Happy November and welcome to turkey season!  For the next few weeks we’ll be looking at what some of the best options are to help set your Thanksgiving in the right direction.  While Thanksgiving is typically represented by a turkey, most people’s meals go way beyond the just the bird.  Spreads can frequently include green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, stuffing, cranberry jelly, and so much more.  Pairing all those items can be a real challenge, but it also means that a wide variety of wines can work!

Enter chardonnay, a wine that typically gets thrown out as an optimal pairing for poultry, but chardonnay is a great partner for so much more than that.  Thanks to the richness of the winter root vegetables, it can also do well with potatoes and squash, especially oaked examples.  While if you happen to overcook the turkey, an unoaked example can be refreshing.

Perhaps you also like getting discounts, after all, who doesn’t.  It’s practically the entire reason to shop at Costco.  If you have to stock up on a lot of wine, their 10% off on a case can make their cheap and (somewhat) reputable wine an even better proposition for keep your family happy at the holidays.  So does Kirkland Sonoma County Chardonnay make for a Thanksgiving table topper, or should you look to a private label?

Sight:  A moderate gold, with a slight amount of wateriness to the edge.

Smell:  There’s a little hint of coconut to lead to off, but it get’s tempered to with more orange and apple.  There’s a light lean toward just short of ripe pineapple, but it’s caught up slightly in a mix of toasted oak and a hint of creaminess.   The nose is slightly tight.

Sip:   The start is round, and moves toward bright quickly, before moving slightly past bright to bitter.  There’s a good creaminess and weight to match the roundness, and there are flavors of oak, green apple, orange peel, and a hint of toasty spice.

Savor:  The ending is clean and a hint bitter, with notes of green apple, citrus, and a hint of creaminess.

Kirkland Sonoma County Chardonnay is a nice, but it’s just not exciting.  The slightly pervasive bitterness that go throughout doesn’t quite balance out the creaminess and smoke.  While there are some nice fruit flavors,  which serve to be refreshing, they’re short lived.  The finish is clean, and keeps the palate ready for anything, making Kirkland Sonoma County Chardonnay a good choice for Thanksgiving.

Verdict:  Green Apple, Smoke, Orange, Pith
Price: $8.99
Sonoma, California