Thanksgiving 2010

Brenda and Don's
Tasted Thursday, November 25, 2010 by brigcampbell with 480 views

Introduction

Brenda likes doing Thanksgiving and it's just about everyones favorite big meal of the year. Chris was in charge of a couple appetizers and dessert which is always well received. We started with smoked salmon spread with pita chips, cucumbers, and endives for loading up shovelful scoops of the dip. Not sure who ate more, Don or me, since neither one of us was ever more than an arms length from the bowl. Plus there was a camembert cheese baked in puff pastry with apricot jam, cranberries, and toasted almonds. That dish didn't last long either, after Chris Wilson discovered it.

Dinner was an enormous turkey, 22 lbs in all, cooking all day. Homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, bread, and Brenda's famous mashed potatoes filled the table. Dessert was a new spin on Chris' pumpkin cheese cake, this version was silkier and I'm not sure which one is best. There was also a classic homemade apple pie and of coarse when asked "cake or pie?" everyone responds "a slice of both please".

Brenda thinks this was her best Thankgiving meal yet (she told Don that 18 times! LOL) but I've never had an average one yet.

Baked Camembert
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Salmon Spread
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The guest of honor.
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The perfect apple pie
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The damage afterwards
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Flight 1 (4 Notes)

  • 2004 Calcareous Cabernet Sauvignon York Mountain 90 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, York Mountain

    Vinitiri/ Decant for 3 hours.
    Fairly dark color for a Paso Cab from my experience and certainly compared to other Calcareous Cab's I tasted.
    Dark fruit aromas.
    Palate is very well intergrated with nice balance of fruit and structure. Tannins are rounding out. Hints of toast.
    Good finish and medium/+ body.

    The cab drinkers in the crowd really took to this wine. Great QPR at the time, think we paid low $20's.

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  • 2006 Chamisal Vineyards Pinot Noir Califa 90 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

    This was my pick for Thanksgiving dinner with quite a few cab lovers. Thought is might be a good compromise because of the weight and heft and it hit the mark.

    Vinituri/Decant for 3 hours.
    Very dark color which foreshadows what lies ahead.
    Nose: If tasted blind I'd probably get the varietal correct but would have bet big money this was an '08 "wildfire wine" because there is lots of campfire smoke with cherry peeking through.
    Palate: Big, bold PN, there is no finesse here which doesn't scare me off. the smoke is present through the finish.
    Finish: Medium/+ finish and a heavy body for PN.

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  • 2007 La Sirena Pirate TreasuRed 88 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    At the time of this posting the wine had a 92pt average. Is that Screaming Eagle hype spilling over? It's a good wine but even the cab lovers in the group weren't overly impressed.

    Even with 3 years on this wine, it's a very young wine and the 2013 community drinking window is way off. I'd put it at 2016 on the top end for starters.

    Guessing the presence of the petite sirah is adding greatly to the dark color and rough tannins at this point. The significant number of varietals does add to the complexity on the nose and palate. This finish is tannic, slightly dry, and there's no hiding the oak.

    Put this to bed for 3 more years.

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  • 2006 Justin Vineyards & Winery Isosceles

    USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

    Same as previous notes. I'm burying the last bottle in the back of the cellar and put 5+ years on it for fun.

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