Quite often, people become dreadfully intimidated when it comes to serving wine at Thanksgiving or any other holiday meal. They feel it just isn't possible to choose a bottle of wine to match so many flavors. But it is possible and it isn't as difficult as it seems.
"No other holiday celebrates the gift of wine like Thanksgiving," says
Natalie MacLean, author of the bestselling book Red, White and Drunk
All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. "Wine is a taste
of the harvest along with all the delicious dishes on the table.
To make pairing wine with your Thanksgiving or other holiday meal a painless task, take advantage of Natalie MacLean's free online matching tool. Start out by choosing "turkey holiday dinner" from the food drop-down menu and then select the specific type of dish you are serving. You may also begin by selecting the type of wine you would most like to serve.
Below, you'll find MacLean's "Five Quick Tips For Choosing a Terrific Thanksgiving Wine":
1. Start with bubbly. Sparkling wine is a great aperitif to sip while
you wait for the turkey to finish cooking. It adds a celebratory note
to the meal and goes well with starters like soup and salad.
2. Consider the turkey. Unlike most poultry and game birds, turkey meat
is very dry in texture. So you need a mouth-watering wine to complement
it. Good options are crisp whites like riesling and pinot grigio. And
yes you can drink red wine with white meat: pinot noir, beaujolais and
zinfandel all have juicy, berry-ripe flavors that go well with turkey.
3. Look beyond the bird. The range of side dishes means that you don't
have to match your wine just to the turkey. Since Thanksgiving dinner
is often a banquet-style meal, with everyone choosing the trimmings,
why not do the same with your wines? Offer both red and white, and
possibly more than one depending on the size of your group.
4. Complement or contrast. A big, buttery chardonnay from California or
Chile can complement the roasted, smoky flavors of squash, chestnuts
and pecan stuffing. But if you'd rather have a contrast to the richness
of cream sauces and dressings, try a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
5. End on a sweet note. If anyone still has room left when it's time
for pumpkin or pecan pie, offer a late harvest wine or icewine. If
you're a chocolate fan, try serving a liqueur with complementary
flavors such as raspberry or blackcurrant.
Wine is supposed to be fun and exciting so don't let yourself become too concerned with whether or not the pairing works. While there are ideal pairings, there is no "perfect pairing," since everyone's tastes are slightly different. Therefore, just relax, enjoy time with your family and friends, have great food...and hopefully great wine will follow. Cheers!
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Natalie MacLean has won four James Beard Journalism Awards, including
the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award; and she was named the
World's Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards. Rex Pickett,
author of Sideways, says that Natalie "writes about wine with a
sensuous obsession" and is "often laugh-out-loud funny." Eric Asimov of
The New York Times notes, "Ms. MacLean is the disarming Everywoman .
she loves wine, loves drinking . a winning formula." The Financial
Times observes: "Natalie MacLean is a new force in the wine writing
world-a feisty North American answer to Hugh Johnson and Jancis
Robinson."
