Originally published on November 9, 2009.
So it’s almost Thanksgiving. Time for anyone who writes about wine in any context to write….the “Thanksgiving Piece.” This could be a straightforward “what to pair with Turkey” format. Or a year in review wrapped in a “thanks, no thanks” format. Or the “if I’m going to write this it might as well be funny” format.
Some people just decide to skip it altogether because they feel there’s nothing new to say. That’s true (there really ISN’T anything new to say), but it’s not really fair to the wine buying public. Yes, the meal is more or less the same every year. No, some new wine pairing hasn’t been invented over the last year that will suddenly revolutionize the Thanksgiving table. But still, just because wine people have been writing the same basic stuff year after year doesn’t mean that the same people are actually reading it year after year.
Let’s take Mr. Smith, my hypothetical neighbor:
Last year, he just told his guests to bring a bottle of “whatever.” But this year, for whatever reason, he’s decided he wants to put some thought into the wine and give some real consideration to what he serves. But….this is the year every wine writer on the planet has decided, finally, to not write another Thanksgiving piece. And the bloggers (which are really just a subset of writers) have decided to write nothing but snarky posts about why Thanksgiving posts are useless. And every retailer has decided there’s no reason to make any Thanksgiving recommendations, because they’ve been making the same ones for the last 10 years and there’s no reason to repeat themselves yet again. Too bad for Mr. Smith. He should have gotten the wine bug last year, before everything had already been said.
So while wine people may think they’re repeating themselves, there’s a very good chance many of their readers or customers are giving the Turkey/Wine Pairing Challenge real consideration for the very first time. And they deserve some good advice too.
Long way of saying….at Frankly Wines, we’ll still be talking turkey (gobble gobble), lamb (baa baa), turducken (gobblequackbwack) or whatever language you speak (yam?).
Watch this spot every day (or nearly every day) for practical, adventurous, and the occasional just plain odd Thanksgiving pairing suggestions.