By now we’ve all heard at least a million times how difficult it is to pair wine with the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Every year we’re told how impossible it is to find any wine that goes with the holiday’s grand mish-mash of flavors, and what a challenge it is to select wine to please all palates, and that no wine can really be drinkable with marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes,and blah, blah, blah.
With all this in mind, I’ve looked back over the wines I’ve reviewed at Wine Review Online this year and have come up with a working list of extremely sippable, multipurpose wines to choose from for the occasion. Not one of these wines is priced over $20.
Sparklers: It’s hard for me to imagine any festive meal that doesn’t begin with bubbles. Among Gloria Ferrer’s extremely good sparkling wines, one of my favorites is the soft, creamy Blanc de Noirs, which is characterized by lively strawberry and cherry flavors ($20). There are plenty of reasons Prosecco is a popular fizz, including its relative affordability. One of the top-notch Prosecco producers is Adami, whose “Dei Casel” offers beguiling aromatics and a ton of fruity flavors balanced by savory spiciness; it will set you back only $18.
Whites: One thing to avoid with eclectic meals is wine that’s extreme in any way–whites that are shrill in their acidity or, conversely, excessively sweet, or ultra oaky. Extremes not only fatigue the palate, they also usually have limited compatibility with food. But keeping that caveat in mind, the range of choices seems almost limitless. If you’re looking for a seductive yet inexpensive sipping wine to serve before the meal, it’s hard to beat Torrontès, Argentina’s signature white grape. Among the many good labels to choose from is Alamos, which crafts an exceptionally charming, crisp and dry Torrontès for a modest $13. Sauvignon Blanc, especially any of the classic ultra crisp selections from New Zealand, is almost a cult favorite for certain wine drinkers. For a lighter, simpler, effusive version of the varietal try Le Jaja de Jau from Southwestern France ($9), or the Chateau de Parenchére blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle (who knew you could get such an elegant, silkywhite from Bordeaux for a mere $10?). One of the most appealing California Sauvignon Blancs is the Estate Bottled selection from Foppiano,which tastes both refreshing and substantial ($19).
Despite the current fad for dissing Chardonnay, it remains one of the world’s most popular and delicious wines, versatile in both style and price. To randomly select a region from which to choose a Chardonnay for this Thanksgiving I might turn to Chile and go with the “Visión” bottling from Cono Sur, a complex and lush wine that finishes on a brisk, clean note ($12). If you are fortunate enough to be starting your meal off with oysters, you absolutely must accompany them with the Guy Saget “Les Clissages d ’Or,” a Muscadet that I described in a recent review as providing “cool, vibrant, briny texture, like tongue-kissing an oyster.” And at $16 a bottle, you’ll be able to afford to lay in at least another dozen oysters.
But of all the possible whites for the Thanksgiving table, no varietal is more appropriate than Riesling. It used to be hard to find exciting or even decent Riesling for under $20, but today every region in the world turns out reasonably priced Rieslings that can be exhilarating and also provide respectable matches for just about every food on the table (ok, perhaps not the marshmallow-infused yams–but Riesling will still be better even with those than just about anything else).
From Germany, the original go-to place for Riesling, comes St. Urbans-Hof’s juicy, refreshing, lip-smacking good “Urban Riesling” (a steal at $13). Villa Wolf offers a pretty little $13 peachy, grapefruity Riesling from Germany’s Pfalz region. In this price range it’s hard to find a satisfying, non-cloying dessert wine, but the Hans Eiffel Rheinhessen Risling squeaks in at $20. Good inexpensive California Riesling is generally an oxymoron, but Loredona, in Monterey, makes one that’s redolent of honeysuckle and pears, with plenty of acidity on the finish, for a mere $11. True Riesling lovers will agree that no one in the US produces more appealing and reasonable variations on the theme than Washington state’s Chateau St. Michelle. One of the best buys in this winery’s lineup is the dry, fragrant, fruity “Waussie” ($17).
Rosé: Many people serve rosé at Thanksgiving in the hopes that it will have more universal appeal than either red or white wine. As a rosé lover myself, I sort of understand this fall back-position, but the problem is that since pink wine is sometimes insipid, sweet and/or characterless, it’s apt to be good with nothing on the menu. But still, a trustworthy wine such as the Beaujolais Rosé offered by Louis Jadot for $11 has a judicious layering of fruit and is just perky and crisp enough to be a supremely pleasant match for the Thanksgiving menu.
Reds: As is the case with whites, it’s probably a good idea to avoid extremes when selecting red wine to accompany the typical Thanksgiving culinary orgy. Highly tannic wines, for example, and those with extreme intense and concentrated flavors, can overpower the eclectic holiday buffet as well as quickly exhausting the taste buds. Big, beefy inexpensive Cabernets may well be over-the-top for this occasion, but blending Cab with other grapes sometimes softens the blow. This is true with Veramonte “Primus,” in which Cabernet tangos gracefully with Syrah, Merlot and Carmenère ($20). Argentina’s own Malbec grape canyield plumy, spicy, friendly wines such as one from Tercos ($12).
Grenache, on its own or blended with other grapes, can be a stunningly versatile wine for the Thanksgiving table, and the Languedoc in Southwestern France is an especially good source for these wines. Labels to look for include L’Ostal Cazes, whose $15 “Estibals,” a blend of Grenache/Syrah/Carignan, is deeply colored, dry and chewy, and also presents an unexpected measure of finesse. In “Grande Cuvée”, from the Languedoc’s Castelmaure, Grenache meets Syrah in a bright, plush, thoroughly pleasing wine ($17). For $16 you can get Grenache blended with Cinsault from Les Clos Perdus,a small price to pay for a beautifully balanced wine with rich and complex flavors and a silky texture.
Pinot Noir is championed by many as the ultimate Thanksgiving wine, though truly good inexpensive ones are hard to come by. The Arrogant Frog label, from Languedoc producer Domaine Mas, makes a medium-bodied, lightly floral Pinot which, at $10, is surprisingly sophisticated. For an additional $10 you could get the Rodney Strong “Estate Vineyards” Pinot Noir, which for a California Pinot is mesmerizingly light, bright and silky, with hints of earthiness. Tempranillo can be supremely delicious with turkey and trimmings. Ramón Bilbao makes a notable one that fuses rich aromas with a medium body, and like the best Rioja wines it maintains a strategic balance between oak and fruitiness–for $17, how can you resist?
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