Thanksgiving Day is known primarily for its dinner, and for many of us, a good dinner means fine wine. But America’s biggest food holiday is also its most challenging when it comes to wine. Like any big meal, there are many dishes involved, with a variety of flavors. Unlike most meals, though, this time all of the dishes are likely to be on the same plate at the same time. How do you decide which wines to serve?
At least you don’t have to wonder about the menu. Most of us will be pairing wine with turkey. That’s not hard until you consider the sage-scented stuffing sitting next to it, or the tart, tangy cranberry sauce, or the sweet potatoes. You’re also charged with choosing wines that a variety of people will enjoy, some of whom you see only a time or two each year.
Wine lovers tend to look at the food first, knowing that when foods and wines are well matched, each tastes better than it would without the other. To help you prepare to wow your guests, here are some ideas for pairing wines with the classic Thanksgiving Day dinner menu.
If you have several guests who are just beginning to explore wines, they will probably enjoy wines with a light touch of sweetness. While some sweet wines are more people-friendly than food-friendly, there are several that serve both purposes.
If you want a wine that both your grandmother and you can enjoy, consider a Gewürztraminer (“guh VERTS tra minner”). This lightly sweet, softly spicy white wine has long been a Thanksgiving dinner favorite. Fetzer makes a good one, as does Robertson Winery. Both sell for less than $15 a bottle.
Riesling is also people friendly (and a lot easier to pronounce!). Washington State makes great rieslings, most with a hint of sweetness so balanced by crisp, green-apple acidity that they often taste drier than they really are. Chateau Ste. Michelle and Kung Fu Girl are two great options, each around $15.
Pinot gris (“gree”) from Oregon is a very food-friendly dry white wine. Most are made in a style resembling chardonnay — dry, aged in oak barrels — but are a bit gentler and less likely to overpower the food. A good pinot gris will be appealing to both experienced wine lovers and beginners. King Estate has long been a champion of pinot gris. Left Coast Cellars is another good one. Each costs around $20 a bottle.
Of course, many people prefer chardonnay to any other white wine. There are literally hundreds of options available, in every price range. Elegant, food-friendly styles tend to come from cooler climate California wine regions, including Hess Select ($12) or California Karma ($15) from Monterey, Santa Barbara Winery ($18) or Aqua Pumpkin ($15) from Santa Barbara County, or Martin Ray ($20) or Ferrari-Carano ($25) from Russian River Valley.
Thankfully, turkey is one of those foods that pairs well with both white and red wines. The most food-friendly of red wines is pinot noir. The best come from Oregon and cooler parts of California. Look for Block Nine ($15), Aqua Pumpkin ($20), La Crema ($20), Cambria ($25), Mount Bethel ($30), Calera ($30), Belle Glos “Meiomi” ($25), and Paul Hobbs ($50).
If the cherry-like flavors of pinot noir don’t appeal to your palate as much as the black-fruit flavors of merlot and cabernet sauvignon, I’d say that merlot is less likely to overpower turkey. Alexander Valley Vineyards or Murphy-Goode both have food-friendly merlots, each at around $20 a bottle.
In my experience, few countries in the world have as many different wines available as we have in the United States. White or red, sweet or dry, people-friendly or food-friendly or both, the variety of wines available to us is yet one more thing for which Americans can be thankful.
Bruce Cochran is a wine importer, distributor, teacher, writer and tour guide. A longtime Little Rock resident, he spends a month of each year in Europe exploring wine regions and local cuisine. You can read more about him at www.BruceCochran.com.