Easter wasn’t really a special holiday for my family. We weren’t religious, and I never really “got it” when I was growing up. Egg hunts? OK. Kinda fun, I guess. Chocolate? I mean… what kid doesn’t appreciate chocolate?
Otherwise, for me, Easter was always a reason for my mom to make me dress up and eat a honey glazed ham. Ugh. That ham. I still wretch when I think of it. Since I started getting into barbecue, I have realized that there is a way to prepare ham that is miles apart from that foil-wrapped atrocity one finds in the local grocery store.
But this wasn’t that. And the most annoying part? I found out from my mother MUCH later on that she didn’t like ham either, but felt it was just something you do on Easter.
Well, let’s just say that sometime in the 2000s, I stopped eating ham at Easter and never looked back.
Onward and Upward
This leads me to the present and more delicious options on a holiday I still don’t otherwise care about but presents a good culinary opportunity.
This year, I decided on turkey. First I was going to do a whole one, but I’m trying to resist my instinct to make too much food. So it would be just the breast this time.
Not too complicated of a recipe. I brined the breast overnight, then I rinsed, and patted it dry. I then injected it with a newly purchased “bird booster” to ensure a good degree of moisture. From there, I spread on some melted butter and applied a rub: A simple all-purpose rub (salt, pepper, & garlic powder) along with a little cayenne pepper.
I had apples and onions standing by to stuff into the cavity, but there was no “bottom” to the cavity, so they would have just fallen out.
While the bird breast rested on the counter, I fired up my Weber Smokey Mountain with some peach 
and cherry wood and waited for it to reach 300 degrees (higher temp to get the skin crispy).
The turkey went on. I expected about a two-hour cook, but at one point, the temperature started dropping. There was still plenty of charcoal, but I fired up some more in my chimney and threw it in anyway, along with some additional wood. In addition, I threw on my thermal blanket in case it was still too chilly (it was about 60 degrees that day).
That seemed to do it. I’m curious if any other WSM owners have had this experience. If so, leave me a comment below and let me know why and how you fixed it.
So after about three and a half hours, the internal temp finally reached 160, and I took it off to rest on the counter for about 20 minutes.
The Wine: 2018 Chateau de Pizay Morgon
When it comes to turkey, a lot of novice wine drinkers tend to think of white wine as an automatic pairing. I always thought Riesling was the wine to have at Thanksgiving or any other occasion when turkey was on the menu. Later, I learned how much certain reds complemented not only the gobble bird, but the traditional sides traditionally served with it – stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, etc.
While a heavier Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec might not be the best options, lighter, more fruit-forward reds can be delightful partners with a turkey-centric meal: Pinot Noir, Garnacha, Syrah, or what I chose for this Easter dinner, Beaujolais.
In particular, I broke out of my collection a 2018 Chateau de Pizay Morgon, which is a cru selection from the Beaujolais region. The wine with which most people are familiar is Beaujolais Nouveau. It comes out annually every mid-November and is meant to be consumed within a few months of release. The cru wines can be stored and enjoyed a few years after release.
Cru, which translates to “growth,” references a superior growing site or vineyard, a concept linked to the French notion of terroir. Soil, climate, altitude, aspect, and the right variety create a synergy recognized as a cru. The concept is also employed in countries like Germany and Italy.
Chateau de Pizay is one of the biggest vine-growing estates in the Beaujolais region. “Morgon” refers to the specific appellation area from which the grapes come.
From their website:
The estates are Sustainable Agriculture registered. One of the share-cropped estates has been certified Organic since 2001. A group of carefully selected producers means that we can complete the range on offer with all the Southern Burgundy Crus.
As always, I went to my trusty resource, Wine-Searcher.com for a brief lesson on the Morgon area to find out what makes its wines distinct:
The most distinctive feature of Morgon’s terroir is the weathered, decomposing soil. This is based on granite and schist, with some volcanic influences. These soils range in texture from sandy loams to heavier clays. They are rich in iron and contribute an earthy depth to the wines that is rarely found in any of the other Beaujolais Cru.
As in much of the Beaujolais region, the vineyards are protected from cold northwesterly winds by the hills immediately west of Beaujolais. Instead, a warm, dry wind develops on the eastern slopes of these hills, drying the vineyards after rain and helping to prevent fungal vine diseases such as mildew.
On the nose, as you might expect from a Beaujolais, there was a lot of bold red and dark-red fruit, with a hint of minerality. Those features continued on the palate, with medium acidity and a strong balance.
The turkey had a bit of heat on it, so a mental note for next time would be to ease up on the cayenne pepper, but overall, I thought the wine was a good complement to the moistness and texture of the turkey. I don’t break out the cru Beaujolais in my collection very often, so I was glad to bring this one out for the special holiday occasion.
Hope your Easter was just as flavorful!
Cheers!