Thanksgiving is a perfect time to pull out some of those wines you've been dying to try, or try those wines that are new to you. This past Thanksgiving I popped the cork on 4 wines, 2 older wines from Ontario and two more recent vintages from "away". The two Ontario wines will be written up elsewhere (Lailey 2008 Zweigelt & Stoney Ridge 2005 Cranberry), but the wines from other places I'll tell you about now. We started the night with a bottle of Belle Glos 2010 Meiomi (which is a Pinot Noir). Now there are those who find the Meiomi wine to be a little on the jammy and full side, especially for a Pinot Noir - "it's wine, but it isn't Pinot" ... and while I see their point it is one of my guilty pleasure wines, it's just one of those reds that puts a smile on your face with it (too?) fresh fruitedness and the 2010 delivered exactly what I was expecting: rich black cherry, hints of white pepper and light touches of other spices. Is it classic Pinot Noir? Not by a long shot, but it is tasty, and has the ability to turn non-Pinot drinkers around, in that they don't hate all Pinots. The dinner wine was not classic Thanksgiving fare either, and definitely not an apparent match for turkey, but it was another delicious wine: Duorum 2010 from the Douro Valley in Portugal. I visited this winery a couple of years ago and was impressed with the terrain and what they were trying to accomplish at this new winery in a very old region. But I found the alcohol a little high and the wines slightly out of balance, they were good but just needed tweaking so they did not taste so ... Australian (for lack of a better comparison). Well it seems in the interim Duorum has found that precious balance. This is a beauty and at only 13.5% if has struck the right balance of fruit and finesse: raspberry, black cherry, great acidity (for balance) and a long finish. Twas a good Thanksgiving for wine - and I look forward to the American version where I can do it all again, with different wines of course.
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