Thanksgiving Wines
Thanksgiving is a casual repast where food & wine pairing should not cause stress. Jane has selected tasty, value-driven wines which aim to please.

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Remaining 2009 courses & NEW 2010 ones. Download a schedule.

>>>> Download the NEW Course Schedule (PDF)

Wines & Cheeses (50% Booked)
Thursday, November 12th (AWS Wine Room in Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Artisanal cheeses are no less labors of love than their wine counterparts. Location of pastureland, seasonality of milks, and aging all weigh heavily on the final taste experience. Join us for 8 pairings of wine & cheese. >>>> More Info

For Beginners ONLY (50% Booked)
Thursday, November 19th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

Sure you can drink it, but can you pair it? Can you speak it? Come to terms with it in a special tasting that helps you express yourself in the world of wines. Don't be left standing there holding the bottle--get more confidence and find more pleasure in every sip.

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Australia: The Land of Oz (NEW--JUST ADDED!)
Tuesday, December 1st (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Hosted by: Suzanne Barros of Wine Australia

This is a great opportunity to not only learn about Australia from a professional (she teaches about Australian wine for a living) but also taste some hand-selected wines which depict the diversity of the region. >>>> More Info

Entertaining with Wine at the Holidays (25% booked)
Wednesday, December 9th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Debbie Ruskin

Wine tastes better when shared. And there is no better time than to share good wines and good food with friends than during the warmth of the Holidays. Debbie Ruskin, aka "The Queen of Fluff", knows how to set the scene with the perfect wine, the perfect food, and ambience. Join us to pick up some excellent pointers!
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8 Wines Under $15 (NEW--JUST ADDED!)
Thursday, December 17th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)
Instructor: Michael Bryan

For wine lovers, the new "everynight wine" price has dropped from $20 to $15 for many of us in the slowed economy. No matter, there are tons of gems to be found at this price point. Join us and taste eight of them! >>>> More Info

• Burgundy Wine Dinner Featuring Two Winemakers
  Francois Servin from Chablis and Anne Parent from Pommard will be visiting Atlanta for one public event on Tuesday, Novembe 10th at Terra Terroir. They have organized a wonderful evening and have imported a star, guest chef for the event. They will be tasting 3 Grand Crus and 2 Premier Crus, plus another wine or two. Please call Terra Terroir directly at 404-841-1032 for more information and to reserve your places.
• German Wine Society 11th Annual Wine Festival
  This 11th Annual Wine Festival at the Goethe Cultural Center features wines from Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland, and food provided by Harry’s Farmers Market/Whole Foods. Experience the major wine regions of Germany ranging from Qualitatswein to the higher Pradikat levels, from prominent Estates, both dry and sweet, red and white. From France, they will taste varietals from Alsace and other regions such as the Rhone, Loire, Languedoc and more. The Swiss will also be there with some wine surprises. Lots of wine, food and fun. 11/14/09 at 7pm, Goethe Cultural Center, cost $45/person. Info: Donaredd@aol.com
• Ciao Bella: Another High-Museum Wine Tasting
  Timed with the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit "Hand of the Genuis", the High will be staging a tasting on Northern Italian Wines coupled with admission to the exhibit. $20 for non-members ($10 for members) gets you in with tastings of three wines. >>>Tickets & Information
• The Strangest Decanters & Carafes for Wine
  These guys have pushed the limit on cool (albeit weird) decanters & carafes for wine. Supposedly they are for sell, but no prices listed--you know that means--if you have to ask, you can't afford it! >> Decanters
• Georgia Winery is the Hit at Napa Benefit
  The owners of Persimmon Creek Vineyards, Dr. William and Mary Ann Hardman, will fly across the United States to lend their support to the Napa County Land Trust, which is held their largest benefit of the year, recently at Rubicon Estate. >> More Info
• 2010 Young Sommelier Competion
  The Societe Mondiale du Vin USA and the Chaine des Rotisseurs encourages sommeliers who are American citizens between the ages of 21 and 35 to enter the 2010 Young Sommelier Competition. The application must be received by November 15, 2009. >> More Info & Registration
• Wine Enthusiast Magazine's Wine Star Awards
  Wine Enthusiast Magazine, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Wine Star Awards, takes great pleasure in announcing the 50 nominees for its wine and spirits awards. The awards recognize excellence on all levels of the industry, from producing premium wines and spirits to marketing and distributing them. Winemaker of the Year, Region of the Year, etc.???. >> More Info
• Wine Spectator Chooses Their TOP 10 Wines from 2008
  The Top 10 of 2008 showcased five wines from the remarkable 2005 vintage in France (just when you thought French wine was dead), but also one wine each from Portugal, Italy, Australia, California and Chile. >> More Info

Jane's Monthly Dozen: Wines for Thanksgiving
by Jane Garvey

Thanksgiving brings welcome relief from hot weather, and a chance to gather with friends and family and savor some fine food and wine. It’s a casual repast, typically, and not one that requires making fusses over wines to go with a meal that’s likely to have wine-challenging foods on the table. Top it all off with a nip of brandy at the end of the event, and you’ll have everybody dozing for hours in front of the games.

We always have kim chee to mark the time our brother has spent in Korea, and now that we have a new member of the family who hails from India, we include such dishes as mango chutney and raita. All of which go well with turkey, but may make wine pairing challenging. If you thought cranberry sauce was a tough pairing, try that garlic-and-heat-laden kim chee. By the way, if you’re tired of cranberry sauce, try Muscadine preserves as an alternate. Much more wine friendly.

A few rules make pairing wines with Thanksgiving dinner a bit easier. If serving the noble bird that Ben Franklin wanted as the official national symbol (the turkey lost out to the eagle), pairing the wines to the stuffing or dressing is the best approach. Right off, leave heavily oaked Chardonnay off the list. A Burgundy might work, though, or an unoaked Australian Chardonnay showing a good measure of tropical fruit (Yalumba Unwooded, for instance). But still it all depends on the dressing. If including sage in the stuffing/dressing, it’s safest to skip the white wines altogether. White wine and sage, especially dried sage, can be a real mess together.

For white wines, think about Pinot Blanc, especially if the dressing is an apple/bread/celery combination. That’s also good, by the way, not only in the whole bird but used with a boned turkey breast that’s rolled like a rouladen. The slight sweetness of the apple makes a fine pairing with Pinot Blanc.

With those Indian-inspired condiments on the table—or without them—select a dry Gewurztraminer. Perfect for turkey, Gewurztraminer has the weight and enough floral and exotic aromas and flavors to be downright liberating, especially with the big bird. Then, with the leftovers, you can enjoy Gewurztraminer again if you make a dish with curry.

Turkey, especially the free-range sort, can be quite gamey, making the dish great with red wine. But be sure to choose something on the light- to medium-bodied size of the weight profile. Personally, I don’t care for the big jaw-breaking red wine with turkey, as it will just overwhelm everything. Of course, that’s a rule to break if you insist on having one, but you will find the wine and the food rather combative, I fear. And the wine will win out over the dish. Red wines are to be preferred with any type of feathered game, including duck.

For the classic holiday desserts, pumpkin pie, choose a dessert wine that’s based on white grapes, such as a late-harvest Gewurztraminer to pick up on the spices. With pecan pie, try a sweet Oloroso sherry, and for apple pie a Vin Santo. Lemon pie might be good with a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Whatever you choose, remember one rule, and it is never to be violated: Make sure the wine is sweeter than the dessert. Err in the opposite direction, and the dessert will make the wine taste dry and lifeless.

To enjoy the day, select a range of wines to please various palates, and don’t let food-and-wine pairing become a stress factor. People will savor what you pour, and conviviality will smooth over any unintended mismatches.