Muse Thanksgiving Quartet 2020

There’s no wine that hasn’t been said to pair well with roast turkey – from delicate Pinot Noir and soft Beaujolais to huge Lodi Zinfandel and Australian Shiraz, and from bright, aromatic Rieslings to brawny Alsatian Pinot Gris – it has all been recommended at one time or another. And rightly so, it is purely a matter of personal taste. We offer a Thanksgiving wine quartet that will enhance your bird and its accompaniments: If you are reducing the size of this year’s gathering, we offer this thought: In wine there is both consolation and perspective that together can produce a hopeful outlook in difficult times. As Ben Franklin wrote to a French comte (who needed no persuading, surely): “Wine is a constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.”

So, Cheers! and Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Muse.

Muse Thanksgiving Quartet 2020

Our 2020 Thanksgiving Quartet Includes:

Clio 2017
This is a fine wine from a fine vintage. Its flavors are melded beautifully and flow seamlessly; both a sensual and cerebral pleasure at the same time. (It is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Franc and Petit Verdot.) Matured in French barrels. ABV 14.2%.

Thalia 2019
This wine is a rich blend of the Rhone Valley white grapes Marsanne and Roussanne. It is fermented and undergoes malolactic conversion in French barrels where it is aged sur lees for one year to produce a complex, layered wine of depth and balance. This a wine for those who enjoy a full and rounded white with roasted turkey. ABV 13.2 %.

Pichet 2019
This is a light-bodied refreshing red wine made primarily from young-vine Cabernet Franc, berry flavors that predominate in the fruit of these young vines. It is what you would find by the carafe (“pichet”) on the terrace of a French cafe where it lubricates conversation and feeds a bonhomie that, mostly, ends well! ABV 12%.

Petit Verdot 2017
This wine is proof that Bordeaux’s orphan grape Petit Verdot has found its “forever home” at Muse vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley. The vines were in their tenth year in the warm dry vintage of 2017, their grapes ripened gently and fully. To be sure, this is a bigger wine than the ’17 Franc, but that’s its uncomplicated nature – foursquare, solid and satisfying. ABV 14%.

Supplies limited.

List Price $110. $99 (10% Discount). Wine Club Members $88 (20% Discount). Free Shipping.

Available for pickup only in our Tasting Room until Wednesday, November 25 at 6pm. Give us a call at (540) 459-7033 and we’ll have your Quartet ready for you when you arrive!

A Note on Pricing

Because viticulture is difficult in Virginia (heavy rains, late season rots, mildews, hard Spring frosts, cold winters, etc.) some wineries believe it justifies charging a premium for their wines. We don’t share that view – we chose to develop a vineyard and winery here and nobody should be expected to subsidize that choice. Hand-tended and harvested vines produce better wine, so the added expense of that kind of labor intensive viticulture is recouped in a bottle price that is objectively reflective of that quality. At Muse we insist on a fair value-to-price ratio, i.e. there’s no premium charged just because it’s Virginia wine – each wine we sell must stand on its own two feet as worth its price. Our Thanksgiving Quartet selections can be put up against a similar style of wine (for example, a barrel fermented white (e.g. white Burgundy) or a Bordeaux blend, e.g a Napa/Sonoma meritage) at the same retail price – assuming you can even find one in the $20-30 range – and our wine will always equal and in most cases exceed the quality of that wine. If you ever have reason to disagree, please tell us.