Solid Thanksgiving sparkler, enjoyed all around. It plays all positions quite well.

A solid, decent, juicy, red fruit-driven, creamy Cava. Red apple peel, strawberry, slight floral note. Fun stuff, good choice for a big Thanksgiving crowd.

A perennial show at my Thanksgiving for its freshness, tropical appeal, crowd-pleasing aesthetic. Some slight pepper to accent the guava and honey. Fun, uncomplicated stuff.

Juicy strawberries and watermelon, this is fresh, fun, a bit simple, but a nice way to kick things off. 80% Grenache with Syrah and Cinsault.

Significantly complex, I get tart red apples and white cherries topped with minerals, talc and crushed chalk. Vibrant and mouthwatering.

Buttercream mixes with tart green apples in this pleasantly uncomplicated Chardonnay. Hints of honey and sea salt.

There's always an entry-level German Riesling on my Thanksgiving spread, so I threw this one in and it was quite a hit. Just slight hint of sweetness but I like the juicy fruit and chalky elements.

I like the tartness to this wine, nice dusty tannins, approachable but still solid. Tart currants, fig paste, I get some tobacco, cedar and coffee as well.

Big hit among relatives at Thanksgiving. Pleasantly food friendly and impressive for the price.

This bottle showed wonderfully. Light bodied (12% alcohol), fresh acid, refined tannin yet still present, like a slightly-seeped tea. Still some soft red cherry and cranberry fruit, but the wine is laced with savory-spice elements (tobacco, sage, sweet violets, loam, mushroom) and an underlying streak of minerals. A beautiful wine, showing very nicely right now - my only bottle but I'd drink the other in a year if I had it.

A bit roasted nose, fig paste, baked plums, soot, anise cookie. Full and chewy, still plenty of fruit (fig, roasted plums, black currant) on a frame of dusty tannins. Low acid, of course, but still very pleasant on the palate. Secondary notes of anise, leather, smoke and campfire add complexity. Drinking very well, could age further, but if I had a few more bottles, I’d taste one a year.

Rich and chewy, full-throttle of course, still lots of structure to the tannins though, and surprisingly there’s hints of acid. Packed with pure, full fruit (black cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, raspberry jam, but I also get rich cola and baking spice notes. Fun, undeniably delicious, but I didn’t drink this with food, and I’m not sure I would ever bring a wine like this to a dinner. All other wines over the Thanksgiving were chosen for their food-friendliness – except this and an 03 CdP, which we passed around late at night. This worked wonderfully in that context.

Lovely aromatic display: violets, mushroom, wet earth, dusty red currants. Tart acid on the palate, buttressed by still sturdy tannins, although they’re fined down a bit with age. Still shows a lively drive of fruit (tangy red berries) mix with a delicious and contemplative blend of mushroom, soil, floral and tobacco elements. I remember being thrilled by some Barboursville Nebbiolo years ago, so I scooped this up when I could. What an awesome American interpretation of this grape. Worked wonderfully with a family style array of Italian foods.