Today on Weekend Meanderings, my wine loving friends give us their Thanksgiving wine recommendations, 12 bloggers share holiday charcuterie board ideas, a beautiful new book and classic camel coats you’ll wear all winter.
Happy weekend, friends!
It’s Saturday and I’m joining Kim and Elizabeth for Weekend Meanderings.
Our weekly roundup of inspiration and goings on.
We got rain this week
Lots of it.
And snow in the Sierras.
Let’s hope it continues.
In more good news, my back is mostly recovered.
Although I’m still not sitting at my desk.
I need to invest in a good chair.
It was a busy week.
While I missed out on the Hollywood Bowl,
I was able to join Jim et al to see Zac Brown at Oracle Arena Sunday night.
Yep, we were out on a school night.
On Wednesday, my friend Jane and I went to tour the Dana Green Team’s home staging warehouse.
Wow, it was like being in heaven with aisles of pillows, trays, throws and other amazing furniture.
If Serena & Lily and RH had a baby, it would be the DGT warehouse.
Are you ready for my weekly favs?
Let’s go!
THANKSGIVING WINE IDEAS FROM MY FRIENDS WHO KNOW
Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Are you hosting? Whether you’re hosting or guesting choosing wines to serve or bring is always a question. So, I asked some of my wine industry friends to weigh in on what they’re serving this year and here’s what they said.
Harry & Ellen Parsley, the proprietors of the Silver Stag Winery in Napa Valley, suggest their 2019 Coombsville Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Harry has a way with words, and this is what he has to say …
“We are entering that special time of year when friends and family gather together. The great presentation and variety of favorite foods piled high on your holiday table is quite wonderful. Wine is the ultimate condiment to enhance any food and meal. My favorite is Cabernet Sauvignon. And my favorite cab is our Coombsville Reserve from Napa Valley. This year the Parsley family will be enjoying our 2019 vintage. The wine is exquisite, lush, intense, and opulent.”
We’re in luck, the Parsley’s are offering 25% off their 2019 Reserve Cab through December 31, 2022. Get your order in soon to arrive by Thanksgiving. Order here.
Harry was the CEO at Buena Vista Winery for a very long time. I worked for him nearly 10 years, first as his executive assistant and later as the winery’s human resource director. Harry and Ellen hosted the best annual holiday open house. It was my favorite party of the season. It’s been 20+ years since those good old days but I still miss their party. Harry and Ellen will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary next week. Cheers to them!
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- Harry & Ellen Parsley
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- Silver Stag Winery Napa Valley Vineyards
My friend, John Garaventa, suggests two wines. A well-priced Charles & Charles Rose’ and Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Both can be found at Total Wine.
John and I also worked together at Buena Vista. He continued his brilliant wine industry career at several large company’s before switching gears to real estate. He’s now a powerhouse realtor based in Napa Valley. You can find John at his website and on Instagram.
John and his wife, Dana, have two teenage girls. This year they’re hosting Thanksgiving at their beautiful Napa home. John’s going to smoke a turkey. He says it’s a six-hour process and lots of wine is required. For John, not the turkey.
My friend, Kelly, is an amazing cook and consummate entertainer … in addition to a being a wine connoisseur. We count Kelly and her husband, David, as two of our oldest and dearest friends. Kelly says,
“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the whole process from planning, to prepping, and preparing the feast. Although I serve a combination of red (usually Pinot Noir and Grenache) and white (dry Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc) with dinner, I always have at least six bottles of sparkling wine chilled to serve throughout the day. I usually get up and make a casserole-type breakfast dish for the family and then get going on the feast. Which means lunch is basically appetizers and charcuterie. Perfect with sparkling wine. Most years I host between 10-20 people so affordable is good. Roederer or Gruet (purchased from Costco) fits the bill. I like a combination of rose and Brut ready to go and at $20 a bottle you don’t have to cringe if somebody mixes it with orange juice.”
Ha! I love that part about the OJ. Wine industry people take it very seriously … which is why I had to move back to the Bay Area before coming out of the closet with my love of spritzers.
Kelly adds, “David and I are a team the day of. I, of course, work on it at least a week prior. But the day of we divide and conquer.”
Kelly and David are a great team and the best parents. They have three grown children and five grandchildren. Their Sonoma County home is warm and welcoming, and no one goes hungry. Or thirsty.
With Kelly & David at Kyle’s Wedding
My friend, Keli, with an i, is also a wine industry veteran. She now runs a hugely successful consulting business. She and her husband, Darryl, host 16-20 people for Thanksgiving and Keli says they go through lots of wine throughout the day.
“We start with bubbles – Mumm Napa Blancs de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs is a great value and is often on sale this time of year. Because Thanksgiving lands in my busy season, I divide and conquer with my family so everyone brings their specialty and I concentrate on the turkey and stuffing. For all the competing flavors on the plate, I like super food friendly wine choices: French style dry rose and Sauvignon Blanc for whites, and Pinot Noir and Merlot for reds. This year I’m serving Matanzas Creek Sauvignon Blanc and Quivira Rose, and Markham Merlot. We’ll splurge on a Pinot Noir and likely serve Gary Farrell and Kosta Browne.”
Keli and Darryl have two daughters, one in and one just out, of college. They both grew up in Sonoma County. Darryl comes from a very big family and when we lived in the area, nearly everyone we knew had some connection to someone related to Darryl. We’ve attended many parties at Keli and Darryl’s over the years … they’re a super fun couple.
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- Darryl & Keli
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- Last Halloween
And, finally, my friend Michelle … she and I were partners in crime during our years at Buena Vista. Did I already say how much I miss those days? Michelle and I went into town (Sonoma) at least once a week for lunch, and Harry, our boss, told us that ‘Sonoma is a small town and in the time it takes you to drive back from lunch I’ll know where you ate, who you ate with and what you ate.’ And it was true! Subtext, when one lives in a small town everyone knows what everyone else is doing. That said, I think we got away with a lot of stuff Harry never new about. Sorry, Harry.
Anyway, Michelle is a busy woman, and weren’t able to properly connect this week but here’s what I made out from her text,
“I recently discovered a great Chardonnay, La Storia, from Geyserville, while I was in Montana. It’s butter, but not a butter Rombauer.”
I think what she’s saying is that the La Storia has buttery notes, but not a full-on butter like Rombauer which is known for its buttery style.
It didn’t look like I was going to get a photo from Michelle before posting, but it’s midnight and her photo just came through! Here she is with her friend, Katie, earlier today drinking Sauvignon Blanc and making pumpkin ravioli for their Thanksgiving feast. Michelle and Mark are hosting a group of 15, including Katie and her husband. Michelle says they’re having two turkey’s, one in the oven, one on the grill, and lots of sides including the pumpkin ravioli.
Michelle (right) & friend Katie
Hope this doesn’t embarrass any of us too badly, but here we are … Michelle, John and I … back in our Buena Vista days. We had fun.
Michelle, John, Juliet
And my personal recommendation for a Thanksgiving wine is Sophie James Pinot Noir Rose. I hesitate to mention it because it’s only available to wine club members. If you’re a member, or would like to be, I highly recommend it. When I opened a bottle last week Jim took a taste and declared it ‘very dry and perfect for Thanksgiving’. Let’s just say my choice for a Thanksgiving wine is a dry rose. There are so many well priced options available.
By the way, all of these recommendations are great wines to enjoy throughout the holiday season.
Thanks, Harry, Ellen, John, Kelly, Keli and Michelle … love all you guys and Happy Thanksgiving!
Shop some of wines recommended by my friends ~
Shop wine accessories ~
Ok, enough about wine, moving on …
HOLIDAY CHARCUTERIE BOARD IDEAS
Earlier this week I joined 11 other bloggers, including our Elizabeth, to share holiday charcuterie board ideas. Somehow I overlooked the ‘holiday’ part of the brief and had to scramble at the last minute to give my signature mini-charcuterie a holiday twist. If you missed it, read it here.
There were so many clever ideas in the group including these three that are my favorites …
Pinecones and Acorns | Hen and Horse Design | Trueman’s Treasures
Of course, I made the de rigueur Reel, but I had a lot more success with the video on YouTube. I’ve recently ventured into YouTube Shorts. If you’re not familiar, Shorts are up to 60 second vertical videos (similar to Instagram Reels and TikTok). I’m working on a standard format YouTube home tour video which I hope to have up early in 2023. Anyway, if you’re a YouTube viewer I’d love to have you subscribe to my channel. And if you’re not, I get it.
HUNGRY FOR HOME
Speaking of YouTube, when I was poking around the other day trying to figure out how it works I stumbled across an incredible home tour on the Homeworthy channel. Ruth McKeaney, a former attorney (assistant attorney general), and her husband, restored an amazing old farmhouse and barn outside Philadelphia. It’s a dream. In addition to renovating their home, and a flipping business, they’re raising 5 kids.
Images by Megan Tidmore via Savvymainline.com
Ruth recently published a book, Hungry for Home, documenting their family life and celebrations over the course of a year on their beautiful, historic property. Of course, I ordered the book immediately and I’ve been standing in the driveway waiting, impatiently, for it to arrive.
Hungry for Home by Ruth McKeaney
Ruth also has a beautiful Instagram and features Tip Tuesday which seems to involve making wonderful recipes … from the book.
CAMEL COATS
Earlier in the the week I was excited to pull my camel peacoat out of the closet for the first time this season. It’s a several-year-old Fleurette double breasted peacoat made of Loro Piana wool. I adore it. I found this old listing on Postmark.
I love camel coats, but that was not always the case. When my mom insisted that all well-dressed young girls wore camel coats I was not convinced. She and my grandmother declared it a classic and I was made to wear it for special occasions throughout fall and winter. When I entered middle school, we called it junior high back in the day, I somehow persuaded my mom to buy me a light blue camel-style coat. It was an otherwise standard, midi length winter coat, that for whatever reason, I deemed more hip and as a result more acceptable for my pre-teen self. I probably saw it in Seventeen magazine which I considered the height of sophistication.
I’ve since come to appreciate a camel coat. It’s a classic piece that that elevates any outfit. And my coat’s length lends itself to more casual outfits … like jeans. Which is exactly what I wore to tour the Dana Green Team’s home staging warehouse the other night. My friend, Jane, met me and we went for a casual dinner after. Forgive the messy closet. Jim was in the midst of unpacking from one trip and repacking for another.
Since my coat is no longer available I went in search of similar coats and found so many great options at all kinds of price points.
At the higher end, this Theory coat is so beautiful I want to cry … and it made this week’s outfit collage. It took all my willpower not to buy it. Did you hear that, Jim? This is definitely a high low outfit. On the high side, the coat, bag and loafers. And on the low side the Loft denim. The rest of the outfit is made up of pieces from Banana Republic that fall somewhere in between.
Camel Coat | Turtleneck | Belt | Denim | Bag | Scarf | Loafers
So there you have it, this weekend’s meanderings.
Let’s visit Kim and Elizabeth to see what’s they’re sharing.
Odds & Socks ~
Jim’s out galavanting … again.
I know.
This time it’s a personal boondoggle … his annual football weekend.
He’s with three long-time friends in Oxford, Mississippi.
They’re attending the Ole’ Miss vs Alabama game later today.
I’ll be watching Navy vs Notre Dame.
If you don’t know the history of this unique and storied tradition,
it dates from WWII and you can read about it here.
Navy’s been in a slump the past few years.
It could be ugly.
#GONAVY
If you missed last weekend’s meanderings, you can catch up here.
And follow along for more fun on Instagram and Pinterest.
As always, I appreciate your visit and welcome your thoughts in the comments below.
Cheers from Snowberry!
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