Re: Thanksgiving wine

Having a red raspberry / red currant blend (all home grown) and a bottle of my red wine from my backyard vineyard made from Merlot, Cab. Franc and Chambourcin.

Our main wine will be my "Hurricane Red", a homegrown blend of Chambourcin, Baco, Chelois & DeChaunac. Much like a full Beaujolais.

Happy Thanksgiving. Mike MTM

Aside from some Amberhill Cabernet and perhaps some nice fruity white wines from Northern Michigan, I will definitely serve my cranberry melomel and end with my "pretty good port".

Looks like Cava this year, smaller crowd, still anti-french sentiment, like sparkling and probably 1994 LBV at end when everyone is loosening the belt a little. 2002 Bin 50 will be out for Red, just in case.

Two bottles of cranberry-asian pear blend with the meal, a sweet mangosteen with dessert, and blueberry port after the dishes are washed. After that, who knows?

Jack Keller

Cinnamon and Clove spiced Apple for the white and Elderberry Grape for the red.( Along with some Home-made Cream Ale)

Good to see you again, Jack, for me it will be a New Mexico Riesling, or a NY 62.01221.01 (an as yet to be named hybrid from Cornell U.). Joanne

Thought I'd bring a bottle of my oaked 2002 Seyval Blanc for the family to try.

-Paul

A bottle each of pinot gris made from Peter Brehm's frozen grapes and an oaked, partially ML'ed loganberry/blackberry with dinner, then an Ice Wine style from a kit for desert.

The mad kiwi

Too many years ago when an officer cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst I had to study a particular General in detail as part of my military history studies. My first choice out of a short list was Alexander the Great and my second was Stonewall Jackson. Happily for me my first choice was accepted and has led to a lifetime fascination of the life and times of Alexander, his predecessors and inheritors. However it meant that I never studied the history of the USA in any detail, which might have been nurtured had I researched General Jackson in the detail to which I had done with Alexander. So much of my knowledge of your history is based on peripheral knowledge gained over a lifetime and is not without an element or two of detail. However there are huge holes ( "black holes" is appropriate ). One of them is your Thanksgiving date. Oh I understand the background of its historical beginnings but have no idea of the date -- which is obviously at this time of year. It approaches the vagueness of " when is Easter". Hopefully it is not a feast that spreads it date over several days ( or even weeks like Christmas ). One of the sad things in UK is the deterioration of the ancient "celebration" of "Guy Fawkes Night" ( Bonfire night ) on 5 November. As a boy and for the last 400 odd years it had been celebrated uniquely on the night of 5 November with a preceding evening ( Mischievous Night -- probably the antecedent of your Halloween). But that was it. On an ever increasing basis it now covers about 2 weeks by various profit and non profit organisations having their individual "safe" nights -- augmented by the local vandals letting of illegal "bombs" from the end of September. or it happens on the nearest weekend before or after! Quite sad really! It is akin to me only eating fresh strawberries when they are in season locally at the end of June/early July. I can now buy hot cross buns all year round in my local supermarket but I don't -- it is a treat at Easter when I bake my own. I am, inevitably a product of my age -- but there is so much more inherent pleasure in events that re-occur annually, in season and briefly. If you extend the season then the pleasure is diluted to an eventual nonentity!

Oh sorry --- there I go again! All I originally started out on was that I didn't know the date ( fixed?) of Thanksgiving day

Trust the US to have 2 "Christmases" ( you know -- family emotional times)

If any of you were nearer I might send you a bottle of my 4 year old strawberry "Champagne" but I have only 3 bottles left!

Happy thanksgiving to all in USA

Sorry for the ramble!

Nice to hear from you, Trevor!

Happy Thanksgiving to you too - even though it's just an ordinary Thursday in the UK.

I'm sipping my penultimate bottle of 1987 Rutherford Cabernet as I write. I may hold the last one for another decade or more, as it still has lots of unresolved tannin and plenty of fruit remaining. Cheers to all!

Tom S

I opened a bottle of my 2002 wineberry wine.

Earlier this year, I was complaining in this group that, at 12 months old, the wine was too harsh and tart. Now at 16 months old, the tartness is gone, and it's very good. Patience is a virtue, happy Thanksgiving!

Trevor, as to when the date for our Thanksgiving is, we just look it up on the yearly calendar. No, it doesn't spread over a period of days. It's all us adults who tend to spread over a period of years. But, actually, it's our unique creation. Something purely American, where we stop and say "thank you" to the Great Almighty for everything that we have. I'm sure that there are those who would tie Thanksgiving into some sort of Harvest festival. No doubt it is, of a sort. But it's something more than that. I could ramble here, too, but I would get rather spiritual. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving has now been seized by commercialism as the excuse to start the (American) Christmas holiday season. I dispise this completely. I avoid stores and shopping malls at this time. As for Halloween, I am surprised at you, Trevor! All Hallow's Eve, hmmm? In the southwestern states where there has been a strong latino influence, you will also find 'Dios Dei Los Muertos' or 'Day of the Dead' (apologies for incorrect spelling). This is from the Aztec culture. regards, Joanne

Hi Trevor - In the US Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth thursday in November, thanks to President Lincoln. It's a big family day. My wife and I just had the 38th Thanksgiving dinner here at our house. Twentynine family members attended, nine of which are under 5 years. The dinner is usually turkey and traditional side dishes but this year our theme was Italian. We have a non-turkey Thanksgiving every few years just to shake the group up. I served a cranberry/raisin wine but my family is not big on wine. Light beer, fruit punch and Coke were consumed in large volume.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas

wow, listening to all the different kinds of wines you guys and gals are producing and imbibing, I feel like i'm a boring nothing....Very interesting assortment of wines!!!!

I had some kit wine - a shiraz - that I overoaked, so use most of it for cooking, but thought I"d see what it was like again after 6 months. And also some Concord Grape wine, which in this area is the favourite of most of my friends! It was very good! I mostly make fruit wines as there are not a lot of excess winemaking grapes around, unless I venture out 2 hours north or 2 hours south next year and try to get some grapes... just didn't have the time this summer, and suddenly, motorcycle season and grape-picking season are allllllll over! now it's a frigid below-freezing temperature! ugh!

right now I'm destemming and chopping pears which I received from a friend...whatta chore, but it's good to get another batch started!

Happy holidays to you all - Blessings. Rick Vanderwal fremont, MI

Rick:

I'm in Traverse City. It's good you didn't try to make the trip this year. You couldn't have purchased grapes for any money: about 90% wiped out by the -25 degree days in March :-( .

Even in the best years begging to buy grapes up here for home winemaking is a long shot. Of course I haven't looked under every rock yet so perhaps...

Anyway, there's always next year.

Cheers

Art S.