REVIEW OF:
Mayhall Tibbs Pinot Noir, 2013
Santa Rita Hills, CA
$10.99 (at Trader Joe’s, but not Trader Joe’s exclusive)

Everyone says this, but this time it’s actually true: My mom’s Thanksgiving dinner is legendary.

Wherever she is is where the family congregates, and for good reason. Her fare includes, of course, a turkey (which, when I was little, my father and I traditionally picked out two nights prior to dinner, attempting to find the biggest bird possible — I’m talking 28-pounders for our little family of not more than ten, even with all available extended members present — in part to frustrate my mother, who’d complain about how early she’d have to get up to get the thing cooked, if she could even get it defrosted in time) (P.S. sorry mom, I now see that this is not a cute prank but actually a really annoying and wasteful bit of mischeif). But it also includes fresh, whole-mashed potatoes, assorted greens, bacon baked beans, real cranberry sauce (of my making), and my absolute favorite part — the stuffing.

My mother’s stuffing is made of hot Jimmy Dean sausage and a whole loaf of white bread. There’s other stuff, too, but that gives you the basic picture. And she actually stuffs it inside the bird, where it gets all juiced up and sexy on turkey drippings.

When I was trying out vegetarianism as a contrary twelve-year-old, I ate a full plate of it after eschewing meat for eight months. I got very, very ill. And had more of it the next day.

In fact, this is only the second time the vegetarian thing has gotten in the way of this meal (yeah by the way, I kind of gave up meat — post on that forthcoming). I knew I’d take a Thanksgiving break well ahead of time — my vegetarianism this time comes not out of some competitive, “I carry this card” mentality, but rather from a revamped understanding of the environmental impact of eating animals. In short, I’m trying to reduce waste, and I don’t even pretend I’m going to stop eating meat on special occasions — at an exclusive restaurant or during big events, familial and otherwise. Not to do so would be a) wasteful in its own right and b) missing out, which I’m not about.

Anyway, I wound up in the exact same position this year. I’ve just come back from St. Augustine, where I went last weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving 2015 early, since I’m unavailable this coming weekend (volunteering at Remote Area Medical in Bradenton!), and the weekend after — Thanksgiving weekend proper — I’ll be working toward The Penny Hoarder‘s round-the-clock Black Friday coverage. Just as when I was twelve, I discovered myself on the floor on Sunday night, having eaten way, way too much stuffing… but eager to bring home the remaining heap in the cooler I’d packed specifically for that purpose.

But as I was driving home Monday afternoon, pondering the tasty leftovers I’d tactfully crammed into my little red cooler, I was suddenly concerned. What wine would pair best with a Thanksgiving meal? At home, our classic celebratory brew is Moet Imperial, but having had (is this even something I can say? I guess it is) perhaps enough champagne for a while over the weekend, I began to meditate on appropriate stills. Sauv blanc, though a trusted food wine, just wasn’t on my radar for this particular evening. Cabernet or merlot sounded like too much, all that rich black fruit and chocolate drying up in the face of savory meats and sweet cranberry sauce. No. I needed a special red, one light but which could still hold its own, one whose multifaceted character brings me back again and again.

I needed pinot noir.

mayhall tibbs

I’ve heard it said that pinot noir, although becoming one of the new darlings in American wine, isn’t a really interesting varietal for less than a $20 bottle. It’s a hard wine to produce — finicky, as you may know from this famous scene in the film Sideways — and so usually lacking integrity in its super-affordable forms.

I’m always eager to challenge this assumption, but I will say, pinot is one that’s hard to get at super-bargain-basement prices. There’s a very distinct difference in quality between a $6 pinot and a $16, and a $35 can be truly sublime. I’ve had quality $6 sauv blanc and even very low-end chards can hold their own. But pinot noir has so many subtle nuances and layers, such a fine-lined dance between fruit and mineral quality… it’s hard to translate that into $6 a pop.

So I scooped up this one for just under $11, and I have to say, I’m not disappointed.

I went to ABC and scoped out the Wilamette Valleys — everything was over $20. But trusty Trader Joe’s came through: this California special’s tag promised raspberry and baking spice.

Sure enough, it delivered! This is a nice little pinot that was not drowned out by my big (wonderful) Thanksgiving leftover meal.

First thing on the nose and the palate: candied cherry, and a lot of it! Then raspberry, and some strawberry as it moved toward its secondary characteristics: forest floor, and a finish of vanilla and nutmeg. The oak, although present, in no way overwhelmed the fresh, red fruit flavors at the top of the wine.

The fruit quality on this guy cannot be beat. Candy candy candy. Some die-hards would dismiss this as an American tell, missing the minerality of old-world pinot noir, to whom I say: …Yeah, maybe. But the luscious fruit is balanced with some structure here, and the tannins are soft and well-integrated. The high acid carries the wine through its paces and the finish is medium-length, still reverberating with both primary and secondary notes.

It’s good wine. And it’s about $10. Go get you some.

P.S. — Promise I’ll review a white next. And a wine I didn’t buy at Trader Joe’s… maybe not next. But really soon.