Pressure Cooker Coq au Vin

I've had few foods simmered in wine that aren't delicious. Coq au Vin is one true classic of the genre, but all that flavorful simmering can take time. A Bon Appétit recipe I looked at braises the chicken in the oven for 1 and 1/4 hours. When you consider the other prepping, sautéing and reducing steps, you're looking at a recipe that's easily at least 3 hours to make.

Braising the chicken in a pressure cooker speeds up the cooking time considerably. This is still by no means a "quick" meal--it took me over an hour--but it's certainly an improvement over something that takes all afternoon.

I adapted this recipe from elements from two recipes: a pressure-cooker specific recipe by
Barbara Schieving and Mark Bittman's recipe, combining the elements I liked best from both. These recipes are pretty similar although they call for drastically different quantities of liquid. Schieving's recipe calls for 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of stock, which she thickens with cornstarch; Bittman's recipe calls for twice as much liquid, and the resulting sauce it thickened only by reduction. That can take time. I sought a happy medium by using 1 1/2 cups each of the wine and the stock and letting reduction and tomato paste thicken the sauce.

Pressure Cooker Coq au Vin
Adapted from recipes by Mark Bittman for How to Cook Everything and Barbara Schieving for Pressure Cooking Today,

Note: This recipe uses a stove-top style pressure cooker. My model is a Fagor Duo 8 quart.

1/2 oz. dired porcini mushrooms
4 oz. thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 1/2 to 3 lb. boneless-skinless chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 yellow onion, cut into large dice
8 oz. white mushrooms, quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch thick pieces
1 1/2 cups red wine (I recommend pinot noir)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour 1 cup hot water over them. Set aside.

2. Place the pressure cooker pan on the stove over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate.

3. Increase the heat under the pressure cooker pan to medium-high. Add half the chicken thighs and brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side, seasoned to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove the browned chicken thighs and set aside on a plate. Repeat with the remaining thighs.

4. Add the onion and mushrooms to the pan and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and carrot and sauté another 2-3 minutes. Add the wine to the pan and stir to deglaze the pan, then add the chicken broth, thyme, bay leaf, tomato paste, cooked bacon and browned chicken.

5. Lock the lid onto the pressure cooker and set pressure setting to "high." When pressure is reached (it may take about 5 to 10 minutes), reduce heat to simmer and maintain pressure. Cook for 10 minutes under pressure. Place the pressure cooker in the sink and pour cold water over the lid to release pressure. Remove the lid, then remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.

6. Place the pressure cooker pan with the remaining ingredients on the stove and heat over medium-high heat until boiling. Add the porcini mushrooms along with their soaking water. Boil until the mixture reduced by about half. Reduce heat to medium, stir in the butter, then add the chicken and cook on medium for a couple minutes to reheat the chicken. Serve the coq a vin in shallow bowls topped with a sprinkle of parsley.

Gift Ideas for Food and Drink Lovers

There are 11 days until Christmas. In the age of Amazon Prime 2-day free delivery, there's still plenty of time to choose a present for that special someone who loves to eat and drink. Stumped as to what to get them? Here are some ideas.

Wine

For the wine lover, the obvious choice is a bottle of wine, but this can be a fairly tricky purchase. You want something special that will appeal to their refined palate. You want something interesting that isn't what you find at the grocery store. You want to spend enough to get something good but not break the bank. Dracaena Wines 2013 Cabernet Franc meets all of these requirements in addition to being a really delicious red wine. Not familiar with cabernet franc? It's one of the "parent" grapes (along with sauvignon blanc) of cabernet sauvignon, that ruby jewel beloved by many as the most popular red wine. Cabernet franc is generally lighter than sauvignon (especially as Chinon, which I discussed as a good Thanksgiving wine) and earthier. It's wonderful as a blending with with cabernet sauvignon--many of the best bottles I've had have 5 to 15 percent cab franc added to them. But it's also delicious on its own.

Dracaena Wines' cab franc is exactly how I like my cab franc to be: on the bigger side with subtly earthy flavors but not that "barnyard" quality of some cab francs. It's the kind of red you can sip by itself or enjoy with food (we had ours with pizza, which was a pretty perfect match). This wine is actually 85 percent cab franc and 15 percent petite sirah, another lesser known but really wonderful red wine. Dracaena Wines owners Lori and Mike Budd are active on Twitter (@dracaenawines) and MangiaTV's Monday night "vamps" (video chats), where I've gotten to know them. You can order Dracaena Wines 2013 Cabernet France directly from their website for $28 per bottle or by the case at a 15% discount.

Spice Rub

Speaking of Mangia, a bag (or more) of their Cajun-style dry rub would make a perfect stocking stuffer. These versatile spice blends--available in hot and sweet versions--are wonderful with meat, fish and vegetables of all kinds (read about how I like to use their rubs here). Mangia's Bob Heffernan hosts a weekly online video chat (most every Monday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern), a wonderful place to chat with like-minded foodies and discuss Bob's perspectives on food, community and fun. Mangia rub is available from the company's website for $6 per bag or $9 per two-pack. Become friends with Bob online  (Twitter: @mangiaTV) and you may discover ways to get occasional discounts too.

Bacon

My husband always does a nice job of buying me Christmas gifts, but last year, he got extra points for a particularly thoughtful surprise: 4 pounds of bacon. Now, we're not just talking any bacon but my favorite bacon: Benton's Hickory-Smoked Country Bacon. Bacon has been "a thing" for years now, and Benton's thick bacon has been a favorite for its wonderful meaty flavor and intensely smoky aroma--your kitchen will smell like someone has a campfire burning when you're cooking it. You can order Benton's bacon in 4-lb packs (four separately wrapped 1-pound packs) for $30 from the company's website. Also, check out my recipes from this year where I used Benton's bacon, including Cauliflower-Bacon Clam Chowder, Smoky Bacon Macaroni & Cheese, Punchier Potato-Leek Soup and Three-Peas Farro Risotto with Bacon.

Barware

Cocktail lovers can always use new and interesting barware. Arctic Chill has set itself apart as a manufacturer of innovative barware. Last year, I talked about their metal muddler. This year, I enjoyed using their ice sphere trays, which each make four 2-inch spherical ice cubes (two cubes fit nicely into a standard-size rocks glass), and their wine aerator. I'm not always sold on whether aerating is necessary or works well, but I have noticed that this aerator "softens" wines a bit, and it's very easy to use: simply put it in the top of an opened wine bottle and pour. Perhaps best of all, the spout makes wine-pouring a no-mess experience. Arctic Chill's products are available from Amazon, the wine aerator for $9 and the ice molds as a set of two for $12. [Note: Arctic Chill provided the products mentioned in this review.]

Cocktail Bitters

Lots of people have a bottle of Angostura bitters kicking around their home bar, but that's just a start to the wonderful world of cocktail bitters, which come in so many amazing flavors. Last year, I did a series of posts about bitters, which many consider to be the "salt and pepper" of good cocktails. Bitters make a nice gift because they don't require refrigeration and they last indefinitely. Some of my favorites: Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters, which add wintery-cinnamon-and-spice notes to drinks like an Old-Fashioned or a Winter Manhattan ($18 at Amazon); Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, the spicy Mole-inspired bitters that launched the Bittermens line, which are wonderful in an Improved Tequila Cocktail or Oaxaca Old Fashioned ($21 at Amazon); and Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6, developed by cocktail legend Gary "Gaz" Regan, which are perfect for adding a hint of citrus to drinks like the Barrel-Aged Berlioni ($8 at Amazon, also generally available in most good liquor stores). Not ready to commit to a full bottle? Scrappy's sells two bitters samplers, which each contain four small bottles of bitters. Set 1 has lavender, chocolate, cardamom and grapefruit ($24 at Amazon); set 2 has orange, celery, Orleans and aromatic ($24 at Amazon, get both from Amazon for $40).

Books

I have a lot of books to recommend this year, so head on over to my related post on food and drink book gift ideas.

8-2-Eat: Affordable Thanksgiving Wines 2015

8-2-Eat is my food-focused list series. A perfect Friday distraction. This week, it's my 2015 Thanksgiving wine recommendations, all of which are under $20.

First off, I want to suggest you listen to My Poor Liver's 2014 Thanksgiving episode, in which Neil gives the best overview of Thanksgiving wine pairings that I've come across. Many of the wines listed below are because he recommended them. That's really all you need to know, but if you're still looking for ideas after that, you can check Imbibe's article on affordable holiday red wines under $25 or my wine tips from 2014 or 2012. Below then are my 8 recommendations for this year. I've included an approximate retail price based on prices I saw online, but you can often find them for less.

Charles & Charles, Rosé, Washington, 2014 Rosé has become a popular summer wine, but it's a good match for Thanksgiving dinner as well. It has a bit more heft than a white wine, but not the tannic bitterness or the level of depth of a bold red wine. This particular rose, a collaboration between Washington state winemakers Charles Smith and Charles Bieler, is mostly syrah (72%) blended with mourvèdre, cabernet sauvignon, grenache, consult and counoise. It's quite dry for a rosé. I chose this because I read that rosé is good with spicy food, such as Indian, and several of this year's Thanksgiving recipes have an Indian inspiration (Nan Bread Stuffing, Honey-Yogurt Brussels Sprouts). ($13)

Dreaming Tree, Crush Red Wine, California, 2013. Dreaming Tree has become like my guilty pleasure lately. Don't let the fact that it's Dave Matthews' winery stop you. Their wines are affordable and very tasty. This is the sort of red wine for bold red wine fans (like me) that could also work with a meal like Thanksgiving with a diversity of complex flavors. The key here is that the wine is more of a fruity-bold than a tannic-bold, which helps it pair better with foods, especially those with sugars (like Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Mole and Queso Fresco). Crush is mostly merlot (59%), with petite sirah (16%), zinfandel (15%), syrah (4%) and other (6%). ($15)

Dreaming Tree, Pinot Noir, California, 2013. Yeah, it's Dreaming Tree again, and I'm not apologizing for it. This pinot noir is also really good and a nice exception to the general rule that you have to spend over $25 on pinot noir for it to be worthwhile. A wonderfully fruity on-the-bold-side pinot. ($15)

Chateau Ste. Michelle, Riesling, Washington, 2014. From one of Washington State's best-known wineries comes this wonderfully balanced riesling. Riesling gets a bad rap sometimes for being too sweet, but the wine actually runs the spectrum from sweet to dry, and many winemakers are including a chart on the back of their riesling bottles to show where on the spectrum a particular wine may fall. This one is pretty much in the middle (sometimes referred to as "off dry"), giving a nice balance of fruit, sweetness and mineral flavors. It's also quite affordable. ($9)

Henry Fessy, Juliénas Crus du Beaujolais, 2011. I've long maintained that I don't like beaujolais. But when I, and many others, say that, we're actually referring to beaujolais nouveau, a red wine made from gamay grapes that is bottled, sold and consumed very young. I don't really like young wines. A cru beaujolais, on the other hand, while still a lighter red, is significantly bolder than beaujolais nouveau, more like a pinot noir. Not necessarily my favorite, but I can see this making a good pairing with Thanksgiving dinner. ($18)

Layer Cake, Primitivo, Italy, 2012. Although officially primitivo, an Italian grape, and zinfandel, a California grape, are classified as separate grapes, DNA analysis has shown they are the same. According to Layer Caker, their Primitivo wine is the first to officially make this connection on their bottle label. Interesting fact, but how does it taste? Bold and spicy as a zinfandel should. ($14)

M. Plouzeau, Chinon Rive Gauche, 2011. Cabernet sauvignon is my favorite red wine, but as I've probably mentioned before, it's big flavors and tannins are too overwhelming for Thanksgiving. But...that doesn't mean all cabernets aren't welcome to the table. Enter cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon's earthy, ripe old brother (cabernet sauvignon is a hybrid produced by chance apparently between cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc). Sure, some cabernet francs are as earthy as a barnyard, but this one doesn't go overboard in that direction. I sampled the 2011; I think that may be hard to find at this point, but the 2012 shouldn't be. ($16)

What you love.  Admittedly, I'm ending this 8-2-Eat this way because I don't have an 8th specific suggestion. But really, this is an ideal suggestion for what to drink on Thanksgiving. It's a holiday. You and your guests should enjoy yourselves, so I don't think you should be afraid to serve something that you love, even if it doesn't "fit" with what a lot of people may recommend you drink for the holiday. I'm always up for experimentation. If it doesn't seem to pair well, stopper the bottle and finish it the day after. (priceless)

Thanksgiving Wines, 2014 Selections

There are some general rules people follow when pairing wine with food: hefty reds go with red meat, lighter reds go with pork or hearty poultry dishes and whites with mild poultry or fish dishes. When it comes to Thanksgiving, that advice is basically useless.

Thanksgiving isn't like a regular dinner. It's much more complex. While a typical dinner may feature a main entree with a side or two and a salad, it's not uncommon for a Thanksgiving meal to feature one or two main courses with more sides than you can count. The regular wine rules just don't apply.

So Thanksgiving has its own wine rules, and knowing those rules will help you select some great choices to pair with your meal. And they really aren't all that complicated.

• Stay away from the big reds. You'll find no bigger supporter of the big reds than me. I love my cabernet sauvignon. Really, I do. But I keep it shelved on Thanksgiving, it's bold tannins become bitter too easily against the Thanksgiving fare, which often incorporates sweet flavors into the meal. Plus it can be a little too dominant.
• Choose something lower in alcohol. Lower alcohol wines tend be a little fruitier and less bolder, which is a good thing, since Thanksgiving wine should complement the variety of flavors on your table, not overwhelm them. Plus, with a lower alcohol wine, you can drink more. I don't always follow this rule, but it's something to consider.

So those are the rule. I don't always follow them to a T, but they are helpful things to think about. When it come to choosing Thanksgiving wines, people often default to two varietals that I actually try to stay away from: chardonnay and beaujolais. Chardonnay is great, but I think it's a boring choice for Thanksgiving. And beaujolais, a red wine with a limited fall release, is just too mellow for me. I want a little more from my red than it delivers. 

Below then are five choices, two reds and three whites I think would make excellent Thanksgiving wine choices.

Cabernet Franc, White Hall Vineyards, Virginia, 2013 ($18). Yes, I said stay away from cabernet sauvignon, but cabernet franc is a different animal. Although cab franc sometimes has an earthy-bordering-on-barnyard taste, White Hall's is noticeably smoother, a medium-bodied red with nicely balanced fruit. If your menu favors bolder choices and your guests (like me) like big reds, then consider cabernet franc.

Pinot Noir, Bergstrom Cumberland Reserve, Oregon, 2012 ($40). For something softer but by no means soft, I'd suggest going with pinot noir, which is a great choice for Thanksgiving. It's still got more body than beaujolais, and this bottle from Oregon's Bergstrom Wines is a winner. Yes, it's pricier, but with pinot noir, I find you do tend to have to pay more to get good value. As a big red fan, it's hard for me to find a pinot noir I like, but this one is very good. Fruity, but not too much with some spice. An excellent choice if you want a wine with some "wow" factor.

Riesling, Eroica (Chateau Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen), Washington, 2013 ($20). I'm not normally a riesling drinker, which I rule out because it's often a little sweet, and I like my wine dry. But I recently discovered that there are dry styles of riesling, and they are ideal for Thanksgiving. This is an interesting one, a collaboration between Washington State's Chateau Ste. Michelle and the German estate, Dr. Loosen. It's a dry, fruity wine with flavors not unlike sauvignon blanc but perhaps more citrus.

Riesling, Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl, Washington, 2013 ($13). This riesling, another dry variety (although perhaps a touch sweeter than Eroica) is an excellent value. It's also got a cool name and bottle. Who wouldn't enjoy drinking "Kung Fu Girl" on Thanksgiving? I like this wine a lot. It's got a crips, clean flavor with some fruit and not very assertive.

Chenin Blanc/Viognier Blend, Pine Ridge, California, 2013 ($13). This is another good value wine, one that I buy from time to time. Another clean, crips wine with good acidity. Neither of these white grapes are very popular, but I know a lot of people who love this blend.

Other

Thanksgiving Central (links to all Thanksgiving recipes and stories)

2012 Thanksgiving Wines

Shutdown Survival Cooking

Most of the recipes I write about on Cook In / Dine Out can be made in less than an hour. While I'm not aiming to write a convenience cooking site, it's just a practical matter: I work full-time and I don't have time to make elaborate meals during the week. When you do see longer recipes on my site, they're probably ones I made on a weekend.

With the federal government having shut down, many home cooks may find themselves with extra time to explore midweek cooking that's more involved than usual. Seize the opportunity to make something special for your family, your sweetie or just yourself. Besides filling time, a tasty cooking project can nourish your body and your soul. Plus, it provides the satisfaction of accomplishing something.

Below are some of the more time-intensive recipes I've featured, sorted by category. I've also discussed ways to cut costs on some of the recipes, since, non-pay status makes splurging on luxury food items feel like, well, a luxury. By their nature though, a lot of recipes that take a long time to cook don't use expensive ingredients. It's the time and care that bring out their good flavors.

Bolognese lasagna, from Marcella Hazan's recipe, is a great afternoon cooking project with common ingredients.

Meats

The complex flavor of bolognese sauce comes from slowly cooking it over the course of the afternoon. This Bolognese-Style Lasagna takes the better part of the day to make, given the time for the sauce, assembling the dish and baking it. The recipe is from Italian-food cook Marcella Hazan, who died this week. Cost savings: nothing in this recipe is particularly expensive except possibly the tomatoes if you buy an imported brand.

Spice-Brined Roast Chicken will easily fill up several days, since it requires an overnight brine, drying time and the actual roasting. Cost savings: there's no getting around the cost of the chicken, although if you substitute whatever spices you have on hand for the brine, that's really the only cost in this dish.

Slow-cooking meats is the sort of day-long process I usually only have time for on the weekend. Slow cooking is a great way to treat pork shoulder which, in the Carnitas Tacos, gets an additional broil in the oven to crisp it up a bit. Although the pork has many hours of inactive cooking, this recipe will fill that time as you prepare the homemade corn tortillas and corn salsa, refried black beans and guacamole garnishes. Cost savings: the pork shoulder is the only major cost of this dish; the masa harina, while seemingly exotic to some, is less expensive (and way tastier) than store-bought corn tortillas. If you don't have a tortillas press, roll the balls of dough out between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment to about 1/8-inch thickness.

Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce gets a good long roast in the oven.

Stews

The very word "stew" implies something that is cooked slowly over a period of many hours. I've made two really incredible stews this year that are well worth their time. Jacques Pepin's Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce is about the best Beef Bourguignon I've ever had. The meat is first browned on the stove and then roasted in the oven with the wine for a long time. The vegetables are cooked separately and then combined in the end. Cost savings: use less-expensive beef chuck in place of flatiron steak; any red wine will work, although make sure it's one you would also drink (don't substitute a so-called "cooking wine"). 

Smoky Red Wine, Pinto Bean and Bacon Soup, an absolutely wonderful recipe by New York Times writer Melissa Clark, still takes hours to prepare, despite the time I shaved off by cooking the beans with a faster method. If you love beans and bacon, this is the best way I've ever had them together. Cost savings: using dried beans is more economical than canned; use any red wine you have on hand, but don't substitute a bad wine or that will be reflected in your dish.

Sweet Corn Agnolotti, from a recipe by Mike Isabella, takes time to prepare the filling, sauce and assembly.

Homemade Pasta

It's so easy to open a box of dried pasta and boil it. It's another thing to make your own. Fresh pasta has a flavor and texture that dried pasta just cannot beat. For something simple, try Fresh Pasta with Homemade Ricotta and Roasted Tomato Sauce (homemade ricotta is another good cooking project). For something more involved, try Toasted Fazzoletti with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts or, if you're really up to a challenge, Sweet Corn Agnolotti with Mushrooms, from a recipe by Mike Isabella of Graffiato and Top Chef. Cost savings: Although pasta (semolina) flour is often recommended, you can make pasta with standard all-purpose flour. Substitute sauce ingredients as needed. 

Homemade gnocchi is worth the effort as it's much better than store-bought.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi dishes come together in a snap if you use store-bought gnocchi. Making your own takes time, but I think you'll find it's worth it. You can get much lighter, tastier dumplings if you make them yourself. Although potato is traditional, such as in Gnocchi with Sausage-Mushroom Ragu, using other root vegetables like sweet potatoes (Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sage) or beets (Beet Gnocchi with Walnut-Sage Butter) are more flavorful. Cost savings: at their most basic, gnocchi are just potato, flour, egg, salt and water, so they're pretty inexpensive; it's the sauces that may set you back more, so feel free to experiment and substitute with what you have on hand.

At the tail end of tomato season, it's the perfect time to roast tomatoes and use them in something like this panzanella.

Roasted Tomatoes

It takes a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours to roast tomatoes, so any of the dishes I've made with them will take at least the afternoon to prepare. Homemade roasted tomatoes are amazing--such a depth of flavor. Recipes include Creamy Roasted Tomato Gazpacho, Roasted Tomato Risotto, Tomatoes Two-Ways Pasta, Pizza, Roasted Tomato Panzanella and even Roasted Tomato Cocktails. Cost savings: although I strongly recommend using fresh, seasonal tomatoes, even grocery-store tomatoes will improve with roasting.

Making your own broth, such as roasted tomato broth, greatly enhances the flavor of this risotto over a store-bought substitute.

Stock

For lots of recipes, I turn to the 2- or 4-cup boxes of premade stocks and broths, which is an enormous time-saver for midweek cooking. But if you have the time, homemade stock is worth it. I've made two vegetable stocks that I really like: one for Navy Bean Soup with Kielbasa and another with Roasted Tomatoes that I used for making risotto. Cost savings: As money-saving dishes go, stocks are one of the best, since you can use whatever vegetables (including scraps) and seasonings you have on hand.

Blackberry-Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Corn Cookie Crust requires first making two separate recipes and putting them together into a delicious final product.

Desserts

The fastest way to slow down a dessert is to add multiple stages. Ice cream pies, for example, require first making cookies and pulverizing them to form the crust ingredients, plus making the ice cream, before forming the crust, spooning in the ice cream and freezing it. It's a great way to showcase unique flavor combinations. Check out Cereal Milk Ice Cream Pie with Compost Cookie Crust or Blackberry-Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Corn Cookie Crust. Cost savings: for the corn cookies, substitute either corn flour or a mix of fine corn meal and flour for the ground freeze-dried corn. Ingredients in the compost cookies can be substituted for whatever snacky things you have on hand--various chips, nuts, etc. 

In addition to being a multi-stage dessert, Cereal Milk Baked Alaska with Brown Butter Cake requires extra time in the freezer between steps (very important time, by the way; the first time I made Baked Alaska I skipped some freezer time and really regretted it). Caramelized Parsnip Layer Cake requires extra time to first prepare, roast and mash the parsnips. Cost savings: for the cereal milk ice cream, substitute any flavorful sugary cereal for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch if you don't have that (Honey-Nut Cheerios would be good, I bet); carrots could be used instead of parsnips in the cake.

Choosing Thanksgiving Wines

There's a lot conventional wisdom about serving wine with Thanksgiving dinner. Whether it's useful depends on what you're looking for in the wine. Is your goal to complement the food? Serve something really amazing? Or ideally both?

Or do you like to break the rules and drink what you like? Years ago, I remember reading an article on wine pairing that concluded that, although there are certain combinations of wine and food that may “go” together for various reasons, really you should drink what you like. I found that quite liberating and I've applied it to my thinking of what to pair with Thanksgiving.

Chris and I tend toward big reds. We drink a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandel. We experiment with blends and other interesting reds too (Petite Sirah has been another favorite lately). If we ever make it to France for a wine tour, don't look for us in Burgundy. We'll be hanging out in Bordeaux.

However, big reds tend to be the tannic and, while I'm not afraid of letting a wine outshine the food, I don't want its bitterness to be overpowering. If you want a bold red for Thanksgiving, something fruity will do a better job blending in with the savory, spicy and sweet mix of main course dishes. For my bold red, I went with the Marietta Cellars Sonoma County 2010 Zinfandel ($22), which had the fruitiness and bold flavor I was looking for.

I also wanted some softer choices. Lately, a lot of people have been flocking to Beaujolais Nouveau, which is a "new" wine in that it is quickly bottled and sold soon after harvest. The lack of aging means lacks of tannins and full fruit flavor. Generally it's a little too slight for my taste though, so for a softer Thanksgiving red I turn to the more traditional choice of Pinot Noir.

Selecting Pinot Noir can be tricky. I find that, unlike other red varietals, low-priced Pinot is often not very good. To get good Pinot Noir you have to be prepared to open your wallet a bit wider. Because of this, it's not a wine I drink regularly, although when I find a good one it can be quite impressive.

I visited the WillaKenzie winery in Yamhill, Oregon, last year and tasted their expertly crafted Pinot Noirs. The WillaKenzie Estate Willamette Valley 2009 Pierre Leon Pinot Noir ($46) is widely available in wine stores and doesn't disappoint. This pinot had a lot of flavor but didn't overpower the food. It was my favorite of these three wines.

Many people default to white wine for Thanksgiving because they see that white turkey flesh and think that's what “goes.” And while I have a white wine in my trio this year, you won't find a bold oaky Chardonnay there. America's best-selling varietal just doesn't seem a good fit for Thanksgiving. It's just a bit too bold. Consulting with the wine staff at Calvert-Woodley, I ended up with the Jean-Marc Crochet - Sancerre Chêne Marchand 2010 ($25). Sancerre, a French wine from the Loire Valley, is primarily Sauvignon Blanc. It has a nice acidity that works well with a lot of different flavors. 

So, in conclusion, I fully support the "drink what you like" idea, but putting a little thought into choosing something that will pair well with the variety of flavors on the Thanksgiving table will make what you drink ever the more special.

Columbia Crest: Our House Wine

Just like many restaurants, we have a house wine, or rather a house brand of wine, which is Columbia Crest, the Paterson, Washington winery that makes great wines at exceptional value. I can't remember when we became fans of Columbia Crest, but we've been devoted to the brand for many years. Chris and I had the chance to visit the winery in 2009, which was real treat.

The Columbia Crest winery

Columbia Crest divides its wines into four tiers. At the high end is the Reserve label, which the winery considers its top 1% of wines. Its selection is the most limited and varies, dominated by reds. They occasionally make a Reserve dessert wine. They retail for $30-$75.

There are two mid-tier labels: Horse Heaven Hells or H3, which retails for $15, and the more common Grand Estates line, which retails for $12, but can frequently be found at much lower price. Calvert-Woodley, for example, routinely prices Grand Estates at $8 and sometimes marks it down even lower (I've seen it as low at $6.88). Grand Estates is a real bargain. Even at $12, it tastes more like a wine priced in the $20s, with reds that exhibit rich, bold flavors. There are six varieties of H3 and eight of Grand Estates, including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay and pinot gris in both. One of the more unusual Grand Estates offering is the Amitage, a red blend of mostly merlot with syrah, cabernet france, cabernet sauvignon and malbec, which sounds like an attempt to make a distinctive meritage (rhymes with "heritage"), an American version of Bordeaux.

On the bottom is the Two Vines brand, of which there are nine types that retail for $8, but like Grand Estates, can routinely be found for less. They aren't bad, but represent a significant drop in complexity from Grand Estates, which is usually only a little higher in price. From a cost/benefit standpoint, I usually find the best value in the Grand Estates line, which rarely disappoints.

We almost always have the Grand Estates merlot and cabernet sauvignon on hand, making them our "house" wines. We've noticed differences from year-to-year: sometimes we like the cab better; sometimes the merlot is king. I generally prefer the years when they do more blending, particularly if there's a higher percent of cabernet franc to add depth.

I decided it would be fun to do a taste test, comparing the merlot and cabernet sauvignon offerings in the three more common tiers: H3, Grand Estates and Two Vines.

Columbia Crest tasting room.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Two Vines, 2009. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Syrah, 2% Merlot, 13.5% alcohol.
Grand Estates, 2009. 87% cabernet sauvignon, 7% merlot, 6% syrah, 13.5% alcohol.
H3, 2009. 88% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc, 3% syrah, 2% malbec, 14.5% alcohol.

The Grand Estates was the standout of the cabs, showing a richer, deeper flavor and more distinctive scent than the Two Vines. The higher alcohol content of the H3 was noticeable and, although we liked it better than the Two Vines, it wasn't as good as the Grand Estates. Both were pretty smooth, with the H3 being a bit spicier.

Merlot

Two Vines, 2009. 13.5% alcohol.
Grand Estates, 2008. 90% merlot, 5% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 13.5% alcohol.
H3, 2009. 96% merlot, 3% cabernet sauvignon, 1% malbec, 14.5% alcohol.

For the last 3 years or so, we've been particularly fond of the Grand Estates merlot, while the cab had been our favorite prior to that. So we were surprised to discover that the H3 was our favorite among the merlots. It had a richer aroma and a more refined taste than the other two. The Two Vines was good, but not very distinctive. The Grand Estates was noticeably more assertive than the Two Vines, with a better finish, but fell short of the H3.

Isn't the Columbia River valley beautiful?  I drove past this all the time 15 years ago.

Italian Wines

When it comes to wine, I generally gravitate toward big, bold domestic flavors--Napa and Columbia Valley mainstays like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, petite sirah and occasionally varietals like zinfandel and cabernet franc. The great thing about wine is that, despite that sounding somewhat narrow, there are actually hundreds, if not thousands, of wine options.

But I'm always willing to branch out. In December, while dining at Lupa, an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, Chris and I enjoyed some pretty amazing Italian wines--a big, bold Barbaresco, Casacina Bruciata 2007, and a Nero d'Avola, Frappato Firriato "Harmonium" 2008. They were both good, particularly the Nero d'Avola. It made me think I should make an effort to further explore Italian wines.

Italy offers some of the same varietals that are common in the United States--merlot, for example, and other Bordeaux varietals, but many varietals that are not so common. Sangiovese and its famous blends Chianti and Chianti classico, are very well known, as well as Montepulciano. Knowing that I love bolder reds, I asked the staff at Calvert-Woodley to direct me to some of their favorite bigger Italian reds. These are the wines I selected:

Falesco Pesano Umbria Merlot IGT 2009 ($16). Full-bodied and smooth with a balanced flavor that's both earthy and fruity with a smooth finish. I thought there might be some Cabernet Franc blended in, but the label says it's 100 percent Merlot. I enjoyed this wine, although I wasn't blown away by it.

Poggio San Polo - Rubio Montalcino IGT 2009 ($16). This is a Tuscan sangiovese wine. Not quite as full-bodied as I like for wine, but it has a soft berry, fruity flavor. Not a bad wine, but not something I would buy again.

Planeta La Segreta - Rosso 2010 ($13). Full-bodied flavor but soft on the palate makes this a nice choice to pair with cheese. There's definitely berry notes, but overall richer flavor than the other wines. Although it claims to be Nero d'Avola on the label, it's actually a blend of half Nero d'Avola, 25 percent Merlot, 20 percent Syrah and 5 percent Cabernet Franc. Not as outstanding as the Nero d'Avola we had at Lupa, but the best of the Italian wines so far.

Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo DOC 2009 ($24). This wine is notably lighter in color than the others, but thankfully not too light on flavor. It's certainly smooth, but not particularly memorable. This wine is from Piedmont, a northern region.

Morgante Nero d'Avola Sicilia IGT 2008 ($17). This Sicilian wine is dynamite good. The best of the lot. Nero d'Avola was the varietal in the Harmonium wine we so enjoyed at Lupa, so I was excited to find a bottle locally that I also enjoyed. Remarkably, it's quite different from the Harmonium. While that wine was rich and full-bodied with hints of vanilla, this is softer, jammy even, but still very robust, especially after the bottle had been open a couple hours.

Tasca d'Almerita - Nero d'Avola Sicilia Lamùri IGT 2009 ($18). When I picked up the Nero d'Avolas, the clerk who helped me pick them out said that the Morgante is bigger "old world" style, while this is a softer style more akin to a pinot noir. True to his word, this was notably softer, but had a lot of the same flavors. Also quite good, although I prefer the Morgante.

Allegrini - Palazzo della Torre Veronese 2008 ($20). The bottle text explains that this is made with some dried grapes to give is a "raisiny" flavor. I was afraid this meant it was sweet, but it's not. It's really quite good with a nicely rounded full flavor. This is vying with the Morgante as my favorite.