.
Your Subtitle text
Give Thanks for These 5 Wine Tips
And make your Thanksgiving dinner shine!

By Gilat Ben-Dor, MBA, CSW

Thanksgiving is at our doorstep, and once again, we get to see relatives from near and far, or to keep things small and enjoy a hearty meal while pondering all we are grateful for. Either way, as such a food-centered holiday, Thanksgiving begs us to invite wine as an honored guest at the feast.


A wine challenge
The challenge with the traditional Thanksgiving meal is that it contains so many flavor profiles – from salty turkey and gravy, to sweet and spicy sides like sweet potatoes with marshmallows, to savory, herb-infused stuffing. Finding that one “perfect” wine can seem confusing. But fear not; wines were designed to be versatile stars of the banquet, so here are 5 key wine tips to make this year’s Thanksgiving your best vintage ever!


1. Say Guten Tag to the new face of Riesling. For many, mentioning this wine brings up images of syrupy sweet wines in colorful bottles with Gothic-looking labels. Nothing wrong with that – but who says all Rieslings are sweet? While the sweeter varieties do have a place at the table, from quelling spicy foods to complementing Asian cuisine, there has been a move towards dry Rieslings in recent years, particularly from Australia.

The crisp acidity in a Riesling is compounded by a sturdy character not found in some other whites, so Rieslings stand up nicely to hearty meals with many components. If you do want to try for some sweetness without going overboard, German Rieslings follow a strict scale of ripeness, from the mildly sweet Kabinett all the way to the Riesling made of individual, dried, raisin-like grapes, known as Trockenbeerenauslese (say that 5 times fast!). Spatlese and Auslese fall in between, and creep into sweet territory.

2. Beaujolais’ November appearance. This time of year coincides perfectly with the annual Beaujolais Nouveau release in late November, which brings us a light and easy-drinking version of red wine made from the Gamay grape, from France’s Beaujolais region (south of Burgundy). But the “Nouveau” version is just one of many types of Beaujolais reds produced in that expansive region.

You can find wines made from 12 appellations (official sub-regions) representing over 90 different villages within the Beaujolais region. Of these, there are only ten villages considered the elite Beaujolais Cru, including Brouilly and Saint-Amour, with each Cru being known for a different style. Why not offer a selection of Beaujolais Cru for your crew?

3. Pinot Noir without the “Sideways” references. We’re over it. What’s nice about pairing a Pinot Noir with a turkey dinner is that Pinot Noir’s distinctive components rise up to meet the hearty fare, but this red wine contains less tannins than some of its heavier cousins, preventing the wine from overwhelming its white-meat dinner companion. The fruity components of a Pinot Noir work well to complement the savory side dishes of the dinner, whether in the heady, raspberry-nosed, New World styles of Oregon and California, or in the subtle, earthy, Old World style (think Burgundy).

4. Live dangerously. Serve more than one wine. Unlike Ford and his black cars, you do not have to limit yourself to one wine for everyone and every course. Just as they do in many hotel banquets, feel free to select a “house red,” and a “house white” for guests to choose from. Or pair one wine with each course, if you are serving courses separately.

But here’s your other option: heck, it’s the holidays – why not have a smorgasbord of wines for people to enjoy, and add versatile whites like Chardonnay and Viognier to the mix, alongside some traditional reds like Shiraz and Merlot for the die-hard fans of sturdier wines.

5. Use wines your guests bring. This tip may sound similar to the one before it, but the difference is that here, you really don’t have to think! Take the stress off of deciding, and open wines that your guests brought.

If you feel comfortable, make it an official part of the dinner by asking guests in advance to bring their favorite wine. Using gifted wine is not only a gracious gesture towards your guests, but will allow everyone to experiment with spontaneous pairings.


The turkey take-away
While pairing wines with food does call for certain guidelines, think more along the lines of a food and wine not overwhelming one another with the flavor, weight or intensity of one over the other. At the end of the day, if you like it, drink it. If not, give thanks that at least you were able to experiment with a different wine – there are worse problems to endure!

Wine education is our middle name (since “Danger” was taken) so go ahead and contact us to discuss a variety of options right for you and your group!

© Gilat Ben-Dor, 2008-2012. All rights reserved.