Art Chowder September | October Issue No. 29 | Page 42

The Pacific Northwest and California’s North Coast make these wines in
spades. These wines are seldom expensive wines, nor hard to find gems. They
are bounteous, easygoing and broadly intended to drink sooner rather than later.
Just like the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, they unify rather than divide;
they are “everyman’s” wines.
Like the food-friendly wines described in past months, these wines often go
by grape names like Gamay, Barbera, Dolcetto and Pinot Noir for skin-tinted
versions; white versions go by the names of Riesling, Chenin Blanc and
Sauvignon Blanc most often. Some of them have a touch of sweetness that
survives fermentation.
Sweetness in wine can be off-putting for many people, yet some sweetness
in wine offsets spicy or garlicky flavors in food. Tasters who prefer sweeter
styles by and large have the more sensitive, perceptive palates; these tasters
commonly avoid black coffee and hot peppers as these also taste intensely bitter
for them. The rest of us enjoy the rush of ardent flavors, happy for the bitter as
well as the intensity.
Fall’s wines are usually neither too sweet nor too bitter; these are a few West
Coast examples:
In California, Roederer Estate’s effervescent Brut Rose offers keen acidity
balancing the ripe, dried watermelon, cranberry and wild strawberry
impressions. Minerally brioche and bread aromas bridle the fruit inviting
savory, even briny, complex flavors from shellfish, roasting poultry and sage
dressing as easily as simple flavors like Romano-dusted popcorn.
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