Dr. David Muhleman

The-Wine-Educator    WINE & SPIRITS EDUCATION AND CONSULTING SERVICES FOR THE CONSUMER AND THE PROFESSIONAL

THANKSGIVING WINE

The two biggest wine dinners of the year are Thanksgiving and Christmas. I once read that twenty-five percent (25%) of all wine sold annually in retail stores, is sold in the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years. One quarter of their yearly sales in 6 weeks. So this is an important time of year to buy wine.

Everyone has their opinion on what wines to have with Thanksgiving dinner, but there are some basics that everyone (mostly) agrees on. And the most important “basic” is drink what you like.

The second “basic” I follow is that this is not the time of year to buy “everyday” wine. You are going to a lot of work for Thanksgiving dinner, you are going to a lot of expense for Thanksgiving dinner, and you are having your friends and family together; this is when you should bring out the “special” wines. 

I have to say that I am a big fan of the Beaujolais Nouveau that comes out on the 3rd Thursday of November every year. This is a world-wide wine event, and I encourage you to visit your wine store on the 3rd Thursday in November and check out the Beaujolais Nouveau. From Tucson to Tokyo and everywhere in between; around the world, the 3rd Thursday in November is the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau and many families choose the Beaujolais Nouveau for their Thanksgiving dinner. 

Although I said I was a big fan of Beaujolais Nouveau (and I am) I’m not a big fan of having the Beaujolais Nouveau for Thanksgiving dinner. Most years the Beaujolais Nouveau taste like cherry kool aid, or something similar. And although it’s fun to enjoy, and maybe if you have guests that don’t normally like wine they’ll like this, it’s more a fun wine for hot tubs and sunsets. So get a few bottles to enjoy, but leave Thanksgiving dinner for the good stuff.

One of the first rules of wine/food pairing is that the wine should not over power the food and the food should not over power the wine. The example I often use in putting ketchup on scallops. When you put ketchup on scallops the ketchup over powers the scallops and you never taste the scallops. So use this rule with your Thanksgiving dinner. Determine what are your dominate flavors and match the wine with the dominate flavors, and try not to over power either.

The challenge it that Thanksgiving dinner has so many dominate flavors it gets confusing. You have the turkey (or ham) and the veggies and the potatoes, and all the side dishes; so how does one determine the dominate flavors on the table? And the best answer is that there are so many flavors you are going to have to pick a wine that goes with lots of flavors. My two suggestions are Viognier and Pinot Noir.

Part of this is a process of elimination. Most white wines are too light and will be over powered by the food. Most red wines are too bold and will over power the food. So I look for a full bodied white and a light bodied red; thus the Viognier and the Pinot Noir. This assumes a traditional oven-cooked turkey Thanksgiving meal. Non-traditional dinners (B-B-Q or deep fried turkeys) can stand up to a much bolder wine like a great zinfandel or a full-bodied syrah/shiraz. If you are going this route I’d encourage you to visit your wine shop and ask one of the wine experts what goes best with your non-traditional dinner.

The viognier I like best is the Pride. Or if you want to try something extra special get the French Condrieu which is some of the best viognier in the world. Viognier tend to have what I describe as tree fruit flavors; apples, pears, peaches, apricots, all very fruity flavors. And there are other really good viogniers like McManis and Bourassa.

Pinot Noirs have the same fruity profile; but often they have more of a dried cherry flavor, Bing cherry, black cherry and again they often have an earthy characteristic to them which works very well with earthy foods (dressing, potatoes, veggies, mushrooms, gravy, etc). There are several great Pinot Noirs, but for Thanksgiving dinner I’d suggest the Wedell or the Sea Smoke. Open them a little before dinner so some of the characteristic Pinot Noir nose has a chance to dissipate and then enjoy.

I need to take a moment and talk about the temperature of the wine at Thanksgiving dinner. Often times its warm here in Tucson on Thanksgiving and most homes are warm from the cooking and lots of people, and our homes have a tendency to be warmer than normal on Thanksgiving. There are two simple rules of thumb about wine temperature. First, wine should never get over 80 degrees. Over 80 degrees, the wine begins to cook and break down and bad things happen to wines that stay above 80 degrees even for a short period of time. So never store your wines in the kitchen or garage or anyplace in your house where it will get over 80 degrees. And in Tucson that happens a lot. If you have to, put them in the refrigerator.

Second, when you get ready to serve your wines. Take white wines out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you are going to serve it; and put red wines in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before you serve it. The temperature of your wines makes a huge difference in flavor. Try eating a Snickers candy bar right out of the freezer and then eat one at room temperature and then eat one that is melting from being too warm. There is a world of difference. The same holds true for lots of foods and especially for wine.

So try my “30 minute” rule and enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner and your Thanksgiving wine.