Drink local — and well — this Thanksgiving, with advice from Tacoma’s wine and cider pros
You’ve had the butcher cut the bird into pieces for a manageable small Thanksgiving centerpiece. You’ve bought local green beans and Yukon golds, squash and salad. You’ve got a professionally made pie and ice cream to match.
All is well at your very small, very South Sound Thanksgiving.
Unless, of course, you forgot the alcohol.
Since you won’t need to satisfy the thirsty gullets of copious guests, 2020 has bestowed upon us yet another chance to give into our own desires for better wine, not cheap chardonnay to satisfy the aunt you see but once a year.
Because cider is also having a moment in the region, and there is no better time to drink cider, we asked two sets of newcomers to Tacoma’s booze scene for their Thanksgiving pairing recommendations. If you get hooked, both shops offer clubs with monthly selections available for pickup.
WINE, with Field Bar & Bottle Shop
Field Bar opened this summer on Sixth Avenue, with plans to eventually become a full-service cocktail bar and restaurant. For now, owner Brian Hibbard operates the cozy space as a retail store with what is perhaps the loveliest selection of low-alcohol and cocktail-worthy bottles for miles.
Though he carries select beer and cider, he specializes in natural wine, and will kindly guide you to whatever bottle suits you and yours. For dessert, he recommends sherry, and if there is anyone who can convince you of sherry’s worth (aside from the fine folks at en rama), it’s Hibbard.
I’ll let him take it away.
TO KICK THINGS OFF: Pétillant Natural, $20-$35 (affectionately known as Pét-Nat)
Whether this year’s Thanksgiving is in-person with your household, or if you’re trying out “Zoom: Holiday Edition,” there seems to be a universal rule of eating a super huge feast somewhere between lunch and dinner, creating a weird food timeline where you’re not sure if you should eat at all in the morning or if you should eat more than usual — embracing the stomach-stretching rule.
However you have honed your strategy over the years, grabbing a glass of bubbles to stimulate your appetite is a classy move that also is beneficial to getting your taste buds teased.
Don’t start too early — for plenty of reasons, primarily because you’ll be making unintentional hangry glances at the cook(s) in the kitchen and sneaking more hors d’oeuvres than you really should be. When the meal is near, reach for a bottle of the bubbles that have made a joyous return to popularity, Pétillant Naturel. Unlike more traditional sparkling wines, Pét-Nats are bottled mid-fermentation to capture the carbon dioxide, absorbed into the wine to create a beautiful effervescence that’s calm, polite, and perfectly suitable for a pre-dinner sip.
TO PAIR WITH TURKEY: Gamay, $20-$30
“Not too sweet”: a near-ubiquitous request from the vast majority of bottle shop patrons. The phrase carries a lot of weight and, in my opinion, can create some confusion and pigeonholing.
If I put a bottle of intensely dry, classic old-world Dolcetto in front of you with characteristics of bitter flowers, chalky tannins, and earthy vibes, this may not be the golden ticket item for someone who doesn’t want something sweet. There’s a lot of play in between, and this is one of the reasons I love having the word “juicy” in my frequently used flavor profile vocabulary of adjectives. After all, that’s what wine is — juice — and some grape varietals and styles showcase that characteristic better than others.
Enter in the main event of your evening: turkey. It seems that our culture is constantly trying to find new ways to make it new, creative, and avoid its inevitable drying-out by bringing new creative preparations. In the same sense, however you prepare your turkey, let’s try bringing something juicy to accompany — just in case the deep fryer experiment doesn’t work out.
Gamay, with its tart blackberry, pomegranate, cranberry vibes, a balance of fruit-forward acid along with just enough earth: It’s a perfect compliment to some dried-out turkey breast slices that you know you have to say “mmmmmmm” to at your in-laws house. And if the bird is moist? All the better: the pairing will suffice, and your mouth will water twice as much.
TO SIP WITH PIE: Sherry, $10-30
We all think of Niles and Frasier Crane when we think of sherry, don’t we? Perhaps you don’t have a luxurious crystal decanter in your apartment with an impossible view of the Space Needle in Seattle, but that doesn’t mean that sherry isn’t for you.
This oxidative, fortified wine can be the perfect partner for pumpkin, pecan, apple, marionberry — truly any pie.
Just like staring wide-eyed at the looming wine labels in the shop, sherry can also be overwhelming, and I’d recommend searching for something on the dryer side to allow a perfect compliment to your sweet pie. Take a gander with an Oloroso, an extra oxidized and slightly heavier sherry that is naturally dry, but with a round texture and fuller body that makes that brain of yours detect just a smidgen of nutty sweetness to compliment your dessert perfectly.
CIDER, with Cider + Cedar
Another young face in Tacoma’s drink scene, Cider + Cedar, which opened in July, also operates as a dual bar and bottle shop. Owners Mia Daughenbaugh and Sterling Paradiso have curated — and continue to explore — ciders from around the world, but with a heavy focus on the Pacific Northwest.
You’ll find only natural ciders here, and they will surprise even the most skeptical of beer drinkers.
The space also stands to be the envy of every wannabe designer: Paradiso owns remote land on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula, from where he sourced millennia-old cedar to create live-edge wood fixtures that serve as tables, shelves and, strikingly, the back bar.
The couple’s passion for both of their venture’s focal points just might change your Thanksgiving traditions for good.
I’ll let Daughenbaugh and Paradiso explain where to start, and why cider is built for this (usually) gluttonous holiday.
A PERFECT PAIRING
Cider pairs brilliantly with food, and Thanksgiving is a fantastic time to celebrate the history behind the drink. Early European settlers brought apple seeds with them to North America, and planted those seeds with the intention of fermenting the fruit into cider. Until Prohibition, cider was often the drink of choice.
We’re fortunate in our region to have many small, local cider makers who are contributing to the drink’s renaissance. Fall is all about the apple, and as they say: What grows together, goes together. What better accompaniment to America’s celebratory harvest feast!
Need another reason to add cider to your Thanksgiving lineup? With alcohol by volume generally between 6.5 and 9 percent, it’s great for longer, drawn-out meals. Cheers to drinking more with dinner!
TO KICK THINGS OFF: Cockrell Cider, American Heirloom, $12
This single varietal cider is out of Puyallup, made from the Roxbury Russet. This apple is generally recognized as the oldest American heirloom apple originating in 1635 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. That might be reason enough to enjoy it on Thanksgiving. Low in tannins and acidity, with a touch of sweetness and lovely effervescence, this is a great cider to start off with.
TO PLEASE MOST ANYONE: Alpenfire, Glow
Out of Port Townsend, Alpenfire is one of the older cider makers in Washington state. The bright red color of this cider is entirely from the Airlie Redflesh apple used to make it. With slight astringency and bright fruit acidity, this cider has notes of cranberry and strawberry that lead to a dry finish. You can’t go wrong with this one.
TO COUNTERACT THE HEAVY STUFF: Snowdrift, Cliffbreaks Blend, $19
This bold semi-sweet cider out of Wenatchee uses a blend of heirloom apples. It has well structured tannins, with notes of citrus and caramel. The acidity and tannins both balance and cut through the rich Thanksgiving foods we all love.
TO GET A LITTLE FUNKY: Son of Man, Sagardo
A good case can be made for serving this Basque-style sidra with your holiday meal. Out of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, this cider is spontaneously fermented with native yeast, unfiltered, and bottle conditioned. It’s dry, tart, and a little funky — for the slightly more adventurous drinker, this cider will hold up well to turkey and potatoes. It’s also meant to be poured from height to aerate it: start the pour close to the glass and raise it as you go.
TO DIG WITH DESSERT: Alpenfire, Smoke, $30
A Pommeau, this dessert cider might just be dessert enough. Fermented to dry, then aged in rye whiskey barrels before being matured in peated whiskey barrels, estate bittersweet apple brandy is added to this smokey cider bringing it to 18 percent alcohol by volume.
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FIELD BAR & BOTTLE SHOP
▪ 2614 6th Ave., Tacoma, no phone number, fieldtacoma.com
▪ Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 2-8 p.m.
▪ Details: order online for pickup; visit for recommendations
CIDER + CEDAR
▪ 612 Tacoma Ave. S, Tacoma, 253-327-1404, ciderandcedar.com
▪ Hours: Wednesday-Thursday 4-8 p.m., Friday 4-9 p.m., Saturday 2-9 p.m., Sunday 2-8 p.m.
▪ Details: order online for pickup; visit for recommendations