Thanksgiving was spent with the in-laws in Florida this year, but since they no longer cook much, we all went out to a local restaurant, Norwood's in Smyrna Beach, FL. Although the menu had a turducken special on it, we found out that it had already gone by our "late" dining hour of 5:30, so Jean, her father and I all settled for a dish of two duck leg quarters in a tart chery sauce that was one of the finest duck dishes I've had in a restaurant. To accompany this feast, we got:
NV Taittinger Brut "La Francaise" nose: green apples, mildly toasty palate: fine mousse, lively acidity, solid fruit, moderately autolytic
We got a half bottle of the bubbly to start with and to pair with the Thanksgiving side dishes that accompanied our duck (mashed sweet potato, sage stuffing and assorted vegetables), with which it went wonderfully. Truth be told, it wasn't at all bad with the duck.
2004 D'Angerville Bourgogne nose: initially reticent, boecoming more open, dark cherry and raspberry palate: initially tight, opening after a splash decant to a medium bodied, balanced wine with good varietal fruit and a somewhat short finish
With the duck, the Burgundy really shone, becoming fruitier and more complex. My father-in-law, an enthusiastic if unsophisticated wine drinker, absolutely loved the wine, especially when I told him that it was only $38 on the wine list (one big surprise: their extensive and interesting wine list had smaller markups on the imported than on the domestic wines -- great deal for us!!)
Mark Lipton