Thanksgiving Wine

Last year there were 2600 articles about which wine to pair with Thanksgiving, this year there are 3063.

I like this article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer because it has the coolest picture.

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Carbon Footprint of Wine

My least favorite Thanksgiving wine article is this one:

These differences in emissions factors mean that distance isn't always the key factor in determining which wine has the lowest footprint for a given location. If you live in San Francisco, you can get your wine from the many California vineyards; but if you live in New York, it may be more environmentally friendly to buy wine sent by container ship from Bordeaux to a port in New Jersey than to buy American with a wine from Napa Valley, which would be trucked across the country.

A wine shipped straight from Bordeaux would have to be trucked to Columbus, Ohio, before it matched the greenhouse gas impact of a Napa Valley wine trucked to the same point. This is known as the breakeven point between the two wines, and Colman and Päster actually calculated a "green line" down the middle of the United States that marks the point at which a shipped wine and trucked wine would have the same carbon footprint..

Why does this dichotomy have to exist? As we all know, there are great wines grown in New York, if you are serious about the carbon footprint of your wine, why not drink locally made wines? Don't get me wrong, you all know I love a good Bordeaux and think everyone should have a couple around.

But, if you are going to be serious about minimizing the carbon footprint of your wine you have to include the idea of drinking local wines and you have to take into account the sustainability practices of the vineyard/winery. Otherwise you are just engaging in a practice designed to make you feel better, not have a real impact.

Thanksgiving Wine

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without 2605 articles about what wine to serve with Thanksgiving dinner.

My favorite article this time around is this one which advocates for Beaujolais Nouveau:

All of our experts seem to be amateur drunks, so we consulted professional wine pushers for the skinny on the best bottles to buy as gifts. The word of the day is Beaujolais, a young wine released yearly just before Thanksgiving. Jai Jai Greenfield of Harlem Vintage says they always try to include Beaujolais in their Thanksgiving Six Pack, a collection of wines designed to take you from the arrival of the first guests to dessert and beyond. Dan Weber of Williamsburg's UVA Wines recommends Terres Dorees L'Ancien Beaujolais Villes Vignes ($18), explaining, "It's a relatively light-bodied red, with strong accents of dark cherry fruit and a good acidity that, after all that food, cuts through. People will find it compelling."

Whatever wine you choose, I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers, and happy Thursday to everyone else :). If you are looking for some tips for wines to share with your Thanksgiving dinner there are a couple of good articles here and here.

My comments on Thanksgiving pairings can be found here.

And, if you want a Thanksgiving laugh, you can read all about beer pairings