Hey everyone, I’m still around! There’s been a lot of stuff going on in my life the last few years and unfortunately writing articles and reviews fell by the wayside. However I can promise you I never stopped drinking wine or beer, evaluating them, pairing them, and smelling everything in sight. I’ve gotten to try a lot of amazing things along the way and hopefully I’ll be able to go back and talk more about them. But here in America, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and whether you’ll be eating alone or with all the family, it might be time to think about what wine will tie the whole meal together.
Across America, the Thanksgiving meal is a household staple that brings a bounty to the table. For many it may very well be their favorite meal for the year, thus it seems like a great opportunity to open up a lovely bottle of wine to pair with the food. Ahh, but there is the problem itself; Thanksgiving dinner is perhaps the most difficult meal with which to pair a wine. The dishes seem to be all over the place as far as their flavor profiles go, so it takes a little bit of time to figure out what sort of wines will bring harmony to the table. So let’s take a quick look at some of the most common dishes seen on the holiday, what might work with each component, and then I’ll provide some general suggestions for wines to try and bring everything together.
Turkey: everybody has their way of preparing the centerpiece of the meal that they swear by. Whether it’s repeatedly basted in a white wine butter sauce, bourbon soaked, fried, smoked, spatchcocked, herb roasted, brined, or even cooked over a beer can, we all have our ways to imbue it with more flavor and prevent it from drying out too much. Turkey’s low fat content should point you towards a relatively full-bodied white or a more medium-bodied red, each with higher acidity and lower tannin. Pinot Noir is a classic choice, and Beaujolais, Zinfandel, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Roussanne/White Rhone blends should work well too. I will also admit that a good Chardonnay can work with the bird, but considering the other options at the meal, you’ll probably still want to forgo it.
Stuffing/Dressing: personally this has always been one of my favorite parts of the meal with a recipe handed down from generation to generation in my family. Since mine tends towards the richer side, you’ll need a wine with assertive character and plentiful acidity to balance the richness. Riesling and Gewürztraminer qualify but even crowd pleasers like Merlot and Pinot Noir will work nicely.
Mashed Potatoes: these really are blank palate for cooks as far as what flavors you want to have, so that alone could affect your wine choice. Generally speaking though, you’re talking about a creamy and relatively heavy comfort food, so you’ll need a wine of substance here. Something medium-bodied at a minimum should do the trick, and you could even go up to full-bodied. This could range from Chardonnay to Merlot, Barbera, Cabernet Franc, or Côtes du Rhone. With mashed potatoes though, I’d favor something that has at least a bit of tannin to help scrub the mouth clean of the fatty food.
Gravy: Don’t you dare let those drippings from the turkey go to waste; gravy alone is my biggest hesitation about frying a turkey. You’ll never get a comparable result with anything from a packet. Moderately tannic red wines with lots of fruit flavor will make for an excellent pairing, and this could include the likes of Pinot Noir, Barbera, Valpolicella, and even a Merlot. Considering that American gravy is probably closer to a velouté than the other mother sauces, dry sparkling wines may do the trick as well.
Cranberry Sauce: the bright flavors and high acidity in this dish serve as a lovely palate cleanser so you don’t get overwhelmed by so much rich food. As such, a wine that stands up to it is going to need to register lots of red fruits and quite a bit of acidity or else it’ll feel flat and flabby. Light and fruity Pinot Noir or Beaujolais should fit the bill, as should a Sangiovese if you’re feeling Italian, but don’t rule out rosés, especially those with high acidity.
Sweet Potatoes/Yams: so many different iterations of the sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving often register more like a dessert, stuffed with the likes of butter, brown sugar, marshmallows, dried cranberries, walnuts, baking spices, and who knows what else. Not that I’m complaining (though I swear that a bit of lemon juice in the mix will help brighten and balance them). The sweetness and the spice is what you’ll need to consider here, with enough acidity to cut through the richness. Gewürztraminer and Riesling will be your white wine allies while a juicy Zinfandel or even Merlot should appeal to those who want red wine.
Green Bean Casserole: I’m fairly certain that green bean casseroles are responsible for 95% of all cream of mushroom sales. However, it’s the green beans themselves which will determine the wine pairing as you’ll need something relatively grassy to stand up to them with enough acid to balance the salty richness. Sauvignon Blanc immediately comes to mind for white wines and Cabernet Franc should be your savory backup red.
Final White Wine Recommendations
You’ll probably want to look more into the aromatic whites category, and as popular as it may be, oaked Chardonnay is probably not going to be your best bet unless you want to overwhelm the meal. Instead, I would recommend the following:
Riesling: I swear that I’m not obsessed with the stuff, but so many of my wine pairing recommendations often come down to Riesling. It can show a low ABV and a light body or a higher ABV with more heft. Either way, it rarely skimps out on complexity or power on the palate, plus its acidity just seals the deal. Serve it nicely chilled and those white fruit and spice flavors will carry you all the way through the meal.
Pinot Gris: While perhaps less potent in some ways, Pinot Gris offers a lot of the same advantages as Riesling with its propensity for high acidity and white fruits and spice flavors. If you’re going with an Alsatian Pinot Gris, just keep an eye out that the ABV isn’t too high, else the acidity might suffer and the wine could come off rather hot when mixed with the meal’s spices.
Gewürztraminer: If Riesling is my safe white wine bet, then Gewürztraminer is the risk that can pay off handsomely. While I would personally prefer it on the drier side, a small touch of sweetness won’t ruin the meal and may actually work better with some dishes (i.e. sweet potatoes). It’s the acidity you want to watch for, or rather the lack of it in the varietal, but the perfumed notes of spices, fruits, and florals can make it a highlight of the feast.
Honorable mentions should go to the high acidity and light spice character of a good Chenin Blanc as well as the floral fruitiness of a white Rhône blend (provided it has enough acidity).
Final Red Wine Recommendations
Just like with white wines, the name of the game is to not overwhelm the meal’s diversity. So I would recommend saving that special bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or other Bordeaux/Cab blend for the winter holidays and instead turn to one of the options below.
Pinot Noir: I’ve been drinking a lot of Pinot Noir lately and I’ve come to realize that despite the varietal’s delicacy, it’s also remarkably versatile. Boosted by its capability of showing lovely red fruits and sublime earthiness, the light tannins and higher acidity make this an all-star favorite for the holiday. Old world renditions (notably Baden Baden and Burgundy) may be highly food friendly, but if you want to stay American, Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a winning choice and possibly my favorite pick for the day.
Beaujolais: If you fancy yourself a francophile but don’t quite want to shell out for Burgundy Pinot, Beaujolais is another excellent option. You could even go with with the ultra young and fresh Beaujolais Nouveau but bumping up to a Villages or Supérieur should still be easy on the wallet. Even a nice cru (such as Fleurie, Morgan, or Moulin-à-Vent) will be a budget friendly way to make the occasion extra special.
Cabernet Franc: Too often spited as a “blending varietal” (even by me not so long ago), Cab Franc by itself can be a wonderful addition to the holiday meal. Its lighter body, lower tannins, and distinct savory flavors boosts the varietal as an option over the likes of its other Bordeaux relatives More and more new world locations are experimenting with delicious Cab Franc bottlings, but your safest bet here is going to be the Loire Valley.
Zinfandel: Intensely plummy and jammy with accents of spice and pepper, this is the all-American choice of the day. The main thing to be careful about here is a Zinfandel that’s too hot, which is always a caveat in this varietal’s consistently high ABV. This is especially important considering that the variety of spices on the Thanksgiving table can overly emphasize a high ABV if you’re not careful. But if you can find one that’s nicely balanced and not too hot or tannic, perhaps from cooler parts of Sonoma or the Sierra Foothills, it should incorporate itself into the meal quite nicely.
Honorable mentions should go to the “poor man’s Pinot Noir,” Barbera (considering how it pairs quite nicely with an enormous number of things) and Côtes du Rhône, where the traditional blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre balances complex red fruits with lighter, softer tannins for a pleasurable drink.
Rosé: Just because everyone and their mother talks and Instagrams about how rosé is “en vogue” doesn’t mean it lacks the merits and wherewithal to make it to the Thanksgiving table. In fact, a good rosé should tick most of the boxes for a Thanksgiving pairing. But do yourself a favor and instead of White Zinfandel, check out more Provence and Rhône-style rosés, Italian rosados, and their New World counterparts. Rosé of Pinot Noir is another highly attractive option as well. Whichever way you go, they should be light, fruity, and easy drinking, and either dry or off-dry.
Sparkling: As a bonus, sparkling wines are the great equalizer with their high acidity, penchant for pairing with salty foods, and an easy way to jazz up any occasion. You don’t need to massively splurge if you don’t want to – an affordable Cava or Prosecco will do the trick. But if you really want to celebrate, it’s hard to beat Champagne, or any other sparkling wine made in the Méthode Traditionelle.
As always though, the perfect wine to pair with a meal is what you like. The ideal Thanksgiving wine doesn’t just go with the meal, it’s something that can be enjoyed by everyone. But hopefully my suggestions are broad enough that you’ll find a recommendation that suits your fancy!
The Friendly Snob 