Thanksgiving Wine

Where've you been? You could say I've been pre-Occupied with Wall Street. You could say I've been sick. You could say I've been travelling. You could say all of the above, but I haven't been neglecting wine, just writing about it. So we've visited our favorite wineries in the Willamette Valley, Oregon and
Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma, California which I'll tell you about soon, but first the low down on the annual showdown with all those turkeys out there (no, not the politicans, the birds).

Food pairings can be overdone. Basically you can drink any wine you like with any food. Red wine with fish, white wine with red meat. Bordeaux with salmon, Chardonnay with steak. It does happen that some pairings are exquisite together such as foie gras and Sauternes, blue cheese, walnuts and Port,  rack of lamb and Bordeaux, T-bone steak with big Napa Cab,  Salmon and Pinot Noir, Barolo and Osso Buco to name a few examples. So even though you can drink anything with Turkey there are some pairings that work better than others

You can always drink Champagne or other sparklers with anything including Turkey. Even though I don't generally like sweeter Champagnes, they do go well with Turkey. Try Prosecco or Sparkling Vouvray. Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley might just be the perfect wine with Turkey. Sparkling Vouvray has the added advantage of  being festive and generally less expensive than Champagne. Vouvray, both sparkling and plain come in varying degrees of sweetness, so it might be best to ask someone in the store. Semillon is another great match. Of course, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris would work well, too. Gnerally speaking, whites go better than reds, but if you prefer reds try Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais, or Pinot Noir. If Turkey's not you thing, try Rose with Ham and Burgundy or Pinot Noir with Roast Beef.

Here are ten specific suggestions:

1) Chandon Napa Sparkling Wine
2) Mumm's Napa Sparkling Wine
3) Gruet New Mexico Sparkling Wine
4) Mountain Dome Washington Sparkling Wine
5) Zardetto Prosecco - Italy
6) Vouvray - Loire Valley, France
7) Sparkling Vouvray, Loire, France
8) L'Ecole Semillon, Washington State
9) L'Ecole Walla Voila(Chenin Blanc) - Washington State
10) Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau - France

Enjoy! Have a Happy Holiday!