Thanksgiving Wines From The Pros

Imagine, if you will…

The table is set. Family and friends are seated. Food is steaming. Music is drifting in from the hi-fi. Conversation is floating around about how beautiful and delicious everything looks. Your stomach is playing a rousing game of Twister, and your mouth is watering enough to squelch the Australian wildfires. Attention is diverted to the head of the table, as the host raises his/her glass for a toast. What the hell’s in that glass?

Thanksgiving dinner can be a complicated endeavor when you’re trying to choose the perfect wine to serve with it. The variety of food at the table–the sweet, the savory, the heavy, the light–seems to defy all conventional wisdom about what goes with what, especially when you’re shoveling everything down at the same time. Do you pair with the white meat of the bird, or the sausage in the stuffing? With the candied yams or the green bean casserole? With the fruit salad, the green salad or the cranberries?

For those that want everything to be simply perfect, choosing the wine can be more difficult than deciding who’s going to have to get bumped to the kid table, and who’s going to have to sit next to the colorful and ever-loquacious Uncle Eddie.

Indeed, you’ve been reading for weeks about what you should pair with your Thanksgiving dinner. People from around the blogosphere, in newspapers, and on the radio have all been talking about it, and they may have had some damn good recommendations, too.

Apart from uncorking a little of everything–which may be some of the best advice you’ve ever received, if I do say so myself–there’s got to be that perfect pairing, right? That summum bonum, that beau ideal, that double-plus-good wine to serve with a Thanksgiving dinner.

In my mind, who would know better than the folks that have a hand in making the stuff? Recently, I asked some people from around the Washington wine industry what they would be pouring on Thanksgiving Day. I figured if they’ll be drinking it, it would probably be a pretty good recommendation. To be thorough, I asked them what they’d be pouring of their own, and also what they’ll be drinking from other wineries. After all, none of us would believe that they only drink their own juice.

Here are their replies, in no particular order:

Brennon Leighton
Head Winemaker
Efeste

What wine of your own will you be serving?
Evergreen Riesling. It has really good amount of acid to cut through the gravy and the fruit to complement the meal.

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
Bollingier NV Rosé, because bubbles make any occasion better.

Heather Neff
Head Chick/White Winemaker
Nefarious Cellars

What wine of your own will you be serving?
2008 Stone’s Throw Riesling. I always think of Riesling with fall spices; we drink it everything Thanksgiving.

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
Cuillen Hills 2008 Derby Girl Rosé. Love this stuff!

Allan Williams
Director of Sales and Marketing
Jones of Washington Winery

What wine of your own will you be serving?
2007 Riesling. It’s an off-dry Riesling that pairs well with my wife’s perfectly cooked turkey.

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
Kyra Pinot Noir. It has great fruit, great balance, and she’s so darn nice.

Leah Waaramaki
Assistant Winemaker
Whidbey Island Winery

What wine of your own will you be serving?
2007 Dolcetto, 2007 Siegerrebe, 2007 Roussanne. Thanksgiving meals are such an incredible hodgepodge of flavors that I like to focus on the main dish (turkey in my case), and let the side dishes worry about themselves. These three wines are a staple at the dinner table because of their turkey-friendly qualities, as well as…well damn it I just love them!

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
2000 Baroli Barolo. A gift from the bosses…what better time to open a great bottle of Italian wine than at a dinner table with guests who appreciate a bottle like this! Salute!

Todd Newhouse
Owner/Manager
Upland Estates Winery/Upland Vineyards

What wine of your own will you be serving?
Upland Estates 2007 Gewurztraminer, because nothing goes better than Gewurtz and turkey!!

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
A Washington red wine from my cellar and whatever our guests bring!

Kyra Baerlocher
Winemaker/Owner
Kyra Wines

What wine of your own will you be serving?
Kyra Wines 2007 Pinot Noir, Washington State.

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
Latah Creek 2008 Merlot, Pheasant Vineyard.

For every party I’m invited to, I bring Kyra Wines 2008 Chenin Blanc.

Randall Hopkins
Proprietor and Winegrower
Corvus Cellars

What wine of your own will you be serving?
I think this year, we’ll do a lot with our latest release, Ruckus, our second label. Thanksgiving is always turkey and most of our friends and family very much like a softer red with their turkey. We’ll often start out with a Beaujolais, which pairs nicely, but often drift to a very easy drinking red, and our Ruckus fits that bill nicely.

What wine from another winery will you be serving?
We typically start out with a sparkling wine, I tend to gravitate towards finding a nice Le Cremant de Bourgogne. I find them to be a very good value and it is an excellent way to cleanse the palate. Very fun and festive wine, always gets people in a cheerful mood.

Whatever you decide to pour today (even if nothing at all–egad!), we at WINO wish you and yours a great holiday. We hope you have much to be thankful for. We do.