WCI here! I hope your holiday weekend is going well, and you are enjoying time with family, friends, and fine wine!

I had mentioned that we were going to have a Bruce Pinot with our turkey dinner, but on a whim, I switched to a 2001 Elk Grove Pinot Noir instead, and it was awesome! Deep, big, and still lots of fruit. It was a perfect match for the Thanksgiving Day feast. The Ste. Chappelle Reisling was excellent as usual, and the “Huck” huckleberry wine was a surprise hit! I also switched dessert wines, going for a 2003 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Gold Digger Cellars. It was still nicely acidic, and was a good pairing with the Pumpkin cobbler we had for dessert.

Please send me a comment with your Thanksgiving Day pairings so we can post every one’s traditions!

Today I’d love to chat about the Vinesse family of wine clubs (www.vinesse.com).

Vinesse actually has 6 different clubs you can choose from. Here’s a brief description of each:

1) The American Cellars club sends you either 2 or 4 bottles a month of wines from small distributors. Usually between $12 – 15/bottle.

2) The World of Wine club sends you interesting wines from a different country each shipping. You get 6 bottles every other month, and they range from $15 – 20 per bottle.

3) The Four Seasons club sends out 5 shipments of 4 bottles each year, basically once for every season, plus a special bonus holiday shipment. The wines are selected to match the food of the season, and are about $20 per bottle.

4) The California Treasures club ships about every 8 weeks, and features 4 bottles from boutique wineries from around California. About half are from Napa and Sonoma, and the rest are from areas around the state. They average about $12 – 15/bottle.

5) The Elevant Society features exclusive, big, bold reds from the US and around the world. They range from about $29-35 per bottle, and you get either 2 or 4 bottles per month. I’ve belonged to Elevant for almost 4 years, and have never been disappointed!

6) Being a big dessert wine fan, I’m also a member of their “Light and Sweet” club, which features a wide variety of lighter, sweeter wines from around the world. Some are sparkling, some are roses or blushes, but all are fun to drink. You get either 2 or 4 bottles every other month for between $12 – 15/bottle.

Vinesse also has 3, 6 or 12 month gift subscriptions, and if you contact them now, they’ll have them at your friend’s doors by Christmas!

Have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow along the dusty wine roads!

Cheers,

WCI