If your particular menu is on the light side, you can still enjoy a red wine. The secret is to make sure the wine is lighter in body, with less tannins than a fuller-bodied, more aggressive red wine such as a Verdejo from Rueda. Also remember that your guests will be enjoying both the white and dark meat of the turkey, and a red wine, or even a dry, but fruit-driven rose, will stand up better to the dark meat.
Planning your Reception
Consider what wines you will serve before the meal begins. In many homes, part of the fun of a Thanksgiving Day dinner is catching up with friends and family in the kitchen while the turkey is slowly baking in the oven. One exotic, and very inexpensive, way to impress guests is to serve Fino Sherry an hour before the feast is scheduled to begin.
Fino Sherry, from Jerez, Spain, begins its life just like any wine, with the grapes harvested and quickly fermented. Then, this base wine is fortified with grape spirit and, through a miracle of nature, develops a thick layer called “Flor” which covers the wine in the cask like a lid, preventing oxygen from touching the wine and resulting in a dry, slightly nutty, tan-colored elixir that goes well with almonds and other nutritious pre-feast snacks. Because two or three ounces per person is really all you need and a bottle of good quality Sherry can be had under $15, this is a particularly economical way to entertain guests in style.
As an alternative, try dazzling your guests with Cava, the sparkling wine of Spain. The method used to produce Cava is virtually the same as the method used to make Champagne. The key difference is that you can find delicious Cava at under $10 a bottle. Rose-colored cava makes a particularly festive presentation for holidays.
The Sweet Golden Finish
Are you in the habit of serving coffee after your Thanksgiving meal? Think again. This is a holiday. You can’t find a better dessert beverage to celebrate with than Pedro Ximenez “Murillo” from producer Emilio Lustau. This is a thick syrup of a dessert wine that has been fortified and is so rich and sweet you will want to distribute it in two-ounce pours. Serving vanilla ice cream along with your Thanksgiving Day dessert? Pour the PX right on top – it’s delicious.
Article comments