The Best Wines to Pair with Thanksgiving Turkey

Here’s a question we’ve probably all asked ourselves: are Thanksgiving wine pairings even important? Would it really matter if we just went to our local wine store and picked up our regular $20 bottle, asked the salesperson for a recommendation or heck, even just chose a bottle at random? No, it wouldn’t matter, but you’ll soon realize after reading the pairings from Food Network culinary producer and sommelier Dana Beninati that the right bottle can truly elevate your home cooking. Just like that, your turkey tastes juicier, every single one of its buttery flavors detectable. Looking for even more inspiration? Check out our resources, Here Are the Best Wines for Your Thanksgiving Dinner and 12 Good Bottles of Wine Under $20 You Can Bring to Thanksgiving.

First things first, if you want to serve guests something while they linger around noshing on pigs in the blanket, waiting for the main event of dinner to start (read: eating turkey), have a few chilled sparkling wines on hand. "Bubbly is always a perfect way to start any party, but particularly the holidays," Beninati says. "The way that slight effervescence dances on your palate gets people excited and ready to eat and is appetizing in and of itself. Some people don’t want to waste stomach space on appetizers, and any sparkling wine can stand up on its own." Good, affordable picks tend to be Cava from Spain, sparkling Sket from Germany or Gewurztraminer from Germany, upstate New York or Alsace, France.

Wines to Pair with Turkey (and the Rest of Your Feast)

If you want to have several different wine pairings available, but don’t want folks to get too tipsy, Beninati has a good tip: "Give people small pours at first so everyone can try different things and see what works for them. Thanksgiving is a tour of many different foods, so it’s great to have different options."

Beaujolais Nouveau: Gamay grapes are really fruit-forward, food-friendly and play well with cranberry sauce and the heavy buttery notes in poultry, mashed potatoes and stuffing. This red wine is released by the French government once a year, right around Thanksgiving. Everyone waits at midnight for the release and it’s a celebratory occasion. It’s a great quality product that’s affordable because there’s no aging time. The grapes in every single bottle have been hand-picked, which is a big deal because most comparably priced bottles are machine-picked.

Old Vine Zinfandel: Here’s a great red option for your second or third glass of wine as you’re finishing up dinner and headed towards dessert. Grapes from older vines are widely thought to make better wine; the red fruit in a bottle like this will be heavily ripened and intense, teetering towards black fruit with chocolately notes that are great with sweet potatoes, dark meat turkey, the spices of pumpkin pie or caramelization of pecan pie.

And if you’re worried that the old vine Zinfandel won’t last through dessert? Consider stocking some dessert wines, such as a Riesling ice wine from Canada or upstate New York or a seven to ten year-old tawny port from Portugal or Spain.

Related Links:

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