A merry Monday to you, readers! We just got back from an epic family adventure in Disneyland. I had hoped to get my Thanksgiving wine recommendation out to you a little earlier but thinking I would have time to write while on vacation was foolish optimism. The Disney experience is not for the faint of heart; you literally go all day and then all night. Fun, but hard. Us adults all required moderate doses of Advil most days. And since the Happiest Place on Earth is also the Germiest Place on Earth, we are now all dealing with various levels of a cold (because who really is going to stay away from Disney after sinking thousands of dollars into a vacation?). Thankfully, mine is barely a whisper of a cold. Viruses encounter my immune system, see I’m carrying, and run for it. Heh heh heh. 🙂

Anyway, thus begins Part I of my Holiday Dinner Wines Series.

I was flipping through a Costco magazine recently, and came across a typical “wine pairings for your Thanksgiving meal” article. I skimmed over the list. The wine and food pairing recommendations were great (doesn’t Moscato d’Asti with apple pie sound yummy?), but, unless you’re a wine geek/snob/swimming in money, do you really pair a DIFFERENT wine with SEVERAL COURSES at your gatherings??? Not only is that a ton of wine to buy, that is a ton of alcohol to drink.

At our extended family holiday meals, at least, here is the wine sitch: everybody brings wine, plops it on a designated drinks counter, and then everybody just drinks the wine they brought, unless someone (like me) insists others try what they brought (which I am always doing, so pushy). We don’t care too much about how well it matches the food – we just enjoy the wine we enjoy alongside the food we are eating. And let’s face it, the star of the Thanksgiving show is the turkey dinner, with the multiple traditional side dishes. So it seems to me what we MOST need is a wine that will play well with the major stars of the meal and be a fabulous team player. It will be delightful and welcome, but its welcome it shall not overstay.

While there are many wines clamoring for your attention, I picked this wine especially with Thanksgiving turkey dinner in mind: it partners exceptionally well with other foods, and is beautifully unique. It’s utterly delicious and I can’t think of any reason why anyone would not like it.

The wine you need, ladies and gentlemen, is Bacovino Winery’s… Counoise.

First of all, Counoise is not a weird French clown (although he could be? Hmm). Counoise (pronounced “COON – NWAHS”) is one of the red grape varieties allowed in the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends of the Rhône Valley in France. Bacovino sources its Counoise from Washington state’s highly venerated Red Mountain AVA and lets it stand solo.

Here are my tasting notes for Bacovino’s 2021 Signature Counoise:

• 100% Counoise from Red Mountain AVA
• $30/bottle
• A younger, lighter drinking wine
• Kind of a cross between a dessert wine and a light-bodied red like a Pinot Noir or Frappato
• Medium garnet/dusty crimson color with clear edge/rim
• Highly aromatic! Bright and full of cherry, strawberry, raspberry, spice, hazelnut
• 14.9% ABV
• Off-dry, so a touch of sweetness
• Rich, sweet mouth-filling fruit like black cherry, plum, strawberry preserves
• Very background tannins (wallflowers?) to give a little structure
• Tart acidity to keep you coming back for more
• Amazing, warm, lingering finish
• Serve slightly chilled, but not so chilled you can’t appreciate the aromatics

For those of you in the greater Seattle area, you can probably snag this wine in time for Thanksgiving. And if you’re not, go ahead and order some in time for Christmas; the same sorts of traditional holiday foods will work well with this wine. And even if you don’t celebrate any holidays or pair wines with foods, you still need to get this wine. No excuses (hint hint, it’s wonderful in the summer, too!).

No need to buy half a dozen or more different wines to try and pair with every last item on the menu (although if you are going to do that, please tell me what you did and how you liked the pairings!). Keep it simple, and surprise your loved ones with a delicious and delightful red like Bacovino Counoise.

Just be sure to buy more than you think you’ll need… it’s that good, and Christmas is coming up soon, too, after all. 😉

P.S. Bacovino is opening up a second location on the Seattle Waterfront very soon! Go check it out or see them in the mean time at their Tukwila winery and tasting room.

Sangiovese grapes fermenting at Bacovino Winery in Tukwila, Washington. Owner and winemaker Randy Brooks let us help with punch down on one occasion. Talk about a workout!

Related Posts on Bacovino:
Sangiovese
Dessert Wine
Viognier