a 19.4 ounce tallboy can. Allegedly they are sold in 4-packs, but I got this one as a single beer from Whole Foods on P St. It cost $4.99.

So let's dive in. As many of you may recall, my wheelhouse is red ales, so this has got me psyched.

It pours a puffy white head, with a thick inch and a half of clingy lace.

Very aromatic - nice strong citrus aroma, like a glass of fresh OJ. It's a translucent brown/red, which as you know is one of my favorite colors of beer. It's a dark amber when candled, and has a thick foamy head that leaves lots of lacing in the glass.

This is definitely up my alley - it's got that serious red ale taste, coupled with a refreshing little zing of West Coast hops at the end. Aftertaste is one of citrus hops, a burst of fruitiness there without any overt bitterness. In conclusion, it's a great red ale, good format (the can is fun) and decent price for what you get. I bet this would be good on draft.

Legal stuff - photo of toaster pastry property of Pillsbury. No copyright infringement intended.

The Bruery - "Autumn Maple" brown ale

Since I reviewed a pumpkin beer recently, and the basic white girl in me wants to drink ALL the pumpkin beer, I figured I would give you guys a break and review an ale which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. It's The Bruery's "Autumn Maple" brown ale, a 10% ABV brown ale made with cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, molasses, maple syrup, and 17 pounds of yams per barrel. That's a lot of yams by the way. And I must admit that I am not a huuuuge fan of yams; I traditionally avoided them at Thanksgiving but have slowly warmed up to them (thanks to Asheville Brewer's Alliance's "Tater Ridge" yam ale.) But this beer, along with Tater Ridge, is helping turn the tide.

It comes in a 750mL format, costing $12.99.  Note that it's also bottle-conditioned; this means that inside the bottle there is still some yeast which matures over time, and naturally carbonates the beer. No CO2 is pumped into the bottle. This is beneficial for aging, since there still is some chemistry going on inside, and many bottle-conditioned beers can rise in alcohol content as a result.

The beer pours quickly, with somewhat floral and sweet aromas on the nose. The aromas are very prominent and I can smell them a few feet away. It's got that murky red-brown color I love so much.

I was very impressed by the taste. There's strong apple / dark sugar tastes up front, with a lingering taste of citrusy, floral malts in the middle with an apple cider finish. The aftertaste has some elements of yeasty malts to it, but is generally sugary and warm.

It reminded me of a lighter, more floral version of the Kasteel Cuvee du Chateau. I like that it's low in IBUs, with a complicated and floral approach; but it was still strong enough to hold my attention and had seasonally-appropriate flavors to boot. I can't taste the vanilla or cinnamon so much, but I'm sure those flavors have combined nicely with the others. They just don't stand out as much as the label of the bottle may seem to suggest.

However, definitely A+ in my book. It's got a great mix of strength, flavor, texture and the price is right ($12 for a 750mL.) I would definitely stock up on these if given the chance - it's well worth a try, especially this time of year!