The Wines of Thanksgiving

Red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, cider: it’s the time of year to count our blessings. Yes, the holidays. As Thanksgiving rears its head, relatives are extended invitations, decorations are brought up from the basement, and turkeys everywhere join the witness protection program. We spend weeks planning what we’re going to eat and, more importantly, what we’re going to drink. 

In a perfect wine world, you might be able to plan your Thanksgiving completely around your wine list. But, this holiday makes that hard. Plainly put, there are certain dishes that just have to make an appearance at the Thanksgiving table. No matter how hard we try, some things (ahem, cranberry sauce) wont’ go away.

This leads to one solution: we plan our wine menu around our Thanksgiving menu.

Now, as a general rule, wine should be paired with the strongest flavor of any given meal. But, once again, Thanksgiving makes that hard. Every family possesses their own customs. Some stick to turkey, some prefer ham, some throw in primed rib, and others, in the true tradition of the very first Thanksgiving, simply place a call to the local Pizza Hut.

For this reason, the rules of wine have to be fairly general and flexible, improving their chances at making the masses thankful.

Pour some sugar on you: The perfect way to kick off a Thanksgiving is with an Aperitif wine, a wine that is sweet and rich, such as Sherry. Not only does an Aperitif wine add a sense of festivity to the air, but it also helps to stimulate your appetite. With an Aperitif in hand, this may finally be the year you achieve your goal of eating your body weight in mashed potatoes.

Drink in the Beaujolais Nouveau: The holidays may be about all sorts of obvious things, such as a tree in the grand hotel, one in the park as well, but they are also about subtle things, such as a bottle of wine. Beaujolais Nouveau, a wine annually released from France on the third Thursday in November, is light, simple, festive and fun. Not meant for aging, this wine is to be consumed promptly. Seeing how it’s a favorite among wine lovers and those not yet sold on the goodness of the grape, that shouldn’t be a problem. 

Article Author: Jenn Jordan

Jenn Jordan is a cartoonist in the Denver area. She loves drinking wine, watching sports, and her online gambling addiction could probably use an intervention. For syndication information, please visit her website at Greetings From Mars.

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