November wines are here to complement all of your celebrations this month, from Thanksgiving to Friendsgiving to the birthday party for your favorite Scorpio. Cheers!
Cave Canem Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2022
Country: Italy
Region: Abruzzo
Grape: Montepulciano
This wine takes us to the Sangro river valley in central Italy: the Apennine mountains rise in the west, and the Adriatic Sea’s Trabocchi Coast lies just east. Produced by a cooperative winery founded in 1971, Cave Canem’s grapes are grown on south-facing slopes in silty, limestone soils. This classic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a deep ruby red, with plum, red apple, and violet on the nose.
Medium-bodied but structured, this fresh bottle can pair with almost anything. (I once paired a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo with an aged cheddar grilled cheese sandwich—it was excellent!) Cheese and olives before dinner? Montepulciano. Something to pair with your full Thanksgiving spread? Montepulciano. Maybe you’re making a turkey bolognese on November 29? This Montepulciano would be perfect.
Pro Tip: Ever wonder about the difference between Montpepulciano d’Abruzzo and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano? The latter is a Tuscan wine from the town of Montepulciano, made primarily from Sangiovese.
Featured in: The Taste, Oh So Thirsty
Domaine Les Grands Bois Côtes du Rhône Cuvée Les Trois Soeurs 2021
Country: France
Region: Rhône Valley, France
Grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Carignan
Now we’re off to the Rhône river valley in southern France, where garnet Grenache and purple Syrah predominate. Les Grand Bois’ winemaker, Marc Besnardeau was a Parisian sommelier before he started making wine. At Le Grand Bois (“the big woods”), Besnardeau farms organic grapes in the village of Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, just north of Avignon. Here the hills, dominated by Mount Ventoux, are to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea lies directly south. Les Trois Sœurs, named for Besnardeau’s three daughters, is plainly delicious, with black raspberry, cassis, and spice and a rich yet silky finish. While this wine is definitely ageworthy, you probably won’t want to wait that long. A good Côtes du Rhône is always a crowd-pleaser; this is definitely the wine I would bring to Thanksgiving dinner if I’m not cooking myself.
Featured in: The Taste
Stolpman Vineyards Uni White Ballard Canyon 2022
Country: United States
Region: Ballard Canyon, California
Grapes: Roussanne, Chardonnay
A super sexy white from Ballard Canyon! Uni White is a blend of 60% Chardonnay with 40% Roussane from estate grown, hand-harvested grapes. Stolpman Vineyards specializes in classic Rhône varietals Syrah and Roussane with vines planted in the ‘90s. Through the combination of warm days, cool Pacific nights, and rocky limestone soils, grapes ripen slowly but evenly, developing richness while maintaining acidity. Check out the uni (sea urchin) on the label and you’ll get the idea.
The Roussanne portion of Uni White underwent twenty-four hours’ maceration before fermentation and aging in large French oak barrels, a quarter of which were new—subtly building on the wine’s richness. Bottled without filtration, Uni White continues to develop complexity in the bottle, and the Chardonnay lends this wine enough acidity and structure to pair with classic Thanksgiving foods. For me, this wine suggests brine and seaweed on the nose, finishing with a creamy texture and flavors of ripe persimmon and Asian pear.
Here are some additional tasting notes from the producer: “Despite the minority share of Roussanne, the grape shows itself dominantly in the dark golden hue of the blend. On the nose, the Roussanne’s deep concentration continues its march of honey suckle and golden pineapple. The Chardonnay comes through with an appealing, joyful brightness on the palate. The two marry into yellow mango flesh. Coating gourmet smoothie texture already envelopes any note of oak toast. Pear and apple through to kumquat on the finish.”
Featured in: The Treat
Hugo Mendes Lisboa Castelão 2023
Country: Portugal
Region: Lisboa
Grapes: Castelão
Described by our distributor as a perfect Thanksgiving red, Hugo Mendes’ Castelão is a chillable, cranberry-colored red with bright fruit flavors: fresh cherry, currant, and pomegranate. Notes of violet, black pepper, clove, and earth add complexity, and it has just enough tannic grip to complement but not overpower your meal.
Mendes, a former biomedical engineer turned winemaker, is known for working with indigenous grapes to produce classically fresh Portuguese wines. Based in Alenquer, north of Lisbon, the grapes benefit from chalky, clay soils and the Mediterranean climate to produce a lighter, more traditional style of Portuguese wine. I love the layered complexity of this wine under its juicy façade; it even paired surprisingly well with dark chocolate.
Featured in: The Treat
Préselő Tokaji Furmint 2019
Country: Hungary
Region: Tokaj
Grape: Furmint
The signature grape of Hungary, Furmit produces intriguing wines whether it’s vinified dry or transformed into sweet dessert wines. In this case, we have a dry Furmint from Tokaj, Hungary’s best-known wine region, where the grapes can be harvested fully ripe in the fall due to the hospitable microclimate. Farmed sustainably at the Messzelátó vineyard, a plot surrounded by forests, Préselő’s Furmint is aged primarily in stainless steel with a small portion fermented and aged in barrel. With a balance between fruit and mineral flavors, this wine offers remarkably complex notes of pear, quince, and apple and a long finish. Its lively minerality would pair equally well with turkey or Tiny Thai this month!
Featured in: Oh So Thirsty
Longridge Wine Estate The Emily Chardonnay Pinot Noir Rosé
Country: South Africa
Region: Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Pale enough you might mistake it for a white, this biodynamic rosé comes from Stellenbosch, South Africa, in the foothills of the Helderberg mountains. The unique blend is primarily made from unoaked Chardonnay grapes, blended with a small amount (3%) of oak-aged Pinot Noir. The Emily presents fresh citrus and green apple notes with tropical fruit flavors that often star in “new world” wines, including guava, pineapple, and kiwi. With the perfect amount of acidity to refresh and pair with lighter foods, enjoy it as an aperitif before dinner, or with seafood, salads, or snacks. (Personally, I’m thinking about how well it would go with homemade Chex mix.)
Featured in: Oh So Thirsty
Weingut Roterfaden & Rosswag Vineyard Project 002 Terraces Red 2020
Country: Germany
Region: Württemberg
Grapes: Lemberger, Trollinger, Regent, Schwarzriesling (aka Pinot Meunier)
Vineyard Project 002 is a collaboration between a village cooperative (Rosswag; population about 1,200) and the winemakers at Weingut Roterfaden. The grapes for the biodynamic Vineyard Project 002 are grown in limestone soils on terraced vineyards. This blend of red grapes produces a juicy wine with notes of red fruit, bramble, allspice, black pepper, and earth. With no oak aging, the fruit and spice character shines through. Vineyard Project 002 would make a stellar Thanksgiving wine, but it’s equally a great choice for a weeknight dinner, perhaps with pizza or—keeping with the German theme—a homemade flammkuchen.
Featured in: Oh So Thirsty
