Wine Club November: Two South American Reds Perfect for Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and that means an annual tradition for Grand Cata: releasing November’s Wine Club early so that you can grab the wines for Thanksgiving! The wines arrived to the shop mid afternoon Thursday, so you can drop by and pick them up starting tonight, Friday, Nov. 16th. The official release party will take place this Sunday, Nov. 18th, from 3 to 6pm.

For this release, we chose two reds from South America that represent the cutting edge of what’s going on down there. One is as juicy, delicious and drinkable as wine can get. The other focuses on the more savory, herbal aromas and flavors that cool climate vineyards provide.

“Via Revolucionaria” is the brainchild of Matías Michelini, one of four winemaking brothers that comprise the umbrella concept called “passionate wines,” based out of Tupungato, Argentina. Each of the brothers has multiple projects at any given time all throughout the world, from Galicia to Peru to the Atlantic coast of Argentina.

The wine we chose from Matías uses one of our absolute favorite grapes. Many of you may recognize its cousin país, the backbone of Pipeño from Chile, also known as misíon in Mexíco, mission in California, and criolla chica in Argentina. The grape in this wine is criolla (pronounced cree-yoh-sha) grande.

The wine aptly describes Matías philosophy at the moment: freshness, with a focus on fruit and floral notes, and above all, drinkability. The wine tastes like cranberry and cherry juice infused with lavender and black pepper. It’s nowhere near as smoky as chilean país. Think of it as amped up cranberry sauce!

If the first wine pairs with the turkey itself, the second wine, a malbec, cariñena, tempranillo blend from the “Vinos Fríos del Año” line by J.A. Jofré of Chile, pairs with side dishes. We never thought we say this, but we actually found a wine that legitimately pairs perfectly with stuffing!

Jofré’s “vinos fríos” line are wines sourced from vineyards nestled closer to the Andes in the Curicó valley, where the climate is cooler due to breezes from the mountains. Malbec, cariñena, and tempranillo are not common grapes in the valley, nor are they grapes commonly grown in cooler climates. The results are stunning. While fairly full bodied, the wine has exceptional acidity and noticable, but not distracting, tannins. But the most striking feature of the wine is an intense herbal aroma of dill and something akin to garlic. While not devoid of fruit tones, this wine very obviously revolves around savory flavors and aromas. Delicious!

We look forward to seeing you for the release party on Sunday! And again, if you’ll be traveling over the weekend, the wines are already in the store and ready for pick up. Happy Thanksgiving!