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by Putnam Weekley
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Thanksgiving
Q: What’s a good wine for Thanksgiving?
A: Biere de Garde.
And if it must be an American one, in honor of the all American holiday,
I suggest
Oro de Calabaza, from
Dexter Michigan … where the leaves are still orange.
By now you must be thinking one of two things:
1) I’ve never heard of it, or 2) That’s not wine, it’s beer!
It is beer. Yet I ask you: what is beer?
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What is Beer?
Beer is wine of another fruit. The word “wine” is simply shorthand for
the most common type of wine, grape wine. So other types of wine are
qualified as cherry wine, apple wine, rice wine or barley wine. It’s all
wine. It’s all sanguine. Blood of the earth. Nectar of the gods.
As with “wine,” the word “beer” is shorthand too. Only in this case
popular usage is short not for beer’s most elite rendition but rather
for its most common one. Beer is no more synonymous with industrial
lager than wine is with Sangria.
If all I ever encountered when ordering wine was Sangria what would I
possibly think of Louis Pepiere Muscadet
or Schweiger Cabernet Sauvignon?
(<$20, nope, not a typo folks, more on that later).
I’d much rather drink Schweiger Cabernet Sauvignon than any Sangria. But
then, I must admit, if Sangria was served for Thanksgiving dinner I’d
slurp that down too, without hesitation; provided there were enough ice
cubes.
Wait a minute! I’m bringing the drinks. I can bring anything I want. So
what’ll it be?
I am asked the question 100 times every year and I return to my answer
at the outset. If all drinks are considered, from fruit juice to scotch,
from sake to Shiraz, there is just one drink that adds more than its
part to Thanksgiving dinner: Biere de Garde
… or something similar like pale, dry Bock, or Saison, or Brune.
Every year the newspaper wine writers find (or rather, recycle) a new
“angle” on what to drink with Thanksgiving Dinner. The object is to find
a wine that isn’t too tannic. Drink Zinfandel, they say, because it’s
all-American and its fruit dominates its tannins. But Zinfandel usually
has alcohol levels bordering on jet fuel, a fact that makes it a crude
partner to subtle turkey and stuffing.
So drink Pinot Noir they say. I love Pinot Noir. It’s finicky. Proof of
that is how sweet squash and cranberry sauce seem to bring out its ugly
side. With roasted bird and potatoes alone Pinot Noir is king. With the
other stuff it can be an awkward display of mud and spent tea flavor.
It’s no use. I’ve tried Beaujolais and Riesling (too wimpy). I’ve tried
Shiraz and Rhone (too alcoholic). Nothing seems to work better than
bistro-style beer, primarily those made using Flemish recipes.
Wait a minute … didn’t the Pilgrims make a pit stop in Holland (which is
not far from Flanders)? Yes they did. Maybe that’s where they got the
menu! And maybe that’s why the table drink of Flanders goes so darn well
with it. Hallelujah!
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Birra del
Vecchio, from Calabria:
I only re-review beer when I think the first try was really wrong in
some way. For maybe the 10th or 20th time I must redo one now.
There is simply no better light, 100% malt pilsner-style beer for sale
in this jurisdiction. I doubt if there is one that exceeds this in
quality anywhere in the country. I assumed even the rare and personally
sentimental choice of Rothaus Pils
would outclass this. In fact it was the reverse.
My standard for the style is many pints of
Budvar consumed in Germany and the Czech Republic in the
early 90s. That beer still lives in my memory as the nuttiest, crispest,
purest expression of the style. This is #2.
More recently I've been obsessed with the various lager's of the Bamberg
brewery known as Mahr's. However,
nothing they make has the balance of richness and clean lightness this
beer has (though I must wait for confirmation as I will likely drink
Mahr's Leicht for the second time ever
later this week). A comparison with Victory's
Prima Pils exposed that undisputably excellent beer as a
confection of quick, turbo yeast-fermented malt and hops overreach.
What's more, the sample I am drinking now was brewed and bottled well
over a year ago and stored in less than ideal conditions. What other
light lager could withstand such a torture test and still be drinkable,
let alone be the BEST of its class?
I have consumed cases of this beer. Strangers who encounter it for the
first time spontaneously pull me aside and ask where its from, why it's
so good. I tell them I don't know. I never assumed the water in Calabria
was anything special, though maybe it is. Maybe that's why this pils is
so complete. Or maybe its due to homespun Italian taste values: a tacky,
ugly label and ambrosia inside the brown glass.
Here was my initial review. It accompanied a "score" of 4.7 as I
couldn't quite believe what I was tasting:
Purchased from the floor of a beer store, I wondered the following: 1)
would this obscure Italian lager be fresh? 2) is this some kind of
tourist-brand - overpriced like wines from Provence or coffee from
Hawaii? In fact, there was nothing to fear.
On the back label it reads: "Browed [sic] with natural. Ingredient
(malt, hop)"
The uncapped bottle burst to life with dense, pungent aromas of cut
grass and golden cereals. The color was manila folder-yellow/tan and the
head was soapy.
A fruity, rich entry of subtle, bready flavors resolved into a tangy,
bitter and long finish. The flavors included notes of overripe lemon.
What astonished me was the voluptuous, creamy texture, supported by
unobtrusive mousse, and how it was structured with noble mineral
elements. Then it eased into cakey, bitter hop extracts to power the
very long finish. This is a world-class, natural-tasting Pils. Fans of
this category must seek it out (my sample was obtained at Poughkeepsie's
Half Time.)
By way of comparison, A Gaffel Koelsch
served after this beer just could not measure up for style, character or
richness.
NOTE: I can find no evidence that this beer contains "adjunct". On the
other hand, there is ample evidence that it is in fact an all malt
recipe: 1) the back label -- see above. 2) the brewery's claim that it
is from an 'old Pilsner recipe from the north.' 3) the fact that it
tastes like an all malt beer. This would more properly have been added
as a "Czech Pilsner" or, if you prefer, "Euro Lager."
 Previously in Putnam's Monthly:
A Listed Look
At Liquids
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