What to raise for yuletide cheer? Part I

The turkey isn't even fully digested and Christmas dinner is on the brain.

My thoughts turn to beautiful rib roasts, fatty pan-dripped popovers, more mashed potatoes, more shallot blue cheese creamed spinach, more rich desserts and more wine glasses begging for attention!!

I am somewhat old fashioned when it comes to the Christmas dinner. Bubbles or Lillet Blanc for an app-y-tizer, as if there was a question!? I love a white Bordeaux like my go-to, the 2009 Chateau Ducasse ($16), to segue into the tang of a pomegranate-adorned, crumbled cheese speckled plate of greens lightly dressed in a vinaigrette. And then comes the meat, a wonderfully flavored rare slab of prime rib, filet roast or perhaps slow-cooked Osso Buco...pardon me as I  dab the drool from the corner of my lips!

Hopefully the wine of choice here pleases all of my "only big reds, please" friends. Yup, it's time to grab the dental floss to scour the stained teeth caused by the true grit of tannins and monster alcohol percentages. My picks this year stay in Washington and both cost less than $25.

Longshadows Nine Hats ($25) is a hefty cab-based blend made by some Walla Walla heavyweight winemakers. It screams WA with espresso-drenched plums, cherries, cigar box, cedar--you know, the show-stopping attributes! The winery specializes in pairing WA grapes with world-renowned winemakers. And this blend is no sissy. It needs some major air--seriously, open it a couple hours before dinner and you'll be handsomely rewarded.

Cor Cellars is my current winery crush and, its Momentum Red ($18) is freaking awesome! The young and oh-so-talented blending skills of Luke Bradford will make you want to learn a LOT more about the Columbia Gorge region. This Bordeaux blend has the fruit of a domestic wine and the chops of the Old World style. Dark chocolate covered cherries, cassis, mineral and earth...yum, yum, YUM!

Let the season of great wine begin! You will find me ending posts in great quotes, some kid's books, some just for adults...like this one from W.C. Fields, "Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven."

~The Mama Somm

A little quirky for the holiday with turkey

You like tomato, I like tomahto, you like Frappato, I like Frappahto? What the? Just had to grab your attention so you'd know how to pronounce this grape varietal that is brand new to me.

I recently fell all over myself for the Sicilian grape, Frappato, and the endless possibilities it would have on the holiday table. The 2008 Valle Delle'Acate "Il Frappato" is a food-worthy dynamo. It has a rapidly beating heart of black and red berries, dancing a sexy tango with bright acids. Here is a wine that is medium-bodied with moderate alcohol that will please all attendees at Gobble Gobble fest 2010!

On a somewhat less quirky note, the other go-to grape that is gaining speed is Grenache. Here is a low tannin, fruit-driven wine that may de-throne Pinot Noir as the food-friendliest of all. It's easy to love for a few reasons.

Spanish Garnacha and French Grenache wines are gargantuan values. Most, in fact, come from old-vine vineyards, ranging from 30-80 years old. And, to me, old vines make better wines. Lastly, Grenache is ample in body, showcases Bing cherry and ripe raspberry fruit, and can back it up with a bright finish.

So there you have it. The road-less-traveled wines for T-Day.


Mama Somm recommended producers:

Italy-Valle Delle'Acate "Il Frappato" $19, Spain-Comerc Garnacha $9, Spain-Garnacha del Fuego $8, Spain-Tres Picos $12, France-Domaine la Martinelle $22, WA producers-McCrea and Dusted Valley Vintners

QUOTE of the day: "Now it is well known in the Midwest that the Old Man is a turkey junkie, a bonafide golly turkaconis freak..."
[After the Christmas turkey is stolen by the neighbors' dogs] "The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!" Ralphie as an adult in, "The Christmas Story."

Gobble Gobble, 
The Mama Somm

Corned beef-the impossible pairing?

I love a slow-cooked meal out of the Le Creuset any day and I know exactly which wines to pair with pot roasts, chicken thighs, soups, etc., but what the h-e-double hockey sticks do I dare sip with corned beef and cabbage?

No way, unless it's beer, you say? Shun the non-believers and try Rose'!!

My husband and mom were contented sipping a nice French red (we'd already voted a Pinot Noir off dinner island) with the meal until they saw my reaction to the Chateau Saint Nabor Rose' and the impossibly salty beef. I swear, all you have to do to get people to try and admit they like rose' is make a mean food match like this and they WILL be converted.

This rose' is a Grenache-based little number from the Rhone region in France which I might add, is a hotbed for awesome rose' wines in general (and scads of other wines, too). Its bright, cinnamon dusted cherries, strawberries and a streak of semi-sweet yet dry acidity, forced the salty meat and cabbage into submission. The bottle was empty in 5 minutes.

Rose' is a red wine in chilled, pink clothing. Warm it up, blindfold your friends, and they couldn't tell you the wine in front of them wasn't red.

Mama Somm approved Rose' producers:

Chateau Saint Nabor $10, Borsao $8, La Vielle Ferme $8. Domaine de Fonstainte $14, Domaine Sorin $10, Domaine Tempier Bandol $35. Most are widely available, but feel free to discover your own, too!

And a little "drink pink" quote to end the post today, "...But when my days are Happy Pink it's great to jump and not just think." Dr. Seuss, In My Many Colored Days

~The Mama Somm