A Guide To The Best Wines For Thanksgiving

We’d like to introduce you to some classic wine choices for Thanksgiving.

When it comes time to serve wine with dinner, you will want to have at least one dry white and one red wine to serve your guests. There is our best recommendation for Thanksgiving!

Pinot Noir

This red wine is a traditional favorite for Thanksgiving. A light bodied red pairs well with the white meat entrée, also with the many vegetable-heavy sides and it tend to show well with the traditional flavors of turkey and stuffing. Try Pinot Noir by Pearce Predhomme 2016. There are a lot of delicious wines coming out of Oregon, and especially the Willamette Valley.

Along with Will Predhomme, one of Canada’s Top Sommeliers, Pearce Predhomme has created a range of wines from Willamette Valley Oregon with a team of French winemakers that have called Oregon home for some time.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is the Francophiles #1 choice for Thanksgiving wines due to the perfectly timed arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. This wine is made with 100% Gamay, which has a lot of similarities to Pinot Noir, except with way more bang-for-the-buck. Here’s another heavy-hitting surname for your table: Aviron, Beaujolais Villages Burgundy by Stephane Aviron 2016. 

Stéphane Aviron can be considered a pioneer is his approach to winemaking in Beaujolais, however he would just tell you that he’s simply returning to the traditional practices that have always made fantastic Gamay wines. Sustainable viticulture, extremely old vines and classic Burgundian techniques. He focuses on the Beaujolais village crus, all but forgotten gems of vineyards when the nouveau craze took over, which are the best sites for unique, expressive and terroir driven wines.

After red, let’s choose some great white wines!

Gewurztraminer

Not only do you get points for being the only one in your family who can pronounce it (Guh-VURTS-trah-mee-ner), but this white’s apricot-and-lychee aromas and full body will make fast friends with the turkey and everything of the cranberry-yammy persuasion. The Twisted VQA by Flat Rock Cellars 2017 will be your bottle! A well-crafted blend that combines Riesling’s zip with Gewurztraminer’s aromatics and Chardonnay’s flesh.

Riesling

When it comes to the best wine for Thanksgiving dinner, nothing beats a glass of dry Riesling. Bright acidity tingles through all the fat in the gravy, stuffing, potatos, yams and the richness of spice in cranberry sauce. Every sip feels like hitting the reset button on your palate so you can stand to take another bite of dark meat. Disagree? They’re our favourite, I dare you to buy one and try it just to prove me wrong : Riesling Niagara Peninsula VQA by Cave Spring Cellars 2017.

You can also break out a new bottle of Riesling or Gewurztraminer for dessert, with the pumpkin pie for example.

Sparkling wines

Nothing says “special occasion” quite like bubbles. Serve a flute or two as a starter as guests are arriving to sip on to accompany salty and cheesy appetizers. Sparkling wine puts everyone in a celebratory mood—unless you make these all-too-common champagne mistakes. If you’re serving a sparkling wine with dinner, seek out one that is dry, often labeled brut, instead of a sweet sparkling wine such as Italy’s Asti Spumante. Consider these two sparkling options:

• Champagne Brut Tradition Grand Cru by Egly-Ouriet NV : From the very first cuvée, Egly-Ouriet is distinguished for its ability to preserve exacting precision and outstanding chalk mineral focus in the midst of magnificent generosity. 
• Prosecco Jeio Colmei Superiore Extra Dry by Bisol N/V : It is wonderful to be able to start an event with stellar bubbly especially when popping a few corks becomes irrelevant at this price.

Where to find these wines?
→ Pinot Noir by Pearce Predhomme 2016
→ Beaujolais Villages Burgundy by Stephane Aviron 2016
→ The Twisted VQA by Flat Rock Cellars 2017
→ Riesling Niagara Peninsula VQA by Cave Spring Cellars 2017
→ Champagne Brut Tradition Grand Cru by Egly-Ouriet NV
→ Prosecco Jeio Colmei Superiore Extra Dry by Bisol N/V