Choosing Wines For Thanksgiving Dinner

The year is flying by quickly. Halloween is past uswould be a good choice. It is a white wine with
and Thanksgiving is coming on quickly and youmore of a crisp taste, so it can handle heavier
know what that means - the hefty, delicioustastes without getting overwhelmed. You can
Thanksgiving Dinner. Ah, but which wine are youeven serve it as a compliment to your red wine
going to drink?for the white meat of the turkey.
As you probably know by now, wine goes wellRed wines are a staple of Thanksgiving. Let's face
with food. That being said, only certain wines goit, the foods we eat during Thanksgiving tend to
well with certain foods. A white wine, for instance,be heavy and very hearty. From mashed
is usually not a good choice for red meat mealspotatoes to stuffing to the dark meat of the
because the wine tends to get overwhelmed byturkey, a classic red just makes sense. A Pinot
the flavor of the meat and any sauces used. InNoir is going to go well with this meal, so pick a
contrast, a red wine tends to be more heartyfavorite or two and offer them up.
and flavorful, which makes it a better wine forIf you just want to stick with one vintage for the
red meat.entire meal, the clear choices are either a Riesling
The unique thing about Thanksgiving Dinner is theor a Pinot Noir. Each of these wines has then
meal is layered. Although meat is a staple at thenecessary strength and versatility to work
end of the meal, the initial appetizers and such canthroughout the full meal. The have average
be much lighter. This means most people will mixbodies, but less tannin which means they
wines throughout the dinner. Depending on whatcompliment just about anything you are going to
you are eating, there may be one wine that canserve.
handle each stage, but you are usually looking at aSo, are there specific vintages you should go
mix of vintages.with? Yes. Thanksgiving is not a time to
White wines tend to be complimentary to pointed,experiment because it simply is not a wine tasting
fruity tastes. For Thanksgiving, a good white wineparty. Refer to your wine tasting journal or
would be palatable with appetizers and, perhaps,memories to find particular choices you tried and
the desert depending on what is served. Forloved in the past. These should be your choices
appetizers like stuffed celery, a Sauvignon Blancfor this years Thanksgiving Dinner.