2268 Ashland Street Ashland, Oregon 541-488-1579 Find this newsletter and our weekly print ads at: ashlandshopnkart.com Check us out on Facebook at: Monthly Wine Newsletter November 2014 Wine for a Feast November is here. Regardless of which holidays you celebrate, November tends to be a month of eating and drinking. As it gets cooler outside and awesome things like squash start coming out I find myself eating more long cozy dinners at home. All these too cold to leave the house dinners just become one big lead up to the biggest of them all, Thanksgiving. This doesn’t just mean turkey wine, turkey’s pretty easy to pair. This means wine that great aunt Mildred and your nephew who just turned 21 will both enjoy without breaking the bank; this means wine that will go with many family style meals that accommodate everyone’s intolerances and preferences; this means wine that you can pair with the many strange and wonderful pot luck dishes that appear on your doorstep. Let’s just say it’s a challenging time to buy a bottle for a food oriented family gatherings. So let’s dedicate some time to wines for the family, wines for a crowd, and maybe a few special occasion wines. www.facebook.com/ShopNKart Over Here Oregon produces so many delicious wines and our cooler climate tends to make wines that are lighter bodied with bright acidity. Both of these things make for wines that do well with food. Foris Pinot Blanc – There can be no talk of food wine without talk of Pinot Blanc. To me this is one of the best white wines for food. Its fruity aromas and fuller body means that it can stand up to spicy, salty, even stinky (think blue cheese); while its lively acidity handles fat like a dream. On top of all this it’s pretty enough to not overwhelm salads or delicate sea foods. Foris’ Pinot Blanc is very true to type, incredibly reasonably priced, and local. If you’re looking for one affordable wine to serve for the whole meal, this is a gem. Try it November 21st. Pebblestone Rose of Syrah – Rose is an often misrepresented and misunderstood wine. A proper Rose is not sweet at all. It’s made much like a red wine, except the fermenting juice spends less time in contact with the dark grape skins. This still has a lot of the bold character of a Syrah, but significantly lighter bodied and less tannic. This combination makes for a food friendly wine that goes with a lot of different dishes, the greatest challenge of Thanksgiving. Witness Tree Pinot Noir – Pinot Noir is a classic Thanksgiving wine and our proximity to the Willamette makes us a more than a little spoiled by choice. This one is light and elegant. The bright cranberry fruit notes make me think of Thanksgiving. For under $20, this is the Oregon Pinot Noir that I have been reaching for all fall. Quady North GSM – This wine came out last year and it was indeed delicious, but this year it is drinking incredibly well. The bright fruit of the Grenache and the gorgeous earthiness of the Mourvedre are starting to show through. For those of you who like something a little heavier than a Pinot Noir, but still don’t want o over power dinner with a big bad wine, this is an amazing compromise. Come try it November 23rd. Cooking with Wine Over There There are so many incredible local wines that sometimes it’s hard to remember all the delicious wines from around the world that make their way to Ashland, Oregon. I love having access to so many different wines and feel like it’s our duty to enjoy at least some of them. Domaine Thulon Beaujolais – Banish the thought of cheap Beaujolais Nouveau, I’m talking about the real deal here. Beaujolais is either adjacent or part of Burgundy depending on who you talk to. Either way the region makes delightful light reds with the Gamay grape. I love that they are light bodied, have bright acidity, delicious berry notes, and a hint of earthiness that keeps it from being too frivolous. This is also a fantastic Thanksgiving wine. It will go great with fowl, but is also a fantastic pairing with sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and other fall flavors. Stop by and try it November 14th. Barockhaus Piesporter Riesling – To me Riesling is one of the most versatile wines out there. The heavenly aromatics, the seductive floral notes, the lush fruit, and the zippy acidity of this wine combine to make a wine that goes with virtually everything. When faced with the broad range of flavors that come with Thanksgiving dinner, an off-dry Riesling is probably my favorite choice. For the price, this one blows all of the competition out of the water. Graham Beck Sparkling Rose – The holidays aren’t the holidays without bubbles. They are delicious, they are celebratory, they taste good with most things, and they look so pretty in champagne flutes. Don’t be turned off by the color, pink doesn’t mean sweet, it just means that the wine spent some time on the skins giving in color and a little more structure. Graham Beck is a fantastic winery in South Africa and this is by far one of my favorite wines by Graham Beck, do yourself a favor and take a bottle or two home. Also make sure to come try it November 7th. Many of you will probably encounter recipes calling for Marsala, Madeira, or Sherry. They all contribute different flavors to dishes, but in a pinch you can always substitute them for each other. I like to keep a bottle of decent Marsala around because it will last forever. Just stick a cork back in it and keep it in a dark cupboard until next November, it will be fine. Also keep in mind when cooking with alcohol that although you don’t want to spend a fortune, you normally end up reducing the wine. This means that you cook off the water and alcohol, leaving all the flavors, in effect making them stronger. If the wine is truly awful, you will taste it in your dish. Similarly, a nicer wine can add a lot of depth and complexity to sauces. San Antonio – This is a winery out of California that survived prohibition by making communion wine and now makes nice, low priced wines for cooking. If you really don’t want to spend a lot, these wines will not add off flavors to your dish. . Come Taste Thursday November 6th 4pm: Troon Friday November 7th 4pm: Summit Saturday November 8th 2pm: Schultz Thursday November 13th 4pm: Lorelli Thursday November 13th 4pm: Goodlife Brewing Friday November 14th 4pm: Grape Expectations Saturday November 15th 2pm: Willamette Valley Vineyards Saturday November 15th 2pm: Ciders and Mead Thursday November 20th 4pm: Ledger David Friday November 21st 4pm: Foris Saturday November 22nd 1pm: Valley View Sunday November 23rd 2pm: Quady North Monday November 24th 4pm: Abiqua Wind Tuesday November 25th 3pm: Del Rio Vineyards Wednesday November 26th 4pm: Crater Lake Cellars