AnuvaBlog

As Thanksgiving approaches later this week, everyone seems to be putting out their must-drink wine list. However, it was really refreshing to see a post on Vinography (one of the more well read wine blogs around) today about how there is no such thing as the perfect wine for Thanksgiving. It may just be the case that all these lists are products of editorial calendar requirements and may actually have very little to do with there being really approrpriate Thanksgiving wines. Alder writes:

“Most people’s Thanksgiving meals, even the most modest of them, are a vast cornucopia of flavors so diverse, contrary, and strong, and people eat them in such different combinations at different times that the idea of finding ‘a’ wine to match with the meal is a ridiculous proposition. “

I have always said that good goes with good well. So as long as you’re sitting down to a good meal with good company (even if that does include cousin Bobby…), then it doesn’t matter if you open something rich, full and oaky like the 2004 Don Juan Reserve Blend or something much more fruit forward and puckering like the 2007 Naiara Malbec as you long as you enjoy it. Or you could open both and decide for yourself which goes better with your turkey and stuffing…

Happy TDay from Anuva Vinos!

We cracked open a bottle of the Mudai Pinot Noir, just to spite all of my home grown Oregon Pinot lovers. Earthy and red fruit rich, the Mudai is quite a treat. What really impressed me though, was the pairing of the Mudai with last night’s dinner. I cooked shrimp in a red onion with butter sauce as an appetizer which we ate with a lemon and garlic butter. We then followed this with a grilled salmon filet, which I did in olive oil with lemon and lime juice, and red onion as well. Washing down the seafood with the pinot was just delightful. Not too strong but not too soft either. A nice balance of body, fruit and acidity.

We chatted about it during dinner because the quality of the combination was so apparent. We didn’t notice only the wine, nor did we notice only the food, a great balance had been found. We decided that the Anecon Torrontés would also go well with the meal we made, the other parts of which were a mixed green salad and red potatoes. We thought about how a malbec or syrah would do with this meal and agreed that it would just be too much. Those wines, for me at least, would just overpower the natural flavors of the seafood.

That said, I still encourage you to find what works for you. A seafood pasta with a cream base may stand up better to fuller wines and conversely, a seafood salad may not go too nicely with a Pinot Noir requiring a lighter white. But this is what makes it fun, the searching and sampling…. Que disfruten!

Last week we had several upstanding citizens of the English speaking Expat community over to sample Anuva’s wines. What a hit it was! We had a total of 9 Americans and Brits here and while our discussion began about wine, winemaking, wine tasting and drinking, and the malbecs, bonardas and blends we were drinking, we ended up talking about politics, travel and business ideas.

The biggest hit, not surprisingly, was the Don Juan from Las Perdices which was the reserve wine served that night. It’s a complicated mouthful of 14 months of oak aged malbec blended with syrah, bonarda and merlot. Full, velvety and luscious.

A great treat for the tasting was a spicy sausage brought by one of our British members. Caked with pepper, this is one of the few foods I have found in Argentina that actually makes my body temperature rise. And what a combination with the Malbecs and the Bonarda. The pepper of the sausage really brought out different characteristics in all of these wines. Just goes to show there is always something new to learn about wine, food and their combinations. Especially with good company.