This Week’s Schedule:

Thanksgiving Recommendations from the Crystal City Wine Shop:

Here are a few of our recent favorites that we think would really sparkle with your Thanksgiving menu:

  • Champagne Laurent Dauphin Premier Cru Brut: This is a hard to find Champagne because it is so affordable! Made by Louis de Sacy Champagne, a family owned house that has a history stretching back 13 generations having owned vineyards in Champagne since 1633. Since 1962, Champagne Sacy Père et Fils has been producing grower champagne using the famous terroir of Verzy and Trépail. This wine it is 60% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Meunier and is a lovely dry and biscuity glass of bubbles at an amazing price!
  • Casa Castillo El Molar: Garnacha has been grown in Jumilla for centuries but has never been taken as seriously as Monstrell, having been mainly used as a blending grape. This all seems the more remarkable considering how closely the terroir of Jumilla resembles that of the Southern Rhone – hot, dry summers and a limestone subsoil topped with gravel. Named for casa-castillo-molar-hrthe mountain which overshadows the property, El Molar is the newest cuvée from Casa Castillo. Fermented whole cluster with indigenous yeasts and spending 12 months in large oak casks the resultant wine is pale, fresh and aromatic – as well a promising new directing for the property, the DO, and your Thanksgiving table. Practicing organic production.
  • Foggy Ridge Handmade: Bottled in baby champagne bottles and full of complex apple flavors, this crisp cider is made from mostly Newtown Pippin apples with a hint of Gold Rush, and has beautiful soft tannins with light pear notes. Cidermaker Notes: “This cider is characterized by apple and soft tropical fruit aromas. The entry is soft and supple with a full round mouthfeel underpinned by apple, peach and pineapple flavors. The finish is smooth yet crisp.”
  • Boulevard Brewing Funkier Pumpkin: Don’t sleep on pumpkin beers, especially sours for your Thanksgiving table! As Boulevard says, they are “never content with brewing “to style,” our brewing team’s approach to Funkier Pumpkin is far from your standard take on pumpkin spice beers. Choosing to focus on the complexity that brettanomyces can bring to a beer, Funkier Pumpkin offers subtle pumpkin flavor accented by traditional spicing in a beer that showcases the hallmark earthy/forest floor notes of our house wild yeast strain.” 8.5% ABV, 15 IBU, #2 on Paste’s List of Pumpkin Beers
  • BlackSnake Meadery Squashed: Their take on pumpkin beers rocks it! Perfect for this time of year, hot or cold, it really tastes like pumpkin pie in a glass. A wonderful combo of wildflower honey, butternut squash, and pumpkin pie spices, it is a great accompaniment to Crème Brulée and vanilla ice cream. Gluten-Free.

Come by the shop for even more options!

Author Thad

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *