First decide if you want to prepare a traditional meal or one that's more wine-friendly.

See Also:
Friday, May 17, 2013 Wine Spectator Video Contest 2013: Rules and Prizes
Thursday, May 17, 2012 Wine Spectator Video Contest 2012: Rules and Prizes
Thursday, May 19, 2011 Wine Spectator Video Contest 2011: Rules and Prizes
Friday, February 25, 2011 What Am I Tasting?
Friday, February 25, 2011 Take the Wine Challenge
More from Miscellaneous

Thanksgiving Wines

Two approaches to making wine work with the holiday feast

Harvey Steiman
Posted: November 19, 2004

Thanksgiving wine recommendations:

• Traditional Menu
• Wine-friendly Menu
• Pumpkin Pie

If Thanksgiving dinner were nothing but roast turkey with a little gravy spooned over herb stuffing, choosing a wine would be a snap. You could drink anything from Champagne to a subtle, well-aged, classic red.

Unfortunately for wine lovers, the typical Thanksgiving table groans with marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, sugary, tart cranberry sauce and other family heirloom recipes that usually tilt toward sweet flavors. Nothing makes a subtle, elegant wine, especially a nicely aged red, go kablooey faster than something sweet on the plate. The sugar turns any dry wine tart, amps up the tannins and makes oak flavor seem bitter.

Knowing this, there are two approaches that can maximize the pleasures of wine with the holiday meal. If you want to enjoy the traditional meal, find simple, amenable wines for it. If you want to show off better bottles, rearrange the flavor component to let fine wine into the party.

To make good matches with all the traditional Thanksgiving fare, aim for simple, youthful, fruit-centered wines that won't be flummoxed by a little raucous food. A good strategy is to look for wines that are a little sweet, such as sparkling wines, off-dry Rieslings and other aromatic whites. Relatively neutral dry whites such as Albariño, Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc are another option. On the red side, try fruity Côtes-du-Rhônes or low-pricedd (and therefore not very oaky) Zinfandels. Beaujolais or Gamay are mainstays.

This approach has the virtue of favoring modestly priced wines. If you have a crowd, consider opening a range of wines, rather than forcing everyone into just one choice. It's fun to mix and match.

If you want to drink serious wine, rethink the menu. Basically, this means squeezing the sweetness out of the dishes, which helps create a wine-friendly environment for that 1993 Burgundy, 1985 Bordeaux or 1978 California Cabernet you've been saving for the right occasion. The bird, the gravy and normal vegetable side dishes also take to all sorts of higher-end young wines, with bigger structures and oaky flavors, including reds made from Pinot Noir, Syrah or Merlot and whites based on Chardonnay or even Viognier or Marsanne.

If you just can't have Thanksgiving without cranberries and yams, rearrange these components. Banish the sweet stuff to the dessert course. Make cranberry cake or sweet potato pie. Move the pumpkin to a first-course soup enriched with a little prosciutto or smoked ham, which does well with dry aromatic whites such as Alsace, Austrian and Australian Rieslings, or a really dry, elegant Champagne. Now we're on our way to a real wine dinner.

When it comes to the endgame, one rule applies: The dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert. One great choice for pumpkin pie is an Australian Muscadelle (which used to be called Tokay, until the Europeans objected). This sweet, fresh, fortified style is luscious on its own and makes friends fast with a custardy pumpkin pie, even with a little caramel drizzled on or around it.

Traditional Menu

Whites