Thanksgiving wine!

[no-sweat]

I'm a rookie with wine/food pairing... so maybe you all can help me out! I'm planning on getting 2 different wines for Thanksgiving, maybe one for an appetizer and one for dinner. Any recommendations? I'm a big fan of sweet/white wines, which usually isn't drank during dinner... any help? Anything that's not super dry will work!! THANKS!

[Innkeeper]

Hi NS and welcome to the Wine Board. If we were having a simple turkey dinner we would go with a Riesling Kabinett or Spatlese. However, Thanksgiving is more than turkey. In our house we have two kinds of stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, peas and pearl onions, gravy, cranberry sauce, and more. Therefore we usually have a light Red Zinfandel and one of the dryer White Zinfandels as the two wines. This year we may start with a Barbera (either N.Cal or Italian) along with a rose', and possible finish with a Red Zin.

[Kcwhippet]

One thing to watch out for - Don't take a sip of wine with cranberry sauce in your mouth. Yech!!!

[no-sweat]

Thanks for the replies! Zinfandel sounds good to me. We pretty much eat the same food you do. I'll have to do some thinking.

Kcwhippet, now I HAVE to take a sip of wine with cranberry sauce in my mouth! I just have to... to see what it's all about! I could already imagine though, eek.

[weequash]

Turkey is a bird with variable flavors from dark to white meat, so matching wines can be a bit tricky, not to mention the accompanying chorus of side dishes from spicy stuffings to tart cranberry sauce to sweet syrupy yams. Pinot Noir, with its soft violet notes and smooth tannins seems to strike a good balance, but I'd really recommend a combination of reds and whites— rich buttery, slightly-oaked chardonnay pairs well with equally unctuous foods, and I'd have no problem serving a ripe Shiraz with Thanksgiving, as its deep peppery notes and lingering aftertaste mesh well with the myriad flavors of this feast. But then one could also pop a jeroboam of Extra Dry champagne that would easily complement the fare as well as make the annual indulgence more digestible.

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weequash