Welcome to November! In the world of sommeliers and wine connoisseurs, that means one question gets asked a lot: What goes well with Turkey? The answer is just about any wine you like, but there are also all those side dishes, which really is the meal. Our suggestion is to have plenty of refreshing, bright wine that won’t put you into an immediate turkey coma. And our friends the Matthiassons have what we think is the perfect, versatile wine for the entire meal. But it is neither red, nor white: It’s their über-refreshing, mineral-laden rosé. Sourced entirely from two organic vineyards in Northern California, this is the ideal wine to have around for everything from soup, to cheese boards, to gravy, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. It’s also just a deliciously fun apéritif to have while cooking or catching up with friends and family. Long story short, you should stock up and make this your one and only, go-to holiday rosé!
Of course rosé is for the pool, or the patio, or the beach, but for years now, we somms have been preaching the gospel that great rosé, not your everyday porch pounders, are some of the most versatile food wines out there. The combination of texture, fruit, acidity, and the tiniest hint of tannin helps them fill in the gaps of tricky dish pairings when neither a red or a white is quite right. And the sprawling, cornucopia-style Thanksgiving dinner spread is easily one of the most difficult meals to find a single wine to pair with. Well, that is where rosé can come to the rescue. Sure, your brother may need a robust Zinfandel, and your aunt an oaky Chardonnay, but for a wine that will go the distance of a long afternoon meal, a great rosé is the genius move.
Of course, great is the key, and for many vintages now Jill and Steve Matthiasson have made one of our very favorite rosés, not just in California, but anywhere. They start by sourcing pristine fruit from two organic vineyards in the Dunnigan Hills, northwest of Sacramento. The bulk of the blend is Provençal in style, with Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Counoise doing the heavy lifting. But they also throw in a good amount of Barbera, which adds some hints of purple fruit and extra bright acidity. The whole clusters are pressed quickly and then the juice is transferred to small, stainless steel “barrels” where it will ferment and then age on the lees for about five months before bottling without racking, fining, or cold stabilization.
The goal is a taut, precise rosé that still has plenty of texture and complexity. And this goal is met with gusto by the Matthiasson team. Served in an all-purpose stem, this gorgeous rosé pours a very pale pink-orange with hints of lavender, like an early fall sunset on the Northern California coast. You want to drink it chilled, but not ice cold, and enjoy the full spectrum of wild strawberries, cranberries, orange zest, ruby red grapefruit, lemon sorbet, sea salt, and crushed rock minerality. It’s bone dry and yet never austere, with refreshing acidity and a surprisingly complex texture. I’ve already talked about pairings, and my favorite holiday side dish is usually the stuffing, but this is also perfect for almost any Thai or Vietnamese dish, take out sushi, or spicy fried chicken. In a word, you should have a good stash around for the holidays and a few extra to crack when the first sunny, spring days hit in 2024.
