Wine for turkey: the difference between a Thanksgiving turkey and a British Christmas turkey

Looking at the recipes online for Thanksgiving turkeys, stuffings and sides they’re very much sweeter (and more imaginative) than the typical UK Christmas turkey. They’re often brined, glazed or spiced (or all three), sometimes deep-fried and often accompanied by cornbread-based stuffings and sweet-tasting vegetables like sweet potatoes and squash.

The American taste in wine is also different from that in the UK - big chardonnays - actually very good with turkey - are much more popular than they are in the UK. There appears to be a preference for Cabernet over Rhone varietals such as Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre. And Pinot Noirs are typically much sweeter.

We Brits, although enamoured of the vibrant fruit flavours of new world wine, often revert to more traditional choices at Christmas: such as Rioja, Bordeaux and robust Rhone and southern French reds. Our stuffings and gravy may be rich but are not generally that sweet - our preferred side of sprouts actually has a touch of bitterness. Only our fondness for cranberry sauce (an American import, of course) introduces an US-style note of sweetness.

So what would my choices be? If I were cooking a Thanksgiving turkey this Thursday I would go for a lush fruity red - a Pinot, Merlot or a Zinfandel, possibly even a Grenache. I might even choose an Aussie-style sparkling red though I think that’s better suited to a southern hemisphere Christmas than a European one. I would pick a full-bodied Chardonnay (for good value I might look to Chile) or Viognier for those who wanted a white.. A fruity rosé would also work well.

For a British Christmas I’d be more inclined to abide by the findings of the Decanter tasting I ran last year where our high powered panel of chefs, sommeliers and wine writers surprisingly voted a seven year old Chassagne Montrachet (Jean-Noel Gagnard’s Les Chenevottes 1er Cru, Chassagne-Montrachet 2004) their top pick. (It proved an incredibly refreshing contrast to the richness of the bird and chestnut stuffing.)

The two most popular reds were an 11 year old Bordeaux, a Château Branaire-Ducru, St-Julien 2000 and a four year old Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the Bosquet des Papes, Chante le Merle 2007, both rich and generous but not too tannic.

Of course these were quality wines that still had a good deal of life in them - I wouldn’t necessarily recommend drinking 10 year old wines of a more modest provenance but it does suggest that the more restrained, classic style of cooking a British turkey may be the one to go for if you want to pull out that special wine. And hold that cranberry sauce . . .

Photo ©Bochkarev Photography at shutterstock.com

Pairing Errazuriz wines at Pollen Street Social

New world wines are sometimes criticised (usually by the French!) for overwhelming subtle Michelin-starred food but award-winning blogger Jeanne Horak-Druiff of Cooksister found much to admire when she attended an Errazuriz food, wine and photography evening at Pollen Street Social.

"We kicked off with three amuse-bouches on which to practise our smartphone photography" Jeanne reports: "soft cooked Italian egg with tomato fondant, mushroom purée, potato foam and bacon powder, venison terrine crostini and a spoonful of lobster, apple, fennel and avocado which went particularly well with the Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc we’d been handed on arrival - the food brought out a pronounced gooseberry flavour in the wine which was quite delicious.

This was followed by another round of amuse-bouches consisting of puffed pork skin with seaweed salt, parmesan biscuits with smoked tomato chutney and fennel seed crackers with ricotta - with the intensely flavoured biscuits and smoky chutney being my runaway favourite.

With our delicately beautiful starter of Colchester crab salad rolls with coriander pineapple, shiso leaf, compressed fennel and espelette pepper we sampled the 2013 Aconcagua Costa Sauvignon Blanc again (13% alc, RRP £12.49) - a clear pale yellow with a hint of green; a rich nose of gooseberries, cut grass and green tomato; and a palate of tropical fruit (guavas, passion fruit) but well balanced by good structure and acidity and

Aconcagua Costa single vineyard wild fermented Chardonnay 2011 (13.5% alc, RRP £15.99). This wine spent 10 months in oak and it certainly shows in the rich golden colour! I loved the opulent nose of apricot and creamy vanilla scents and the rich mouthfeel. Nevertheless, the palate is not over-oaked nor as overwhelmingly creamy as the nose might suggest but rather balanced and elegant with notes of citrus and minerality to match the ripeness.

The Chardonnay was definitely my favourite match with the crab rolls, having enough complexity to stand up to the more strident flavours of the dish without overwhelming the more subtle ones.

For our main course we had perfectly pink Lake District rack of lamb, a fritter of braised lamb shoulder, fregola pasta in basil, olive powder, artichokes and more of that fabulous smoked tomato chutney. To match this, we tried two of the estate's reds:

· Aconcagua Costa wild fermented Pinot Noir 2011 (13.5% alc, RRP £24.00). An odd, slightly foxy or wild nose, but with good colour for a Pinot Noir, the wine was less full-bodied than I had expected, with a subtle spiciness soft tannins. It made a good match for the lamb though, emphasising the subtle gamey notes in the meat.

· Aconcagua Costa Single Vineyard Syrah 2011 (14% alc. RRP £19.99) This was by far my favourite red wine of the night with its deep inky purple colour and rich dark berry nose reminiscent of Ribena for grown-ups. The palate was equally lush and appealing, full of the autumnal flavours of ripe blackberries and blackcurrants, but with soft vanilla notes and hints of Christmas spices with a long finish. For me, though, this was a sipping wine rather than a food wine as food took the edge off the lush fruitiness and made the finish seem shorter.

With our cheese course of three cheeses (a Camembert-style cheese, a hard cheese along the lines of a Comté, and a third creamy soft cheese) together with crackers and homemade chutney we were served two of the estate's premium red blends:

· Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve 2008 - 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 6% Cabernet Franc 6% Syrah (14.5% alc. RRP £50). This was in total contrast to the heavy, perfumed Syrah - a far lighter colour and palate full of ripe red berries as opposed to dark berries, with peppery notes and lovely balanced tannins. It seemed a lighter wine than the Syrah, despite its higher alcohol and although I liked it, I did not think it was a great match for the cheese, which seemed to emphasise the wine's acidity.

· Kai Carmenère 2010 - 96% Carmenère, 4% Petit Verdot (14.5% alc. RRP £90) This had a deep, velvety purple colour and a nose with vegetal hints but also dark red fruits and fig preserve. On the palate, there were grippy tannins and good structure with restrained fruit and flavours of Christmas cake. I found this to be an outstanding match for the cheese which seemed to bring out lovely fresh fig and peaty whisky flavours in the wine. Lovely as it was, I do have to wonder who this wine is aimed at, with a price tag of nearly one hundred pounds?

As we sat around finishing the last of the wine, we were served a wonderfully light and refreshing dessert of mandarin sorbet topped with yoghurt cream and kafir lime shavings; and those of us who had the shortest journey home and could afford to linger the longest were also rewarded with glorious little warm financiers with a centre of raspberry jam, fresh from the oven."

To read about the food photography element of the evening with photographer Paul Winch-Furness read the second part of Jeanne’s report here.

DISCLOSURE: Jeanne attended this event as a guest of Errázuriz Estate and R&R Teamwork. All opinions are her own.

An overview of the 2010 Penfolds releases and 2008 Grange

Regular contributor and former sommelier Donald Edwards tastes his way through the latest Penfolds' releases and is blown away by a cabernet.

"In early modern Australia people used to speak of the tyranny of distance; even within the same state two neighbouring cattle stations could be a couple of weeks ride from each other. The distance was unlike anything the settlers had ever known; vast swathes of red dirt, whole oceans of subtly differentiated sand and dust.

I occasionally wonder whether Penfolds' chief wine maker Peter Gago feels something similar, only relating to choice. Oceans of the very best grape juice; plot after plot of ancient vines, legions of the country's best grape growers all lining up to have their best efforts considered for a spot in Penfolds' top blends. The tyranny of choice? I sometimes wonder.

I’d missed out on meeting Gago when I visited the Magill estate that is Penfolds' home base (he was in America giving the Kings of Leon a private masterclass) so I jumped at the chance to join him for a tasting of Penfolds newly released 2010s and 2008s.

If you don’t already know the story of Penfolds' Grange and its origins as Max Schubert's experimental blend, its underground years and eventual ascent to the very pinnacle of Australian wine then it’s well worth a read.

Suffice it to say, Grange is always a multi-region blend of mostly (occasionally 100%) Shiraz with a small blending component of Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the great advantages that Penfolds has is a huge array of choice in blending components.

Take the 2008 for example: it’s 89% Barossa fruit, 9% Clare Valley (for the first time in a while) with 2% of their old vine Magill Estate fruit. For the 2008 wine only 2% Cabernet Sauvignon was used. By way of comparison the 1978 that we tasted alongside boasted 10% (and a noticeable herbal tinge with it too).

Anyway, the afternoon started with a tasting of Penfolds newly released 2010 vintage (followed by the Granges). Penfolds has attracted some criticism recently for their pricing, the new Grange topping £400 a bottle on release. However the more Peter Gago described the issues they face as a company - i.e. not having anywhere near enough stock to satisfy international demand - it became clear that they’re merely reacting to market forces (and in a less manipulative way than the Bordelais).

To put it bluntly, they’ve a lot of exceptional wines, they work hard to ensure that the wines they release are top quality and many of the wines have great track records when it comes to ageing gracefully. To wit: why would they not raise their prices to what they deem is acceptable for what amounts to a slice of Australia’s viticultural history? Oh, and finally, they often don’t release wines if they feel the quality isn’t right in any given year.

The tasting opened with Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 2010. Yattarna Chardonnay for me is like a microcosm of Australian white wine making. It was first conceived as being a white Grange, but looking through the blends and the styles that have graced the bottles through the years it is obvious that it’s a mirror for the way that Australian chardonnay has changed as a style.

No longer a byword for obvious cellar techniques and big oak, the 2010 is 96% Tasmanian fruit (Australia’s coolest region) and it’s obvious why. The extra ripening time has allowed great natural acidity to coexist with lean oatmeal leasiness, a nice pebbly minerality and some taut stone fruit characters. I was mildly annoyed I only had a tasting measure.

On to the reds; old Shiraz and Grenache vines are to my mind one of Australia’s greatest treasures. Penfolds are lucky in that they have the Magill estate, ancient ungrafted vines right in the outskirts of Adelaide, St Henri and a number of other choice plots to call upon. This means that along with their flagship Grange and RWT (red winemaking trial, basically Grange with French oak) wines, they can offer several single vineyard wines. These are collectors’ items in their own right. St Henri Shiraz from a good vintage can often outpace the same year's Grange at auction.

Marananga Shiraz, a sub-regional blend from the Barossa made with a mixture of French and American oak, was lightly spiced with surprisingly fresh fruit characters and a delightfully smooth and silken set of tannins. The St Henri Shiraz was far less forthcoming; a tight mineral core and an interesting (non oak-related) tannic structure; as always a keeper. The Penfolds home estate Magill Shiraz, textured, slightly dusty, again complex and lengthy.

Bin 707, Penfolds' top Cabernet, is again always a blend (and their quickest wine to sell out every year), however for me the standout cabernet from the tasting was the Bin 169 single plot Coonawarra cabernet. (I’ve been feeling a better vineyard practices-related renaissance coming from Coonawarra cab for a while now, but that’s another matter).

This was just about the finest young Australian cabernet I’ve tasted in a very long time. Subtly perfumed, not just blackcurrant leaf and mint, but a finer, much more delicate floral herbal character, backed up with taut muscular tannins and not a jot of fat in the wrong place.

A four-decade vertical of Grange stretching from the misty past of 1978 (before I was born), through 1988, 1998 and finishing at the hallowed 100-point-garnering 2008 took us neatly to a short lunch.

I mentioned the tyranny of choice earlier. There is simply so much quality in the Penfolds' catalogue that trying to pick a single wine as a favourite from the tasting ends up being almost as trying as making the quality decisions must be for Gago and his team.

Donald Edwards is a former sommelier, barfly and blogger at St Claire and notes from the dregs. He tweets as @donalde

20 top Australian Chardonnays

To celebrate Australia Day here's a feature I wrote a year ago on Australian chardonnay - not as out of date as you might think as many of the vintages will only just have worked through.

"As you can see from my Guardian article today, I’m a born-again Chardonnay lover since returning from Australia last month.

Did the sun go to my head? I don’t think so. Australia now produces some of the most gorgeous, seductive, beautifully balanced Chardonnays I’ve tasted. Not cheap, mind you, but in comparison to some of the white burgundies I’ve been tasting this week, great value.

The problem is that many of the best haven’t yet made it over here. Most of them were 2009s and ‘10s which haven’t yet arrived on our shelves. A few are from producers whose wines don’t get exported or are available in such tiny quantities that they’re almost impossible to get hold of. Something we want to watch in the UK. There are many other markets for Australian wine who will snap up bottles like these without worrying about the price. Some wines you can now buy more cheaply in the UK than Australia which can’t be right.

Anyway, here’s the pick of the wines I got to try, organised by region, I don’t do scores, though I obviously have personal preferences. They wouldn’t be in this list if I didn’t think they were good. Search wine-searcher.com for stockists."

MARGARET RIVER
Western Australia’s premium winegrowing region for Chardonnay (though there are some interesting wines being made further south)

Cherubino Margaret River Chardonnay 2010 (not available currently in UK. $49 in Australia)
A totally modern Australian Chardonnay from one of Western Australia’s star winemakers Larry Cherubino (named winemaker of the year by Australian wine critic James Halliday last year). Whole bunch pressing, no settling, no fining, naturally fermented. Incredible freshness and delicacy yet sensuously creamy. One to hunt down

Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2009 (£55-65, $95-99 in Australia)
The wine I think I currently like best of Vanya Cullen’s wines despite being a longstanding fan of the Semillon-Sauvignon blend. A rich, sumptuous serious chardonnay from one of Australia’s leading biodynamic estates. Eye-wateringly expensive, sadly - on a par with Yattarna (below)

Flametree Margaret River Chardonnay 2010 (this vintage is not yet available in UK, around $20 in Australia)
This was the vintage I tasted in Aus which was cracking but still had some way to go. You can buy the 2009 vintage I recommend in the Guardian for 20 from Aus Wine Online. Rich, opulent with some lovely fruit character - citrus, ripe pears, canteloupe melon. Both have good ageing potential

Fraser Gallop Winery Chardonnay 2011 (not yet available in UK, $221 by the case from the winery)
If you tasted this blind you’d be hard-pushed to locate it in Australia. Consciously made with more restrained oak in an almost Chablis-like style it’s a singingly pure, crisp, clean wine that would be hugely flexible with food. (They suggest oysters)

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Margaret River Chardonnay 2009 (about £24-26, $45 in Australia)
I’d have put this award-winning wine in my Guardian article but we’re only on the 2008 vintage in the UK. The 2010 has done even better but buy any one of them you can lay your hands on. 100% wild yeast fermented. Gloriously rich and textured but with a perfectly pitched acidity. Sexy stuff.

ADELAIDE HILLS
The premium area for chardonnay in south Australia.

First Drop Mere et Fils Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2010 (£14.99 www.thesecretcellar.co.uk, $25AD in Australia)
Classic creamy elegant Chardonnay from the irreverent First Drop boys “we have fun with the packaging but we’re deadly serious about the booze.” “Restrained sophisticated and best drunk in the shower” according to the website. No sulphur, wild yeasts. Great value.

Yalumba FDW (7C) 2008 (available in the UK from February at around £18, $24-25 in Australia)
Another gorgeous creamy Chardonnay with an elegant lift, born from a realisation says winemaker Louisa Rose, that “none of us [in the winery] were taking Chardonnay home and drinking it”. You would this one. FDW? Stands for Fine Dry White.

McLAREN VALE
Not renowned for its Chardonnay though, as these wines show, there are some more than decent ones being made.

Battle of Bosworth Chardonnay 2010 (N/A in UK. About $25 in Australia)
Slightly funky Chardonnay in the natural wine mould though winemaker Joch Bosworth does employ sulphur as needed. Loads of creamy, leesy texture. More than a third of the first vintage of Penfold’s Yattarna came from the same now organically cultivated vineyard.

Paxton Thomas Block Chardonnay 2009 (N/A in UK About $20-30 in Australia)
Good Chardonnay doesn’t just come from the cooler regions in Oz as this beautifully crafted example from Paxton proves. Vines are subject to biodynamic treatments. The 2008 was spot on too.

MORNINGTON PENINSULA
One of the most expensive vineyard areas in Oz, hence the hefty prices.

Kooyong Clonale Chardonnay 2010 17 Wine Society £18.40 Theatre of Wine, £18.50 L’Art du Vin, Great Western Wine, £18.99 Cambridge Wine Merchants, about $25 in Australia.
Recommended in my Guardian piece today though I’ve added a couple of other stockists. Could easily be white burgundy. Really subtle, elegant, creamy, beautifully in balance. The Pinots, which I’ll be writing about, are lovely too. Great value.

Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay 2010 23 Theatre of Wine, $37 in Australia
Classy, cool climate, citrussy Chardonnay from this boutique Mornington Peninsula estate. Subtle and restrained - and just 12.2% which is remarkable.

Ten Minutes by Tractor Wallis Chardonnay 2009 (£168.84 per case of six in bond with Bancroft Wines = approx £40 a bottle, $52 in Australia
The more mineral elegant of 10 Minutes two single vineyard Chardonnays though I liked the richer, lusher McCutcheon Vineyard 2009 better with food (especially rare tuna).

Yabby Lake Block 1 Chardonnay 2009 £46 swig.co.uk (which doesn’t look a bad price when you see it’s $83.33 from the winery)
Apparently only 748 bottles were made of Yabby Lake’s top end Chardonnay - and you can only buy a maximum of two. Worth it I’d say if you can run to it though the single vineyard Yabby Lake Chardonnay which is pretty gorgeous too is ‘only‘ 26.50. “We don’t want them to be better than our single vineyard wines” says winemaker Tom Carson “we want them to be different”. Collectors items.

YARRA VALLEY
If I had to pick one region for chardonnay in Australia this would be it.

De Bortoli Reserve Release Chardonnay 2008 £23.49 simplywinedirect.com, $40 in Australia
One of the most impressive things about the trip was that it wasn’t just small boutique operations that were making great Chardonnay. Large companies are too as De Bortoli proves with this beautifully balanced wine. "We are paranoid about making fat Chardonnays” says winemaker Steve Webber.

Chandon Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2010 (not available in UK), $19-25 in Australia
This tends to be eclipsed by producer Domaine Chandon’s sparkling wines but I reckon it’s the best wine of the range - quintessential Yarra Valley Chardonnay. Confusingly it’s still marketed as Green Point in the UK and only available in older vintages which doesn’t help. Good value in Oz though.

Giant Steps Arthur’s Creek Chardonnay 2010 (currently on offer at £25 from thegoodwineshop.co.uk. About $40 In Australia
I mentioned the Sexton Vineyard in my Guardian feature and the cheaper Innocent Bystander Willing Participant Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2010 which is excellent value but my own favourite of Phil Sexton’s single vineyard bottlings was the Arthur’s Creek which is apparently the coolest of the sites. It has incredible purity and persistence.

Oakridge Lieu-Dit Chardonnay 2010 (not available in UK. About $44 in Australia)
Winemaker David Bicknell is apparently known as Mr Chardonnay a well-deserved accolade judging by this near-perfect bottling. Oakridge was also nominated Winery of the Year in this year’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald Good Wine guide. Minimal intervention - no malo no acidification, natural yeasts, It’s lush - goodness it’s gorgeous - but still manages to be refreshingly crisp.

Wedgetail Estate Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2009 (not available in UK. About $40 in Australia)
A classically Burgundian Chardonnay (if that’s not an insult to the Aussies) from owner/winemaker Guy Lamothe. From a cool dry hilly area in the north west of the valley. Elegant, pure, rich but restrained. Just 12.8%

Mac Forbes Woori Yallock Chardonnay 2010 £23.90 slurp.co.uk $44 in Australia
My favourite of the two Mac Forbes single vineyard Chardonnays though the Hoddles Creek was also pretty impressive. Restrained use of oak (only 22% new) resulting in a beautifully integrated wine with a really fresh, citrussy finish.

And from no specific region . . .

Penfold’s Yattarna 2008 £48-77 in the UK (an extraordinary price range) Majestic has it for £55, $129.99 from the cellar door
Is Yattarna better than any of the above wines? Debatable. Is it worth twice as much as most of them? I’d say not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a delicious Chardonnay but its role as ‘white Grange’ undoubtedly distorts its market value. A much better deal in the UK than Australia though which must be galling.

I didn’t visit Tasmania or New South Wales on this trip hence the absence of recommendations from the Hunter Valley, Orange, etc.

And if you want some ideas as to what to eat with these rather nice bottles you'll find some suggestions here.