Tips on Pairing Wine with Your Thanksgiving Meal

The traditional turkey dinner for Thanksgiving is often served with a white wine. While most white wines do go well with turkey, there are plenty of other excellent options. 

Turkey, by itself, is a pretty neutral meat.  So, you should actually focus on pairing your wines with all the side dishes that go along with the turkey. It may be a bit surprising, but a red wine will often work exceptionally well with your meal. Just as cranberry sauce goes well with the turkey, a fruity red wine is also a great choice. But, you might want to avoid full-bodied, highly tannic, red wines (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah) that can get lost in the presence of all the fruit, sugar, and salt on the Thanksgiving table.

Sparkling wines go well with almost any meal and are a natural pairing with turkey. And, any dry rosé will also work quite nicely.

Here are some traditional white wine choices:

  • Gewürztraminer - A Thanksgiving favorite. It is a highly aromatic wine with floral touches and spice notes such as cloves and nutmeg.

  • Riesling - A dry Riesling has spicy, fruity flavors with touches of peaches or apricots and a floral fragrance that compliments the meal well.

  • Sauvignon Blanc - Light and crisp, with grassy or herbaceous flavors and good acidity to cut through all the richness of the meal.

  • Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) - Light and zesty with flavors of lemon, melon and peach.

  • Chardonnay - A very common choice. But, it's best to go with the lighter and fruiter un-oaked versions that work best with all the flavors on the Thanksgiving table.

Red wine options include:

  • Beaujolais - Light, dry and fresh with fruity flavors. And you can serve it chilled.

  • Pinot Noir - A light bodied red with flavors of cherry, raspberry and strawberry. In the French wine section at your store, this is called a red Burgundy. And this too can be served slightly chilled.

  • Carignan - This red wine is a bit higher in tannins and acid, and has flavors of dark and black fruits, pepper, licorice, and spicy, savory aromas.

  • Rhône Blends - Rhône wines focus on Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre (GSM) grapes, producing medium-bodied blends.

  • Zinfandel - This medium bodied red wine can really work with a Thanksgiving meal. It has characteristics that include jammy flavors with spicy or peppery notes.

But, as always, ensure that you drink what you like. That's what is most important.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving. Cheers!

Today is Beaujolais Nouveau Day!

Beaujolais Nouveau. Its name literally means 'new Beaujolais.' This wine is named for the village of Beaujeu in France, which is a small region just south of Burgundy.

On the third Thursday of each November, which is November 16th this year, France releases Beaujolais Nouveau wine to the world.

The 'new' part of this wine is due to the fact that the grapes used to make this wine are picked from the vineyards just a couple of months prior to its release! That's compared to most wines that spend at least a year or more going through the fermentation and aging process before being bottled and shipped to market.  But Beaujolais Nouveau gets from the vineyard to you in about two months!

Word has it that this wine was originally produced for the harvest workers in France to immediately thank them for all their hard work just after harvest was complete. But now its production is somewhere between 30-60 million bottles so that the entire world can enjoy.

Although there are more than 100 Beaujolais Nouveau festivals held each year in the Beaujolais region, the 'Les Sarmentelles' multi-day festival is said to be the biggest and most famous for celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau. The festival includes music, dancing, fireworks and, yes, plenty of wine.

This wine is produced entirely from handpicked Gamay grapes and because it is so new, it is very fresh and fruity. Many describe Beaujolais Nouveau as having flavors of candied cherries, strawberries, red plum, bananas and and even bubble gum.

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be enjoyed young, not critiqued. So, pick up a bottle soon and give it a slight chill. Then raise a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau to the French harvest workers. It's Beaujolais Nouveau Day! Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Carmenere Wine of Chile (Part 3 of 3)

Carménère (kar-men-nair) is a wine grape whose name is derived from the French carmin (meaning crimson). It was a grape that was thought to be nearly extinct. In 1994, fewer than 25 acres of Carménère remained in France’s Médoc, Bordeaux. But that all changed when it was discovered that an estimated one-third of what had been thought in Chile to be Merlot was actually Carménère. Carménère rose from near worldwide oblivion following the phylloxera crisis that had swept through the Médoc to now representing a country on the global stage: Carménère became synonymous with Chile.

Here are the final two in this series of Carménère wines from Chile…

2020 TerraNoble CA2 Costa Carménère ($36)

The Carménère grapes for this wine were grown in the Lolol vineyard that is located in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. The Lolol vineyard is located 25 miles from the ocean in the Chilean Coastal Mountain Range.

This 100% Carménère was cold macerated for 10 days. Fermentation took place for 8 to 12 days, then a post fermentative maceration of about two weeks. The wine was racked directly into French oak barrels and untoasted foudres where it underwent malolactic conversion and 16 months of aging.

This wine is deep ruby in color with medium-high aromas of black fruit and green pepper. On the palate, this medium-full bodied wine has spicy and rich dark fruit flavor with subtle notes from the oak. It finishes smooth and easy.

2020 Montes Wings Carménère ($55)

The grapes for this wine were grown in the Colchagua Valley, at on the winery’s Finca de Apalta estate. The vineyard is located on steep slopes, 650 feet above the valley floor. Some areas show the pronounced influence of the nearby Tinguiririca River, while others are more alluvial, featuring eroded material from the mountain tops that ring the valley.

This wine is produced from 85% Carménère and 15% Cabernet Franc that were cool macerated for 5-7 days followed by 12-15 days of fermentation before aging for 16 months in new French oak barrels (80%) and second- and third-use barrels (20%).

This wine is deep ruby in color with rich and complex aromas of black fruit, subtle herbs and hints of oak. On the palate, this medium-full bodied wine has deliciously rich dark fruit flavors, great complexity, easy tannin and a smooth and lingering fruit finish.

These two wines are excellent examples of Carménère wines that are being produced in Chile and are this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wines of the Week. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received these samples at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Media Samples Provided by TerraNoble and Montes Wines

Once Again it's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!

Beaujolais Nouveau. Its name literally means 'new Beaujolais.' This wine is named for the village of Beaujeu in France, which is a small region just south of Burgundy.

On the third Thursday of each November, which is November 16th this year, France releases Beaujolais Nouveau wine to the world.

The 'new' part of this wine is due to the fact that the grapes used to make this wine are picked from the vineyards just a couple of months prior to its release! That's compared to most wines that spend at least a year or more going through the fermentation and aging process before being bottled and shipped to market.  But Beaujolais Nouveau gets from the vineyard to you in about two months!

Word has it that this wine was originally produced for the harvest workers in France to immediately thank them for all their hard work just after harvest was complete. But now its production is somewhere between 30-60 million bottles so that the entire world can enjoy.

Although there are more than 100 Beaujolais Nouveau festivals held each year in the Beaujolais region, the 'Les Sarmentelles' multi-day festival is said to be the biggest and most famous for celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau. The festival includes music, dancing, fireworks and, yes, plenty of wine.

This wine is produced entirely from handpicked Gamay grapes and because it is so new, it is very fresh and fruity. Many describe Beaujolais Nouveau as having flavors of candied cherries, strawberries, red plum, bananas and and even bubble gum.

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be enjoyed young, not critiqued. So, pick up a bottle soon and give it a slight chill. Then raise a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau to the French harvest workers. It's Beaujolais Nouveau time! Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Carmenere Wine of Chile (Part 2 of 3)

Carménère (kar-men-nair) is a wine grape whose name is derived from the French carmin (meaning crimson). It was a grape that was thought to be nearly extinct. In 1994, fewer than 25 acres of Carménère remained in France’s Médoc, Bordeaux. But that all changed when it was discovered that an estimated one-third of what had been thought in Chile to be Merlot was actually Carménère. Carménère rose from near worldwide oblivion following the phylloxera crisis that had swept through the Médoc to now representing a country on the global stage: Carménère became synonymous with Chile.

Here are two more very nice Carménère wines from Chile…

2021 Morandé Vitis Unica Carménère ($20)

The grapes for this wine come from the San Bernardo estate, located in the Maipo Valley, Chile, and are planted on the north side of the river in a bed of pure gravel. This 100% Carménère was hand harvested, fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in 80% French oak foundres and 20% new French oak barrels before being store for around 16 months.

This wine is medium purple in color with subtle aromas of red and black fruit along with a bit of pepper. On the palate, this medium-full bodied Carménère has fresh flavors of black cherry, medium tannin and an easy finish.

(13.5% ABV, Total Acidity = 3.59 g/L, pH=3.42, Residual Sugar=2.74 g/L)

2020 Primus Carménère ($20)

The grapes for this wine come comes from Apalta in Colchagua Chile. It is made with organic grapes that are grown in granite-and clay-rich soils. The vineyards are surrounded by native forests, where the Andes and Coastal mountain ranges meet. The wine was aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, 18% of which were new. It is deep purple in color with aromas of black cherry and black plum with subtle herbal notes. On the palate it displays rich dark fruit flavors along with some pepper and herbs. It has medium tannin, balanced acidity and a long finish.

(14.5% ABV, Total Acidity=4.94 g/L, pH=3.77, Residual Sugar=2.2 g/L)

(Imported by Gonzalez Byass)

Both of these lovely Carménère wines benefited by 30-60 minutes in a decanter. Again, Chile is producing very nice Carménère wines at great values that fit the mold as this week’s Behind the Cork™ Wines of the Week. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received these samples at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Media Samples Provided by Morandé Wines and Primus Wines