dining & travel

I'm not ready for Christmas. Not even remotely. I have Facebook friends who've put up their tree and decorations, bought most of their presents and even baked their holiday cookies. Clearly these people don't drink enough wine. And yet while Christmas itself is still weeks away, the holiday entertaining season is thrust upon us, and chances are you'll be throwing or attending a party sometime during the next three weekends. So I guess I have to wake up and smell the eggnog.

When it comes to big holiday parties, I prefer a buffet for the wine as well. When there are 10 or 20 wines open, I'm like a glassy-eyed kid perched over his stash of Halloween candy. Which should I taste first? Here are a few well-priced sparkling wines perfect for holiday entertaining.

News & Features : Matchmaking

8 & $20 Recipe: Winter Squash Pasta and Beaujolais

Pancetta, ricotta and kabocha squash make a perfect combination for a winter night

Posted: November 27, 2012 By Jennifer Fiedler

Blogs : Mixed Case: Opinion and Advice

Wine in Your Whiskey, Whiskey in Your Wine

From the historic aging of whiskies in Sherry barrels to more radical practices of today, the two drinks toast each other

Posted: November 20, 2012 By Ben O'Donnell

Kingsley Amis, writing in 1972's On Drink, relayed a recipe for a concoction he had heard to be "Queen Victoria's Tipple." Ingredients: 1/2 tumbler red wine, Scotch. "The quantity of Scotch is up to you, but I recommend stopping a good deal short of the top of the tumbler," cautioned Amis. "Worth trying once," cringed the author, who in the same pages recommends waking up to a shot of tequila in one hand and one of tomato juice in the other.

I asked Logan Leet, winemaker at River Bend Winery in Kentucky, whose signature Bourbon Barrel Red is given a brief spin through used bourbon barrels, if he had ever heard of this kind of abomination in Louisville. "Most people like to keep their wine and their bourbon separate, by and large," he assured me.

Learn Wine : Ask Dr. Vinny

Why don't you ever see Beaujolais on restaurant wine lists?

Posted: November 16, 2012

Nov. 15, 2012 Issue : Features

New Wave Liqueurs

Posted: November 15, 2012 By Jack Bettridge

Nov. 15, 2012 Issue : Features

Mac and Cheese—With Ease

Posted: November 15, 2012 By Sam Gugino

Nov. 15, 2012 Issue : Features

Chicken Noodle Soup With Sonoma Chardonnay

Chef Brandon Carter, The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.

Posted: November 15, 2012 By Owen Dugan

News & Features : Seasonal

Chefs to the Rescue for Thanksgiving

What to cook for the big day, and what to do with all those leftovers. Plus, recently rated Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs

Posted: November 14, 2012 By Laurie Woolever

News & Features : News

The Secret to Pairing Wine and Food: Texture

A study finds that the best wine for your dinner depends on how it coats the palate

Posted: November 14, 2012 By Stuart Fox

Blogs : Exploring Wine with Tim Fish

Crowd-Pleasing Wines and Thanksgiving Memories

The holiday is a time to think of family and drink what you like

Posted: November 14, 2012 By Tim Fish

When I was a kid there was never wine on our Thanksgiving table. This was the Midwest in the late 1960s and if anyone drank anything it was a highball or a beer. Thanksgiving was always at my great-grandfather Lemuel's house and to my memory it seemed like a hundred people were there. Lemuel was not a kid person, even though he sired an imposing litter that spanned two generations. He scared me to death.

Today, Thanksgiving with my family includes plenty of crowd-pleasing wines, especially now that the younger generation is coming of age. Here are some widely available favorites that pair perfectly with Thanksgiving fare.