Marc Bona, cleveland.com
12 wines to try in November, with our Thanksgiving ranking (photos)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – In November, our tasting panel sipped a dozen wines priced between $10 and $20 each. We try to find inexpensive wines on the market with decent quality-to-price ratio. This month, we offer our gauge on a scale of 0-10 of how we think the wine would go with a traditional Thanksgiving meal (0: not the best pairing; 10: a perfect match). Some might taste better with buttery mashed potatoes, others might stand up to rich, dark turkey meat or the tartness of cranberries. You want a wine that you can taste but not overwhelm the food or be overwhelmed. Note: Our monthly reviews feature wines that cost less than $25, and all should be available in Northeast Ohio retail distribution. Let us know what you enjoy and don't prefer. Salud!
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Steele Cabernet Franc Rose
Steele Wines, California, Rose from Cabernet Franc, 2017, $17
Cab Franc makes for a different rose and is always worth trying. Here we get a bit of cranberry but mostly tart strawberry. It smells sweeter than it tastes. Not a wimpy rose by any means.
With Thanksgiving? 6
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Left Coast The Orchard Pinot Gris
Left Coast Estate, Willamette Valley, Oregon; Pinot Gris, 2016, $18
There's a lot going on here. Floral nose, with peach, apricot, spice, lemon and melon coming through. Fruity, but not sweet. It's billed as having minerality on the palate, but we didn't detect much. An excellent value, this was a universal winner with our tasting panel.
With Thanksgiving? 7
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Firesteed Pinot Noir
Firesteed Cellars, Willamette Valley, Oregon; Pinot Noir, 2018, $17
Our tasting panel really enjoyed this one, detecting vanilla, bright cherry, a hint of cocoa, violet, baking spice and floral notes along with black-fruit cobbler. We found it a good value.
With Thanksgiving? 8
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Writer's Block Cabernet Franc
Steele Wines, Lake County, California; Cabernet Franc, 2015, $17
A little earthy, vanilla, cedar, meaty and savory. There's sour cherry and blackberry in this fairly tannic wine that is better with food than as a stand-alone. Our tasting panel split; several found it a decent value while others did not take to the sour-cherry notes.
With Thanksgiving? 5
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Blass Chardonnay
Wolf Blass Wines, South Australia, Chardonnay, 2016, $15
Smells oakier than it tastes, with notes of pear and pineapple emerging on the palate along with popcorn and butter. Drinkable at this price point; I wouldn't pay more.
With Thanksgiving? 6
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Samorens Cotes du Rhone
Ferraton Pere & Fils, France, white blend, 2018, $14
Strawberry and a creaminess with a little cranberry come out, with a slight dryness and tartness on the finish. Smooth sipper, nice clean-tasting stand-alone wine, very fairly priced. It's a blend of White Grenache (60%) and Clairette (40%)
With Thanksgiving? 6
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Cameron Hughes Lot 639 Rose
Cameron Hughes, Monterrey County, California; Rose, 2017, $13
Strawberry and cranberry burst through on this one, with a tiny bit of a sour though pleasing finish - almost Jolly Rancher-ish. Got better with time and air. Medium-bodied, not a flimsy Rose. Very good price. We're told it’s available online, but this one is not in widespread distribution in Northeast Ohio.
With Thanksgiving? 6
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Zanon Petite Sirah
Zanon Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, California; Petite Sirah, 2016, $20
We recently tried and enjoyed Scott Zanon's Sangiovese. This one, even heartier, has a healthy body and tannins as you’d expect from the varietal. It's dark and inky and meant for meats. Black fruit - plum, blackberry - come out, and it improved with some breathing time. Fair price. Zanon is Scott Zanon, originally from Columbus.
With Thanksgiving? 5
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
9 Lives
9 Lives from Vina San Pedro, Chile, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2016, $10
When this one crossed our table we were intrigued by the price. At first a vegetal green-pepper taste came out predominantly, though with time it blew off and led to simple cherry notes. Few tannins, some red fruit-raspberry on the palate. Swirling and some time helped smooth it out. An OK party wine, tough to beat the price.
With Thanksgiving? 3
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
7 Moons
7 Moons Wine, California, red blend, 2017, $13
As the winery says, "7 Moons celebrates the phases of the moon by combining 7 grape varietals into a smooth, fruity, easy to drink wine." Well, it's fruity, that's for sure. It's a kitchen-sink of sorts, with Syrah, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Grenache. Milk chocolate is dominant with some black raspberry notes, and no real tannins to speak of. Nothing complex. Sweet fans will love.
With Thanksgiving? 3
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Blue Franc
Steele Wines, winery is in California; the grapes are from Washington state; Blaufrankisch, 2015, $14
Don’t let the grape's name intimidate you. Blaufrankisch - also known as Lemberger - is a delicious red medium-bodied wine. (Its name is derived from the German for "blue" and "a fine wine" and, as "The Wine Bible" notes, offers "grip and bite." This particular one might be a tougher find on shelves now. It started very tart with our first few sips then smoothed out wonderfully. A very good food wine with tart cranberry and tart cherry and nominal tannins. Air really helped. It was not as peppery as the varietal can be.
With Thanksgiving? 7
Marc Bona, cleveland.com
The Dreaming Tree
The Dreaming Tree Wines, California, Sauvignon Blanc, 2016, $15
Musician Dave Matthews and Sean McKenzie teamed up for this line of California wine. Current vintages are out, but we decided to see how this particular one would do with a couple of years under its belt. It held up well, with Meyer lemon and white peach. It's pretty mellow for the varietal; it definitely won't be mistaken for a New Zealand Sauv Blanc. No long finish. Fair price, wouldn’t pay more.
With Thanksgiving? 5
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