Thanksgiving Tips for the Best Wine and Food Pairings, Plus Five Recommended Wines to Pour For the Feast
​November 24, 2024

From now until the end of the year, lots of feasting and merrymaking is on the menu, starting with Thanksgiving.  Here are some new and classic ideas for wines that will accompany that turkey feast, and all the side dishes in between.

A typical Thanksgiving feast is a cornucopia of flavors, from roast turkey as the centerpiece to a supporting cast of side dishes; mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, yams, stuffing with herbs, chestnuts, or oysters, and tart cranberry sauce, to mention a few.  You’ll want to save that phenomenal wine, big, bold, oaky, and sassy for another occasion where it can shine on its own.  With such a rich repast, it’s best to pair wines that are well balanced, have good acidity, and mild tannins, that will enhance the food and support the multitude of flavors on the table.

Two “outside the box” wine ideas come from Villa San Juliette of Paso Robles.  The Alicante Bouschet 2022 is so delicious, earthy and feral in its red and dark fruit, spicy and smoky flavors, alongside underlying sweeter notes of cocoa and baking spice.  Inky red in color, its a bold, opulent wine that is fruit-forward and mouth-filling but somehow still very balanced in body and alcohol.  Fascinating fact, Alicante Bouschet is a rare hybrid wine grape, known as teinturier, where both the skins and flesh are red, yielding a deeply-colored wine!  The Cabernet Franc 2021 is an artful blend, Cabernet Franc dominant, with small amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petite Sirah, all which makes for a silky, expressive wine with lots of personality.  Full-bodied with finesse, raspberry and plum fruit aromas intertwine with baking spice and peppercorn, along with a whiff of lavender, and flavors of boysenberry pie.  This is an elegant and balanced wine, gliding over your palate with grace and texture.  Villa San Juliette is the 20-year project of American Idol producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe, who replanted the estate vineyard to twelve varieties since 2006.  Winemaker Dan Smith has been onboard since 2013, steering the wines to express their natural varietal character while reflecting their vineyard roots.  The estate is embracing hospitality as well, with its Tuscan-inspired villa serving as the backdrop for special events, wine tasting and an on-site restaurant.  Villa San Juliette just premiered new wine labels that link the specific varietal blocks of the vineyard with views of the villa.

The Coppo Monteriolo Piemonte Chardonnay DOC is such a beautiful wine, that while tasting it, I envisioned the Thanksgiving feast!  Captivating in its aromas of ripe tropical fruit (mango, pear, banana) and peach, its fragrance is evocative of apple pie, caramel and vanilla.  Juicy stone fruit flavors are so well balanced with bright acidity.  This is an elegant wine, mineral notes peek out from its creamy texture, golden color, and beautiful mouthfeel, culminating in a long, rich finish.  The art of the winemaking really shines here, evocative of New World ripeness with Old World lightness of being.  Coppo is one of the oldest wineries in Italy, family-run since 1892, and their underground wine cellars, referred to as “Underground Cathedrals”, were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.  You might think that Chardonnay is not usually grown in Piemonte but actually vines from the famous Montrachet vineyard in Burgundy were brought here in the mid-1800s.  It seems that Chardonnay really flourishes in Piemonte because of the soils and microclimate, and this Coppo Monteriolo is a perfect example.

The iconic Davis Bynum winery, renowned for producing the first single vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir in Sonoma County, handcrafts beautiful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines, perfect for the holidays.  The Russian River Valley is a world-class wine region, with its mix of a cool maritime climate and fog winding through a geologic landscape of coastal hills, valleys and the Russian River itself.  Pristine farming and winemaking practices, part of Davis Bynum’s “hands-off” philosophy, from cool nighttime hand harvesting of the grapes, native yeast fermentation in barrel, and bottles not filtered, yields complex, nuanced, aromatic and flavorful wines.  The Davis Bynum River West Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2022, a blend of six Chardonnay clones from different blocks in the River West Vineyard, is an elegant wine, full in body but alive with crisp, well-integrated acidity.  Aromas of lemon curd, orange blossom and ripe apples float on a palate of that same lemon curd essence, with Meyer lemon and citrus notes, baked golden apple and pie crust notes, a creamy texture wraps around the long, lingering finish, this is a fantastic wine.  The Davis Bynum Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2022, a blend of four different vineyard sites and five different clones, juxtaposes the rich fruit and lush mouthfeel of the warmer sites against the racy acidity and bright fruit character of cooler sites, providing a fascinating tension.  Silky and savory, ripe red cherry, toasty oak, baking spice and mineral notes dance on a creamy texture and elegant finish.

Usually, the safest bets for Thanksgiving wine bliss are Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and Viognier for white wine lovers; Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel for red wine lovers.  But the biggest crowd pleaser of them all are sparkling wines, Brut or a slightly sweeter Extra Dry, which can be drunk throughout the meal, from appetizer to main event to dessert.  But if you want to shake up conventional wine picks, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, there's white and red Rhône blends, Cinsault, Grenache and Cabernet Franc, to mention a few.

Here’s the classic wisdom, which is always a recipe for success:

​Riesling can be bone dry or sweet, and pairs well with spicy, salty, or sweet dishes.  Its high acidity and flavors of apple, pear, apricot, and honey is a welcome companion to the turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes.  Sauvignon Blanc, with its citrus, herbal, and mineral flavors, and high acidity, accentuates the herbal flavors in stuffing or turkey.  Gewurztraminer is an aromatic wine, with lychee, peach, and citrus flavors, and has a spicy edge that pairs perfectly with turkey and gravy.  Viognier is also aromatic, floral with a stone fruit and honey profile, fleshy body, lower acidity but bigger alcohol, its roundness is good with sweet potatoes and turkey.

​Pinot Noir’s cherry, mushroom, and earthy notes bridge the turkey, stuffing, and gravy and its tame tannins is a seamless match with the sides.  Zinfandel is fuller bodied and more intense than Pinot Noir, and the jammy fruit notes of cherry, plum, boysenberry, cranberry and blueberry, accented by black pepper, licorice notes, and smoky notes, stands up well to the spicy and sweet flavors of the feast.  Syrah also brings spice to the table, with more complexity (think olive, bacon, licorice, herbs, tobacco) and peppery notes, it is a good match for the turkey, stuffing, and gravy laced mashed potatoes.

​All of these wines will benefit from the proper serving temperature.  White wines should be chilled but brought out at least 15 minutes before serving, red wines should be chilled for at least 15 minutes before, to allow the true aromas and flavors to reveal themselves.

​And remember, you can't go wrong if you drink what you love, it always makes everything just right!

Links to recommended wines:

Villa San Juliette Alicante Bouschet, https://villasanjuliette.orderport.net/product-details/0674/2022-Alicante-Bouschet

Villa San Juliette Cabernet Franc, https://villasanjuliette.orderport.net/product-details/0664/2021-Cabernet-Franc

Coppo Monteriolo Chardonnay, ​https://www.coppo.com/en/our-wines/piemonte-doc-chardonnay-monteriolo/

Davis Bynum River West Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay, https://shop.rodneystrong.com/product/2022-Chardonnay-River-West?pageID=C6A4BF40-DCC2-9FE6-1D04-91E51EFF6E5B&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=80&&productListName=Davis%20Bynum&position=2

Davis Bynum Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, https://shop.rodneystrong.com/product/2022-Russian-River-Valley-Pinot-Noir?pageID=C6A4BF40-DCC2-9FE6-1D04-91E51EFF6E5B&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=80&&productListName=Davis%20Bynum&position=5