Outsmarting Thanksgiving Wine with Ruche, Cali Wine, & More
The one thing that should not cause you stress this Thanksgiving is wine — that is, if you know where to look. I make Thanksgiving wine and holiday wine painless by laying out these four options.:
The Coolest Light Red: Ruchè from Piedmont, Italy
If you choose only one wine: here’s a moderately priced wine that is holiday-perfect, an insider pick that I first discovered at Danny Meyer’s soul-satifsying Marta restaurant in New York a few years ago: Ruchè (roo-kay). A light-to-medium bodied red, Ruche is versatile and goes beautifully with most foods, from light and dark meat turkey to baked ham to cranberry sauce and almost any side you bring to it. It has a wonderful, exotic red berry aroma that evokes both geraniums and black pepper, joined by a clean, refreshing, juicy taste that will invigorate everyone at your table. It is chic, fun, and light on its feet, like Pinot Noir crossed with the spirit of Isabella Rossellini.
A bonus for Ruchè is that it will shock and awe your guests as even many wine pros aren’t familiar with it, but it is available in the United States if you know where to look. Ask a good local wine merchant for it or consult Wine Searcher to see where it is closest to you.
I recently visited one of Ruche’s best producers, Crivelli in Monferrato, Italy, and talked with its owner, the cool cat Marco Crivelli, about Crivelli Ruche’s personality and the boozy origin of its label:
Buy Napa and Sonoma
In the wake of the California wildfires, Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino are open for business and needing our support. This holiday season, give thanks to the regions that have given us so much pleasure: buy Napa, buy Sonoma, buy Mendocino. And do try to visit Northern Cali wine country in the next year.
To honor some of the wineries most damaged in the wildfires, I sourced a selection of the wines available in New York, including Frey Organic Wine, William Hill Estate, Mayacamas Vineyards, Ancient Oak Cellars, Gundlach Bundschu Winery, Storybook Mountain Vineyards:
In Rachael Ray EveryDay: Mark’s Wines for Stuffing Your Face
In this month’s Rachael Ray EveryDay magazine, I supply strategies for Thanksgiving wine and holiday wine. I prefer going white and red (i.e., double-fisting it) on this most gluttonous of holidays, and also including pink bubbly and the recently released Beaujolais Nouveau in my T-day mix.
At The Daily Meal: Mark’s 10 Best People-Pleasing, No-Hassle, Thankgiving Wines Under $15
These ten wines are inexpensive, widely available, and sure to get you comfortably numb before family fights erupt.