I have to admit that I’m strictly a traditionalist when it comes to celebrating Thanksgiving, our most festive holiday. In fact, I’m a traditionalist in most things related to food and wine. I couldn’t imagine not having roast turkey on Thanksgiving. And for at least 30years, I always start off this special day with Champagne
Since this is a day that we usually celebrate with lots of family and friends, I save my Prestige Cuvée Champagnes for other occasions. But I always serve a very good NV Brut Champagne, such as Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve, which has a high percentage (up to 40 percent) of older vintages in its blend. I prefer very dry NV Bruts, and so I often will choose 
Ayala, Bruno Paillard Réserve Privée Blanc de Blancs, or Jacquesson as my apéritif Champagne.
With the roast turkey breast and vegetables, I prefer a white wine. White Burgundies, such as Premier Cru Puligny-Montrachets or Premier Cru Meursaults , are ideal with smaller gatherings, but these wines are too expensive to serve when there are lots of people. Some excellent, dry, flavorful whites from the Alto Adige region in northeastern Italy are often my choice with turkey breast. Three dry whites that I particularly enjoy are Abbazia di Novicella’s Kerner, Tiefenbrunner’s fantastic Müller-Thurgau (from its Feldmarschall Vineyard), and Hofstätter’s Gewürztraminer, “Kolbenhof.” All of these wines have lots of flavor, but will not overwhelm the turkey.
With turkey drumsticks and thighs, I enjoy red Burgundies and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs. Also a good cru Beaujolais, such as Fleurie or Julienas, can work well. These wines are all rather low in tannin, and are fine complements to turkey. Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon are just too tannic to serve with turkey, in my opinion.
Lighter-bodied red Burgundies, such as Volnay Premier Crus from Domaine du Marquis d’Angerville, would be outstanding with the turkey. If you want to stay with American wines, I’d choose the wonderfully balanced Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma Coast, such as any wine from 
Littorai, or the Sonoma Coast bottlings of Hartford Court or Williams Selyem. Two excellent Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir wineries making superb wines are Cobb Wines and Hirsch Vineyards–but they are small and their wines might be difficult to find.
With dessert, I enjoy Taylor Fladgate’s ports, such as the 20 year-old Tawny, or the First Estate Vintage Character Port. The other port I recommend is Dow’s 20 year-old Tawny. Both of these producers specialize in dryer-styled ports. Not that port is ever dry, but Taylor and Dow are never cloyingly sweet.
I am a firm believer in having a digestif after Thanksgiving dinner, so that you can wake up the next day not suffering from over-indulgence. For me, Underberg, a German digestif that comes in small, one-shot bottles, works best. But the Italian standby, Fernet Branca, also is a very good digestif.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!
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