Turkey Day Wine Tasting at William Cross

Last night at its regularly Wednesday wine tasting William Cross Wine Merchants had on offering their annual collection of Wines to Go with Thanksgiving. The tasting is quite popular so it was standing room only when we arrived. No matter though. We were handed a plate with white and dark meat turkey and some cranberry sauce along with our glasses and we were off and running. The first wine, a 2005 Domaine Stirn Tokay Pinot Gris Cuvee Prestige was absolutely delicious. Fruit-forward and slightly sweet and velvety on the palate. I had it with a bit of white meat turkey and it worked nicely, but I think it's range is fairly wide as far as lighter dishes go. This wine was my as well as my friend's favorite of the evening, though all of the selections were good. We then had a 2006 Bucklin Porter Vineyard Gewurztraminer from Sonoma. It was a sweet wine but not syrupy sweet at all but had a fairly light consistency and finish. It actually tasted really good with the dark turkey meat. The last of the white offerings was a 2005 Guillemot-Michel Quintaine Macon-Villages, which is a Chardonnay aged only in stainless steel. I enjoyed the wine since it wasn't oaked at all, and think it's a nice variety to try if you enjoy lighter-style Chardonnays. The first of the reds was a 2005 Michel Rey Julienas Tres Vielle Vigne. It was ripe with fruit and really tasty. A nice match with turkey for sure. The second red was a 2005 Carter Vineyards Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Ahhh, gorgeous. Fruit-forward and rich in color and well-balanced as most Pinots are. A perfect wine for the Turkey Day table for sure. We finished with a 2005 Culler "Casaeda" Syrah from the Sonoma Coast. It had a bit of spice to it and I enjoyed it and would recommend drinking it with heavier items on the holiday table. A really nice way to get excited about the best holiday of the year for sure.

William Cross Wine Merchants

2253 Polk Street in San Francisco