Thanksgiving is the biggest wine holiday of the year. You might expect that, because with all that yummy food, – you of course need a great wine to wash it down. Every November I write about what I would drink and recommend for the big feast. I thought I’d add a twist this year and get some opinions from others on the subject. With that in mind, I surveyed some of my northshore wine and foodie friends to find out what they might be drinking at their tables on turkey day.
Roslyn Prieto, owner of Rips on the Lake, usually makes a traditional turkey with cornbread dressing, but sometimes cooks a crown of pork. She’s a big fan of Bouchaine winery and recommends their Chardonnay with the turkey and Pinot Noir with the pork. “Their wines go so well with food,” says Roslyn.
Tony Bosco, owner of Bosco’s Italian Restaurant, thinks that an Italian Pinot Grigio is the perfect accompaniment to a Thanksgivng meal. His family does a turkey with their favorite Italian dishes, bracciolini and pasta. He says the Pinot Grigio is nice and light and doesn’t overpower the food.
Winston Garfield, owner of Obelisk Wine Bar and Art Gallery, believes that Stratton Lummis Cabernet will be his choice this year. He serves turkey and a whole prime rib with all the accoutrements. He likes the way that Cab can stand up to all of the different flavors that are combined in a Thanksgiving meal. He also makes pears stuffed with blue cheese and his ‘famous’ mashed potatoes with bacon bits and sour cream. According to Winston, “Big food! Big wine!.”
Brenda Hart, owner of Habano’s of Slidell Wine Cellar, likes to serve Pinot Noir or Rosé with her holiday meal. She believes that these wines are rich enough to stand up to her cornbread dressing. Like many others in recent years, she says that she also pops a bottle of Nouveau Beaujolais because it has become a tradition in her family.
Rod Covington, the wine and spirits manager of Rouse’s in Mandeville, likes to serve a crisp Southern French Rosé. It is light and easily accompanies a heavy meal. Domaine Tempier from Bandol is one of his favorites. Before the meal, he loves to kick off the festivities with a glass of champagne and then finish up by sipping Madeira with his dessert.
Adam Aquistapace of Aquistapace Supermarket is a fan of the wines from Piedmont in northwest Italy for his Thanksgiving meal. Dolchetto and Barbera are his two choices. They have great acidity, and these good, medium-bodied reds are wonderful with Louisiana Cajun-fried turkey. By the way, Aquistapace fries around 5000 turkeys during the holiday season!
Darryl Cannon, owner of The Wine Market, believes in having a variety of wines at his table. These usually include Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc as accompaniments to the fried turkey, ham and country cornbread dressing he serves. His thoughts this year have turned to how really great merlots are again: “Merlots were really on a down swing for a while, but the ones I’ve tasted recently have been spectacular.”
Wallace Simmons, general manager of Nuvolari’s, fries turkeys every year with friends. As a warm-up for the festivities, this usually involves drinking brandy during the cooking segment. For the feast itself, he believes that Pierre Sparr Cremant Rosé is a great turkey wine; it pairs well and the bubbles are so festive! Following the meal, he says his gang drinks copious quantities of both reds and whites.
So there you have it. There is apparently no one “best” Thanksgiving quaff, but there are a lot of good choices. These comments come from some of the most knowledgeable food and wine people I know, and they’re all drinking a variety of different things. The lesson in all of this is to consider the meal and what will go best with it. A corollary lesson to be learned is to drink what you like and throw all the rules out of the window. It is a celebration to be enjoyed with family and friends, and wine certainly increases the conviviality and helps the conversation flow. What, you may ask, am I personally drinking at my holiday table? Well, they all sound good to me; maybe I’ll try one of each.