Happy Thanksgiving 2017!

James Suckling and his team at Beefbar (23 NOV 2017)

We had our office Thanksgiving party last night in Hong Kong at Beefbar restaurant. I must admit that I am feeling a bit rough, though I seem to be having no problems tasting the 2015 Napa reds as I write this short piece.

All my team in Hong Kong, including our tasting editor Jack Suckling, my son, brought a bottle or two to share. Everyone had a story and reason behind their choice of wine. For instance, I brought a bottle of my very own One Wine One World white that I found in Watson’s Wine discounted to US$10 a bottle. It was a wine I bottled for charity back in 2010 and a blend of whites from Slovenia, Italy and Hungary. Unfortunately, it was dead and oxidized (it’s not even posted below). Luckily, my other offering, a magnum of 1997 Guilio Ferrari Trento made up for it. It showed incredible depth, intensity and flavor. It was a real star.

The stories that accompanied each bottle were often as interesting as the wines themselves. There was a Chablis that one person drank when he first met his girlfriend. Another uncorked a chardonnay from New Zealand that they brought back while on holiday last Christmas. My lovely wife brought a bottle of 2010 Lascombes because “I love Margauxs from the great 2010 vintage, and it’s good value, too.” My son brought a bottle of Oregon pinot and Tasmanian chardonnay because he tasted them both this year during separate tasting trips.

What did you drink for Thanksgiving? What are your favorite wines for this time of year? Anyways, here are ours and the tasting notes and scores.