This Thanksgiving, you can brag that your wine was selected by the nation’s best restaurant.
The James Beard Foundation named Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder an “outstanding restaurant” in the country this year. Co-founder and sommelier Bobby Stuckey is also this year’s Julia Child Award recipient.
Colorado Matters asked Stuckey to recommend three out-of-the-ordinary wines for Thanksgiving under $30 — one to pair with turkey, another with ham, and a third with a vegetarian spread.
Like his restaurant, Stuckey’s selections reflect his passion for Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a wine-producing region of northeast Italy. If you are unable to find a given label, Stuckey recommends asking your wine seller to find something similar.
To pair with turkey: Timido by Scarpetta (sparkling rosé)
“I love bubbles during the holiday season — be it champagne, prosecco or cava. They're cleansing and refreshing for the table. This one is dry. Not to get too technical, but it's about four grams per liter of residual sugar (RS). Most proseccos or other sparkling wines are 13-plus. This is as crispy and crunchy as you can get. In Italy, we call this varietal pinot nero (pinot noir in France).”
To pair with vegetables: Friulano from Ronchi Di Cialla (white)
“I've never met Mother Nature, but I think when she created this varietal, she closed her eyes and she thought of the citrus notes of great sauvignon blanc. But this herbaceous note that you would get of Grüner Veltliner or Alsatian pinot gris. It kind of builds those two aromatics. It's a varietal that's really great with vegetables because there's an herbiness to it. On the flip side, it's great with prosciutto di San Daniele, which is from Friuli. It’s what I would call a great food wine.”
To pair with ham: Libera by Bava (red)
I chose a Barbera. I would call this a medium red. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it’s like the gateway drug to Italian red wine drinking. It’s low-tannin, so it doesn’t grip your mouth like cabernet. But it has this incredible fruit acid. Think about Barbera as like a plum. It’s got that tartness to go with so many dishes.
