Wines For The Christmas Feast
Ahhh, the hubbub of Christmas morning — the gifts, the glitter, the sound of bells and carols, the smell of cinnamon and roasting birds. For some reason I think of red plaid — red plaid? Red plaid … what? Christmas jogs the memory, and I seem to recall the jolly gathering after Christmas morning service at the home of family friends. That’s it: The host greeted us in a red plaid jacket and green bow tie, with a grin on his face and a cocktail in hand.
The annual tradition in this family was an open house where the ritual tipple was the Sidecar. It’s a festive drink, typically 1/3 cognac, 1/3 cointreau, 1/3 lemon juice served in a martini glass — the rim dipped in lemon juice and then in fine or powdered sugar. Potent, too, though I was never allowed more than a tiny taste from my Dad’s glass. (See Moreton Neal’s variation in this issue.)
We also had a tradition at our house. For Christmas dinner — if the family hunters had bagged their limit — the main course was wild duck or goose, gently braised for hours in a seasoned broth that kept the lean, dark meat nicely moist, as well as tender. A host of side dishes rounded out the meal — rice with almonds and raisins, Mom’s asparagus or squash casserole, glazed roasted sweet potatoes, my grandmother’s buttery yeast-risin’ rolls — feather light and mouth-watering.
It was a feast all right, and whether we had it on Christmas afternoon or, when we girls were older, on Christmas Eve, it was just possibly the meal of the year. There might be as many as 14 gathered round the table, rarely fewer than seven or eight. Whenever I can, I repeat the menu, or come as close as I can. Now, happily, a major highlight is the wine — I get a huge kick out of rummaging in my wine cellar to pick out a few treasures.
So here’s my Christmas feast menu … which I may tweak in some way or other ’tween now and then:
Barbara Ensrud’s Christmas Feast
Totten Inlet Oysters-on-the-half-shell
Delamotte Blanc de Blancs
Champagne 1999
or
Goose Liver Paté
Schramsberg Brut Rosé
Braised Wild Goose
Wild Rice with Currants
Braised Red Cabbage with Chestnuts & Carraway
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pearl Onions & Walnuts
Joseph Drouhin Beaune
Oysters: Totten Inlets, a delectable oyster from the Pacific Northwest, can be ordered from Taylor Shellfish Farms (www.taylorshellfishfarms.com). Personally I prefer Blanc de Blancs Champagne, made from all Chardonnay, for raw oysters. The Delamotte, $70-$80, is brisk and elegant. Equally fine choices: Pol Roger Brut Chardonnay 1999, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.
Goose Liver paté: Brut Rosé, made from Pinot Noir (and sometimes Pinot Meunier), is my preference here for its dry (brut) but juicy fruitiness. Other good ones: Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse, Domaine Mumm Blanc de Noirs.
Wild goose or duck: Red Burgundies are wonderful with gamebirds, and Beaune reds are among my first choices. Drouhin’s Clos des Mouches is the firm’s signature red. Though today the French word for “flies” is mouches, in the 15th century it was the Burgundian name for honeybees. Clos means “enclosed field,” so the speculation is that once the vineyard was home to hives of honeybees. Elegant and beautifully balanced, the 2006 is a better buy for the feast than the 2005 because the fruit is more upfront and plushy right now (the 2005 will be more impressive in the long run — say in six to eight years).
Merry Edwards’ Olivet Lane Pinot is always one of her best, and the 2002 is drinking very well right now. But there are many wonderful Pinots to choose, such as Willowbrook 2006, Russian Hill Estate 2006, La Crema 2006 or “J” Vineyards 2006, all with big ripe fruit from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley.
Dessert: The distinctiveness of richly sweet Tokaji, a legendary favorite of Russian czars, can be savored by itself, but it will also go wonderfully with pumpkin tart or pumpkin pie. Puttonyos refers to the level of sweetness in this honeyed nectar, five puttonyos being the sweetest. I recently tasted this and other Royal Tokaji with Ben Howkins, one of the best-known experts on this Hungarian rarity, as well as fine port and sherry. Silken in texture, its sweetness sublimely offset with bright acidity, it is great to find this exceptional wine available again.
If your main course is roast turkey, roast crown of pork or pork loin, the above named Pinots will suit equally well, though I might add a couple of lighter ones for these lighter meats, such as Adelsheim 2006 from Oregon or Lockwood Block 7 from Monterey County, CA.
If, on the other hand, your entrée is crown roast of beef or standing rib roast, then you want a bigger, meatier red. If you can dip into a cache of older, mature reds, you are fortunate indeed. But there are some terrific Cabernets out there young and juicy enough to handle a good beef — such as Shafer 2004 One Point Five, $65, a massively rich Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stag’s Leap District of Napa Valley. Father and son, John and Doug Shafer, coined the term to represent their generation-and-a-half ownership of this top property. Or the 2003 Mayacamas Cabernet, $75, with its great depth of mountain-grown fruit. Look also for Owl Ridge 2004 Brigden Vineyard, $47 — dark and chewy, rich and deep.
Ringing in the New Year
Name your price — and you can find a good if not thrilling bubbly to suit your taste — whether it is $225 for Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Cuvée, or $9 for Segura Viudas Brut Reserva, or somewhere in between. There are numerous sparkling wine tastings at wine shops and restaurants this month, so by all means go and discover. Who knows if a global economy sinking to its knees will put pressure on high-end Champagnes to moderate? Hmm … I’ll just have a glass (I always keep a good sparkler on the chill) right now, and think about that. Cheers…