For Thanksgiving cab it up with Columbia

Two enduring symbols of Thanksgiving are pumpkins and turkeys. A separate article in this paper covers the former, so I’ll delve into the latter.

Living in Shanghai is great, but I miss celebrating the last Thursday of every November in Connecticut. I miss the wonderful aromas, flavors and textures of a genuine New England Thanksgiving feast.

For a perfect Thanksgiving it has to be a Washington State wine. And this year I’ll be serving Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the Columbia Valley.

Columbia Valley AVA

Fortuitously situated between the 46°N and 47°N latitudes, the Columbia Valley AVA is one of North America’s largest premium wine producing regions.

Vines were first planted in the mid-19th century, but commercial wine production only began in earnest about half a century ago. Over the ensuing decades, the wines of the Columbia Valley have won numerous awards and built a distinguished international reputation.

Isacs is the founder and CEO of EnjoyGourmet, a leading gourmet digital (www.enjoygourmet.com. cn) and print media company in China. He has authored over a dozen wine and food books including the awarded ISACS Guides and other gourmet books and is a wine consultant to governments, wine regions and organizations. He also hosts wine events for leading organizations and companies throughout China. Contact John via jcolumn@ enjoygourmet.com.

The Columbia Valley’s dry continental climate features abundant sunshine during the peak ripening months, on average annually 55 more hours of sunlight than Napa Valley; and cool evenings that lengthen the growing season and allow for optimal phenolic ripeness while still retaining high natural

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling and Chardonnay are the most cultivated grapes in the Columbia Valley AVA.

Varieties:

Loess is a German name for the fine sand and silt soils that are a result of ice-age flood deposits.

Key term:

acidity. The nutrient poor, freedraining soils also contribute to superior fruit. Persistent winds and cold winters make the Columbia Valley one of the few Phylloxera-free regions so vines can be planted on original rootstock. This contributes to exceptional varietal typicity.

Columbia Valley like the other 13 Washington State AVAs make wines with New World fruitiness and exuberance along with Old World elegance and balance. Excellent Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Syrah and other wines are produced, but it’s the rich, textured and structured Cabernet Sauvignon wines that stand out as perfect Thanksgiving turkey companions.

Columbia Valley Cabernet

Sauvignon wines offer concentrated black cherry, black berries and cassis aromatic and taste sensations along with subtle herbal and spice notes. One key factor of all Washington State Cabernet Sauvignons is their freshness. This makes them turkey-friendly and also fine companions to a host of other meat dishes including Chinese benchmarks like Beijing duck, Cantonese roasted goose and Mongolian lamb ribs.

Serve your turkey hot, but not your Washington State Cab. To best showcase the elegance and balance of these wines, I recommend serving them no higher than 18 degrees Celsius.

Cheers and happy turkey day!