Many Wines Are Perfect

Thanksgiving Choices

“A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rosé instead.”

Although I do not think that Billy Joel was singing about Thanksgiving dinner when he penned these lyrics, his advice is as good as any when it comes to choosing a wine for the annual Thanksgiving feast.

One of the most basic food and wine pairings is white wine with white meat. If you care to follow this maxim, I would recommend choosing a medium to full-bodied white wine. Body refers to the weight of a wine on your palate.

Many California Chardonnays have the body to hold their own amidst a bountiful Thanksgiving meal. Three typical flavors of a California Chardonnay are fruit, oak and the elusive “buttery” quality. Common fruit flavors of a California Chardonnay may include pears, apples and melons. A vanilla component is present from aging the Chardonnay in new oak barrels. Finally, a buttery mouthfeel comes from a winemaking technique called malolactic fermentation.

The best Chardonnays have a lovely balance of all of these flavors that lingers on the palate long after swallowing.

Just to complicate that food and wine-pairing conundrum, turkeys also have dark meat. Alas, this provides the perfect opportunity to pair a red wine with your meal.

Pinot Noir is an excellent complement to turkey, stuffing and all of the side dishes. It is usually light to medium-bodied with lovely tart cherry notes. That vanilla flavor from oak aging may also make an appearance.

If you choose rosé instead, you will not be relegated to the wine pairing Hall of Shame. Rosés have become enormously popular over the last few years and are a nice compromise if you just can’t decide whether to serve red or white. The best rosés are soft and dry with delicate strawberry notes.

In addition to the wines I’ve mentioned, there are many more wines that are just as appropriate for Thanksgiving dinner. Over the years wine experts have recommended Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Beaujolais as the perfect wine. Obviously, there are many “perfect” wines.

Perhaps the best advice comes from another songwriter, Ricky Nelson, who also was probably not singing about Thanksgiving dinner when he penned “Ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.”