I’ve been thinking a lot about what to drink with my turkey this year. There are so many things to consider. First and foremost, my tolerance these days is incredibly low – both whilst drinking and for its after effects. That’s what having two kids in three years will do to your drinking prowess! Thus, that which I drink has got to count, so I want it to be special. Then there are the dynamics of family to consider. My father-in-law only likes red. He likes wine a lot but is not a connoisseur, so I need to find something that I will love and he will also be able to drink without feeling it needs to be too ponderous. I prefer white these days, but certainly would never say no to an elegant red. My husband will pretty much drink anything (I have trained him well!). Then there is the fact that, as much as I usually lean towards French wine for any and all occasions, Thanksgiving is an American holiday. With most of our jobs going to China and India these days, and the French striking over having to work only two more years of 35-hour work weeks (New Yorkers tick off 35 hours in 3 about days, cry me a river France!), it seems more fitting than ever to support our own wine growing regions. 

I don’t represent many California wineries. Many of them, in my opinion, are still way too heavy handed with fruit extraction and oak. Ripe, sweet fruit also equals high alcohol after fermentation (sugar turns to alcohol when wine is fermented), which can really overwhelm lighter meats like turkey.  There are wines from France with high alcohol levels, but they almost always have great acidity that balance out the alcohol. I have found some wineries in the coolest parts of California that do have that beautiful acidity -on par with any Burgundy-that makes them a great match for any food. 

The California wineries I have the pleasure of working with truly represent the pioneer spirit, since they all started making wine fifteen to twenty years ago in a wine region that was then very obscure – Santa Barbara County, or more specifically, Sta Rita Hills. This is the area that Sideways made famous. This area is special, because the mountains on the West Coast run north and south until you come to Point Conception, which is that point where California bends right on the map. It is there that the mountains turn east and west, allowing for Alaskan currents to blow through the valley all day long and keep it cool. Sta Rita Hills is one of the southern-most wine growing areas in California, and yet it is cooler on an average day than Willamette Valley in Oregon, precisely because of that wind.  The area is a perfect seventy degrees every day of the year, but very cold in the morning and night. Not only is it mountainous, but it is very close to the ocean. A very thick fog rolls in during the night off the ocean, and in the morning the valley is completely fogged in, which gives great humidity for the grapes. By late morning the fog has burned off, so the grapes have time to ripen in the warm sun. By evening, when the temperature drops again, the grapes can rest for a bit, stop ripening, and build acidity. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay love this kind of weather. They are not grapes that thrive in hot environments. Pinot Noir, in particular, is like a red head in the sun. It has a very thin skin and burns very easily. It is finicky and needs water and cold periods daily to thrive (wait am I describing myself or the wine? Hmm…) 

The three wineries I represent from this area are pioneers in other ways too. Steve Clifton and Greg Brewer, of Brewer Clifton, decided to make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in a much more European way than was the norm at that time in California. Specifically, they ferment their Pinot as whole clusters of grapes. Most people in California de-stem their red fruit, and then try to add structure externally with heavy extraction and lots of new oak. Steve and Greg instead keep the stems on the clusters and use no new oak. This gives the wine an internal structure – it gives all that ripe fruit something on which to hang its hat. It makes the wines a bit lighter in color (stems soak up color), but no less powerful. It also gives them quite an exotic tea spice (a very Thanksgiving spice in fact!). Since Greg Brewer is also the winemaker at Melville, the other winery I represent from there, he is using some of these techniques, but the Pinots are 50% whole cluster instead of 100%. That gives the wine a nice balance between ripeness and elegance. 

The Chardonnays at Brewer Clifton and Melville are much more French in style than the typical butter bombs we have learned California Chardonnays to be. This is the result of three things: the natural acidity in the grapes of Sta Rita Hills, blocked malolactic fermentation (which retains a wine’s bright natural acidity and stops it from getting buttery and fat), and their refusal to use new oak, which keeps the wine clean and bright with no vanilla flavor. 

Lastly, there is Palmina. Palmina was started in 1995 by Steve Clifton, of Brewer Clifton. They produce wines only from Italian grape varietals. The cool, foggy climate I spoke of above is also ideal for Italian grapes. Steve and his wife, Chrystal, feel that wine should be a “glorified side dish”. In Italy, (except for Barolo and Barbaresco of course) wine is not a thing to sit and contemplate, nor is it something that competes or overpowers the food. It is an element of every meal, something passed around and enjoyed as passionately as the Italians enjoy their food, but not something that requires too much reflection or pondering. This is what makes these wines perfect for Thanksgiving dinner. If you do want something more serious from them, try their Nebbioli. If you closed your eyes, I guarantee you would blind taste these wines for their Italian counterparts. 

Between these three wineries there is something for everyone. Now I just have to choose!

Please note that any reference to “RP” below is a score given to the wine by Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate. 

I have included prices below. Please email me any and all questions and requests to liz@willettewines.com. Please keep in mind that these are friend’s prices for this web letter only. 

Thank you and have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and, most importantly, drink well!

Melville

Melville is owned by father and son Ron and Chad Melville, with Greg Brewer as their winemaker. After having owned vineyards in Napa, Ron Melville came to Santa Rita and never looked back. Calculated composting, complex cover cropping practice and deficit irrigation, matched with a tremendous amount of crop reduction and canopy management are the critical components to Melville’s strength as wine growers. 

2008 Estate Chardonnay – RP 92 

$25
 

2009 Estate Pinot Noir   

750ml $30
375ml $18

 

2009 Estate Syrah ‘Vernas’  

$21
 

2009 Chardonnay ‘Inox - Clone76’ – RP 91

$35  

Brewer-Clifton

Brewer-Clifton focuses solely on the production of vineyard designated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton have set out to put the best vineyards in Santa Barbara into a bottle. Pinot Noir is fermented 100% as whole clusters of grapes for 7 days cold soak, 2 weeks of fermentation and 10 or more days of extended maceration. Ageing takes place exclusively in barrels from the Sirugue cooperage in Nuits St. Georges. 

2008 Chardonnay ‘Sta Rita Hills’ – WA 91

This is not a blend of declassified fruit but rather a blend of some of their best vineyards sites.  It was made to showcase the relatively new appellation that is Sta Rita Hills.  It’s a blend of eight vineyards: Ashley’s, Mount Carmel, Huber, Gnesa, Rancho Santa Rosa, Sandford & Benedict, Zotovich, and 3D.

$35

2008 Chardonnay ‘Sanford & Benedict’ – RP 92

 

$45  

2008 Chardonnay ‘Sweeney Canyon’ – RP 92+

$55
 

2008 Chardonnay ‘Mt. Carmel’ – RP 94

$50  

2009 Pinot Noir ‘Santa Rita Hills’

$35  

2008 Pinot Noir ‘Mt. Carmel’ – RP 92+/Burghound 91   

$50  

Diatom

Diatom was started by Greg Brewer after a trip to Chablis with Steve Clifton in 2003. Being haunted by the beauty of the wines made in Chablis, Greg decided to see what he could do with the similar diatomaceous soil that Chablis and Santa Rita share. The challenge of the Diatom project is to subtract all extraneous elements in order to arrive at the utmost level of simplicity and refinement. In order to maintain this desired purity, fermentation is carried out at a very cold temperature in neutral vessels to retain the most primary attributes of the fruit. Furthermore, malo-lactic fermentation is inhibited. The wine is then aged on its lees, undisturbed, and removed just before there is any risk of autolysis which could impart non-desirable yeast-like characteristics into the wine. 

2009 Chardonnay ‘Clos Pepe’ – RP 90   

$40  

Palmina

Steve Clifton, winemaker and owner, produced his first Palmina wines in the basement of his home in 1995.  He now runs the winery with his wife Chrystal, and their shared passion for everything Italian is expressed in these soulful wines. Palmina’s wines are based on Italian varietals and are made to celebrate Italian culture with a California twist. White wines are vinified in stainless steel. Red wines are aged mainly in aged oak barrels.

2009 Arneis 

$15

 

2009 Tocai ‘Friulano’ – RP 90

$15
 

2009 Dolcetto ‘Santa Barbara County’   

$16
 

2008 Barbera ‘Santa Barbara County’ - RP90  

$16  

2005 Nebbiolo ‘Santa Barbara County’    

$25

2005 Nebbiolo ‘Stoplman’    

$35

2005 Nebbiolo ‘Sisquoc’    

$50