Tradition takes a holiday

SOME sommeliers might get the day off on Thanksgiving, but that rarely means they’re not working. Often, they’re still nose to the glass and taste buds cranked, trying to master the panoply of flavors found in the traditional feast. But on day-after parties, like the rest of us, they tend to get a little unbuttoned and fool around.

Although day-after dishes may have many of the same ingredients as the holiday menu, says sommelier Caitlin Stansbury of the Lodge in Beverly Hills, “flavors seem to mellow and coalesce. This allows for a bit more latitude with the wine.”

Quite a bit more latitude, it turns out. When we asked a number of area sommeliers what they bring to post-Thanksgiving gatherings, we discovered that they set aside the Zinfandel and the Beaujolais for another day and uncork some pretty interesting stuff.

Over the years, Jar’s owner and wine director Bob Silverstein has faced his share of day-after improvisations, mostly because he’s friends with too many chefs. They’ve been known to devote that Friday to resurrecting the bird in a variety of ways: turkey pizzas, turkey and sausage casseroles, turkey fritters (“Sometimes it gets a little bizarre,” he admits).

For experiments big and small, Silverstein typically prefers whites that are high in acid. He loves the crisp whites from Rueda in central Spain.

“They tend to have a nice mineral cut,” he says, “an almost lemony edge to them, even a little effervescence if they’re young; they balance out all that richness.” One he’s fond of is the 2005 Verdejo from the producer Pasil.

Silverstein is also a big fan of a spicy, low-key 2003 Santa Barbara County Syrah from a winery called Paige 23, made by his pal Chris Keller, wine director for Joe’s in Venice.

Keller, for his part, favors high acid, low alcohol whites for the day after, departing from the practice of pairing rich Thanksgiving flavors with rich wines like American Chardonnays.

“After all that family, you’re trying to wind down,” says Keller, “The parties get a little more close-knit, and the celebration might even get a little crazier.”

One of his favorites is a Sylvaner from the Alsatian producer Jean-Pierre Dirler. “Sylvaner,” says Keller, “is very similar to Riesling, but I think it’s a little smoother on the palate, a little cleaner, but still with lots of acid of course.” He adds that many, many whites from Alsace -- Pinots Blanc and Gris, Gewurztraminers, and Rieslings too -- can match the complexity of seasonal fare and have the acid to cut through it.

For reds, Keller goes to Spain. Reservas from Rioja and Ribera del Duero would do the trick, but he prefers fresher, less-oak-driven crianzas. He also looks to newer wine regions such as Bierzo and Catalunya. “I love this Bierzo wine,” he says, “called Pucho. It’s made with a grape variety called Mencia that’s native there, and has this bouncy, light, spicy red-fruit character.”

A.O.C. floor sommelier Amy Christine spends Thanksgiving weekends with boyfriend Peter Hunken (assistant winemaker at Stolpman Vineyard & Winery in Santa Barbara County) and his family in Palm Springs. The day-after pool party, featuring an elaborate sandwich assembly line, culminates in an early-evening poker tournament.

Christine and her beau usually contribute a number of inexpensive, light, spicy reds; one that’s made the list several years running is the Grenache-based Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac, from the southern Rhone.

“It has a little structure,” says Christine, “and it’s got enough tannin to give the wine a little oomph, but it’s not too heavy, either.”

As for whites, Christine loves German Riesling poolside -- fresh, bracing and ice cold. “We like to do something light, like a kabinett from Donnhoff or Muller-Catoir -- crisp, low in alcohol, and easy to drink.”

There’s another good reason to drink Riesling: the poker.

“We take it very seriously,” she says. “I think I have an advantage over those drinking California Chardonnay: Since the alcohol is so much lower, I have a clearer head, and make far wiser decisions.”

But all of those mellowing, coalescing flavors, even if they’re simply assembled on a sandwich, can stand up to a little complexity too. Brooke Burton, general manager and wine director for Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, is also a sandwich fan. She and her soon-to-be-fiance Hans Luttmann, who directs the wine program at Hatfield’s, are fervent advocates of gargantuan, preposterous, uber-Dagwoods. “They’re multitiered, from everything we made the day before -- the whole deal, between slices of bread.”

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Perfect pairings

THEIR favorite red for this particular form of gluttony is from the southern Rhone, the very approachable 2003 Clos de l’Oratoire des Papes, from Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This blend of mostly Grenache, with Mourvedre, Syrah and Counoise, has plenty of exotic anise and gingerbread spices to hold up to whatever’s packed into those sandwiches.

One year, Burton pureed butternut squash for a rich, velvety, turkey broth-based squash soup and served it with a 2005 white Rhone from Vacqueyras that’s now on the list at Ford’s: Domaine de Montvac, a blend of Roussanne, Clairette and Bourboulenc.

“It’s pretty savory,” she says, “and surprisingly earthy for a white, with beautiful citrus and pear fruit, and that nutty, ‘hay’ quality that Roussanne sometimes has.”

Meanwhile, Silverstein suggests amarone, a specialty from Italy’s Veneto region, made by partly drying the grapes before pressing, resulting in a wine of uncommon depth and complexity with a spicy dried-fruit quality that’s perfect with, for example, a gamey turkey stew. Several fit the bill, but Silverstein is partial to Baltieri’s 2000 “Sortilegio” Amarone della Valpolicella.

“Those raisiny, pruney, licorice flavors hit the stew head on,” says Silverstein. “It’s almost the kind of wine you should open the day before. Chances are, it would be even better on day two.”

Just like everything else.

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food@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

For the day after, may they suggest ...

SOMMELIERS’ suggestions for day-after-Thanksgiving wines span a large part of the world of wine. Here, in alphabetical order, are Southern California sources for the most readily available.

2000 Baltieri “Sortilegio” Amarone della Valpolicella. Available at Wine Expo in Santa Monica, (310) 828-4428; about $60.

2003 Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape. At Du Vin Wine & Spirits in West Hollywood, (310) 855-1161; about $40.

2004 J.P. Dirler Sylvaner. Available at the Wine House in West Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731, $22.

2004 Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac Rouge. Available at Mel & Rose Wine & Spirits in West Hollywood, (323) 655-5557; and at the Wine Cask in Santa Barbara, (805) 966-946; about $18.

2005 Domaine de Montvac Vacqueyras Blanc. Available at Du Vin Wine & Spirits and at the Wine House, about $24.

2004 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett Riesling. Available at Wally’s Wine & Spirits in L.A., (310) 475-0606; and Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111; about $26.

2004 Martinez Fuente “Pucho” Bierzo. Available at the Wine Club in Santa Ana, (714) 835-6485; about $12.

2005 Muller-Catoir Mussbacher Eselshaut Kabinett Riesling. Available at the Wine Exchange in Orange, (714) 974-1454 and (800) 76WINEX; about $18.

2003 Paige 23 Santa Barbara County Syrah. Available at Woodland Hills Wine Co., and at Wally’s, about $25.

2005 Pasil Verdejo. Available at Mel & Rose and the Wine Cask; about $12.

-- Patrick Comiskey