Thanksgiving thread #3. Bringing a questionable wine

[dteng]

@andy velebil

Let me help. Don’t bring any of the wines from your cellar. Drive to local market. Pick up a few bottles of buttery Chard and oaky rich fruit Cab. Share with relatives. Everyone will love you. Save the geeky, weird, questionable wines for home and wine loving friends.

But then what will he drink?!

[andy_velebil]

@dteng

@andy velebil

Let me help. Don’t bring any of the wines from your cellar. Drive to local market. Pick up a few bottles of buttery Chard and oaky rich fruit Cab. Share with relatives. Everyone will love you. Save the geeky, weird, questionable wines for home and wine loving friends.

But then what will he drink?!

Sparkling Apple Cider

[GregT]

Or expensive versions of the same things purchased of mailing lists! Break out the QC!

[Arv_R]

I just try to bring crowd friendly stuff, that will not get me vexed if I see people pouring one bottle into a glass with another (different) wine in it. Or that won’t bum me out if there is a lot of wasted wine (full glasses at the end of dinner). I do find that among my extended family, even the non drinkers LOVE dessert wines, so that’s a great opportunity to open multiples of those.

It’s just my nuclear family this year, so won’t have that problem.

[Michae1_P0wers]

@andy velebil

Let me help. Don’t bring any of the wines from your cellar. Drive to local market. Pick up a few bottles of buttery Chard and oaky rich fruit Cab. Share with relatives. Everyone will love you. Save the geeky, weird, questionable wines for home and wine loving friends.

I guess every crowd is different, but geeky wines do pretty well in my family. No one except me would select these wines if they were buying, but they are usually well received. The main thing is just that quality speaks. Most people buy supermarket wine, nothing very expensive, so when you put a higher quality wine in front of them, whether it’s a Burgundy or a Cali cab or Gonon or Beaujolais or Barolo they tend to like it because it is objectively better wine. Maybe it helps that we have a crowd of adventurous eaters and drinkers. The only exception is sweet wines which are a hard sell in my family.

[Karl_K]

@Michae1 P0wers

@andy velebil

Let me help. Don’t bring any of the wines from your cellar. Drive to local market. Pick up a few bottles of buttery Chard and oaky rich fruit Cab. Share with relatives. Everyone will love you. Save the geeky, weird, questionable wines for home and wine loving friends.

I guess every crowd is different, but geeky wines do pretty well in my family. No one except me would select these wines if they were buying, but they are usually well received. The main thing is just that quality speaks. Most people buy supermarket wine, nothing very expensive, so when you put a higher quality wine in front of them, whether it’s a Burgundy or a Cali cab or Gonon or Beaujolais or Barolo they tend to like it because it is objectively better wine. Maybe it helps that we have a crowd of adventurous eaters and drinkers. The only exception is sweet wines which are a hard sell in my family.

Overall it sounds like everyone just needs to know their “market,” know what the crowd they will be with will like to drink.

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

@Dan Hammer

@Pmenkes

@Dan Hammer

Every year we go to my sister for Thanksgiving. Most attendees don’t drink, or couldn’t care less what wine they’re drinking.

Every year, I knock myself out trying to bring the right wines. This year I decided on a '09 Sea Smoke Southing (should be good), and a '12 Arnot-Roberts Old Vine White Field Blend. I last drank that about 2 years ago and thought it was ok. Not great, but more than passable. With that said, I’m sure everyone at dinner will love this wine. I’m not so sure that I’d bring it to a BYO, or a Berserker dinner.

I always bring 3 bottles, with the 3rd bottle sitting in the wings as a backup bottle. This year it will be the 09 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard. Thi
Dan,
Timely thread. I’m hosting and planning to open my first 09 FF. If it’s one the bretty ones than I open something else. What harm is there with that?

That’s the plan. If the wine is in good shape, I’m a genius. If it’s bretty, they probably won’t be able to tell. My backup is a zinfandel blend 2010 Bedrock Wine Co. Heirloom Wine Pagani Ranch.

Dan

I opened the Family Farm and made it a show - “Smell any merde? What? No merde?” - and it was classic. Probably the best Rhys red I’ve opened!

[Eric_Sch]

Ha! I took the SQN …And an Eight Track tonight for dinner with some friends and it was terrible. Luckily I was redeemed with a 1990 Vouvray SQN Moelleux.

[Dan_Hammer]

@Pmenkes

I opened the Family Farm and made it a show - “Smell any merde? What? No merde?” - and it was classic. Probably the best Rhys red I’ve opened!

I wasn’t as lucky as you were. Even the non-Geeks had something to say about it.

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

@Dan Hammer

@Pmenkes

I opened the Family Farm and made it a show - “Smell any merde? What? No merde?” - and it was classic. Probably the best Rhys red I’ve opened!

I wasn’t as lucky as you were. Even the non-Geeks had something to say about it.

Ugh. At least Rhys will replace it. I had three bottles of one of their early Alesia Syrahs that were all bretty, fecal messes. They were instantly replaced.

[Mark_Golodetz]

I play safe, with really good Cru Bourgeois. This year a 2010 Lanessan, and three people asked me where they could find it.