We know it’s the last minute – day before – Thanksgiving just as well as anyone else here in America but if you’re like me, then sometimes things come up at the last minute. For many folks that can include which beverage to have with their food of choice, so what I’ll attempt to do here is throw out a few suggestions of various wine-types to try out.

Coastal California or Oregon Pinot Noir tend to go very well with herb-crusted meats like chicken, turkey or game and can be very complimentary to the entire cornucopia of foods at the table.

Oregon:
- Panther Creek Pinot from Oregon
- Argyle Reserve Pinot Noir
- Yamhill Estate Pinot Noir

California:
- Blackstone Reserve Pinot Noir
- Bouchaine Pinot Noir – Carneros
- Ventana Vineyards Pinot Noir

France (Burgundy):
- Domaine Rebourseau Grand Cru “Mazis-Chambertin”
- Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru “La Toppe Au Vert”
- Domaine Groffier Gevrey-Chambertin

-Gewurztraminer – the grape with the funky name continues to be a “safe-bet” for those less willing to adventure out into other varietals. All too many, however, are overly sweet and don’t have the acids to hold up very well with the various foods at a typical Thanksgiving table. A few of my favs are:

Hugel Gewurztraminer from Alsace region of France
2007 Snoqualmie “Naked” Gewürztraminer – WA State
2008 Ventana Vineyards of California

Breaking outside the norm:
There are so many other wonderful grape-types that I really think you should try – so many in fact, that I’ll try and shorten it down to just a few:

Grenache – Burgundy, Spain and Paso Robles (CA) do very well with this food-friendly grape
Tempranillo – this Spanish grape has all kinds of good spicey notes going on
Torrentes – a grape from Argentina that’s catching on
Viognier – try one that has lower alcohol – say below 12% if possible
Verdejo – a very food-friendly white grape usually from Spain
Zinfandel – an American favorite that has bold, spicey and jammy flavors

Any of these wines would do well with pork, chicken, beef or lamb, assuming you’re using good seasoning and herbs.

If you have any questions at all – please email me: dp@winefoot.com