Enter into the spirit of Thanksgiving with the toast of wines from the US (and some of them even at affordable prices)
Tesco Finest Zinfandel, Lodi, California, USA 2022 (£9.50, Tesco) One of the many things that Donald Trump’s opponents are fretting about in the months between now and his inauguration in January is the promise of swingeing tariffs (do tariffs do anything but swinge?) on exports to the US. The concern goes beyond foreign businesses trying to sell their products in the US. For American wine producers, it’s hard to see how the inevitable tit for tat responses in the EU and elsewhere would be anything less than disastrous for their exports, if only because their better wines are already, how to put it, kinda expensive. Certainly, the point where US wine gets really interesting is considerably higher than almost any other major wine-producing country in Europe and beyond: there is very little that causes more than a flutter of interest below £20, and decent under-£10 bottles are rarer than a Democrat voter in rural Wyoming, with Tesco’s lushly blackberry and blueberry-juicy red being an usual sighting of this endangered species in the wild.
M&S Collection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA 2022 (£25, Marks & Spencer) For the time being in the UK, at least before the promised orange chaos begins, there is a lot of pleasure to be had in US wines if you are willing and able to spend over £20. And for any readers looking to splash out in celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, my US recommendations would start with an example of the country’s most famous combination or region and grape variety: cabernet sauvignon from California. In a style that is generally rather more fulsome and richer than the Bordeaux producers that originally inspired them, the finest, most in-demand California Cabs (such as the extraordinarily deep, plushly velvety stylings of Napa’s Harlan Estate or the graceful Ridge Monte Bello from the Santa Cruz Mountains) are every bit as luxuriously priced as first-growth Bordeaux. But M&S’s cherry, cassis, and black-olive-scented example from the variety’s Napa Valley heartland offers plenty of suave, sun-filled California-cabernet vibes for comfortably less than the three (or even four) figures you’d need for the state’s cult bottlings.
Continue reading… Enter into the spirit of Thanksgiving with the toast of wines from the US (and some of them even at affordable prices)Tesco Finest Zinfandel, Lodi, California, USA 2022 (£9.50, Tesco) One of the many things that Donald Trump’s opponents are fretting about in the months between now and his inauguration in January is the promise of swingeing tariffs (do tariffs do anything but swinge?) on exports to the US. The concern goes beyond foreign businesses trying to sell their products in the US. For American wine producers, it’s hard to see how the inevitable tit for tat responses in the EU and elsewhere would be anything less than disastrous for their exports, if only because their better wines are already, how to put it, kinda expensive. Certainly, the point where US wine gets really interesting is considerably higher than almost any other major wine-producing country in Europe and beyond: there is very little that causes more than a flutter of interest below £20, and decent under-£10 bottles are rarer than a Democrat voter in rural Wyoming, with Tesco’s lushly blackberry and blueberry-juicy red being an usual sighting of this endangered species in the wild.M&S Collection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, USA 2022 (£25, Marks & Spencer) For the time being in the UK, at least before the promised orange chaos begins, there is a lot of pleasure to be had in US wines if you are willing and able to spend over £20. And for any readers looking to splash out in celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, my US recommendations would start with an example of the country’s most famous combination or region and grape variety: cabernet sauvignon from California. In a style that is generally rather more fulsome and richer than the Bordeaux producers that originally inspired them, the finest, most in-demand California Cabs (such as the extraordinarily deep, plushly velvety stylings of Napa’s Harlan Estate or the graceful Ridge Monte Bello from the Santa Cruz Mountains) are every bit as luxuriously priced as first-growth Bordeaux. But M&S’s cherry, cassis, and black-olive-scented example from the variety’s Napa Valley heartland offers plenty of suave, sun-filled California-cabernet vibes for comfortably less than the three (or even four) figures you’d need for the state’s cult bottlings. Continue reading… Wine, Food, Life and style, American food and drink
