Great wines for Thanksgiving

November 10, 9:29 AMPhoenix Drinks ExaminerMark Nothaft

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With so many flavors on the table, it's hard to choose just one wine.
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You’re already stressed enough this Thanksgiving making sure every family constituency is happy. You shouldn’t have to worry about serving just the right wine.

But you will, of course. That’s your nature. Mine, too. At least that’s what I used to think.
Thanksgiving is nearly impossible to pair wines with; you can’t pour just one.

Consider all those different flavors on the table. We devour everything from salty stuffing and sweet potatoes to savory gravy, neutral turkey and every variation and subtlety in between: Ham, cheeses, salads, pies and potatoes. Some of the stuff we don’t even know what it is. My wife’s cousin Connie makes this miraculous cold caramel apple salad that I’ve yet to find the right pairing for. Port or Madeira seemed pretty obvious at first, but I’ve worn out those options. I’m thinking about throwing whiskey at it this year. We’ll see. However, there are a couple of good rules of thumb that I like to follow.

For turkey, ham and other pork dishes, pinot noir is a classic. The softness of this noble grape variety complements the mildness of these meats, and marries them in a way that few wines can pull off. TAZ 2007 Pinot Noir ($23) from Santa Barbara County is packed with lots of nice soft red cherry-raspberry and flower impressions. Great with turkey. Mendelson 2006 Pinot Noir ($40), from the Santa Lucia Highlands of California, feels a bit more luxurious but also fits the bill nicely.

Beef makes its way to many tables at Thanksgiving. This is a chance to dazzle your family and friends by pulling out some pricey vintage Bordeaux. Depends how close all of you are. However, most of us will opt for solid California cabs.

There are so many in this group to choose from. I have found a couple of nice ones at the lower end, which helps keep costs down for the big shindig. Coastal Ridge ($7) from parent company Napa Ridge is a nice value-focused and flavorful option. The wine offers pleasant fruit and spice to complement roasts and brisket. Wild Hare California Cabernet Sauvignon ($7) is another good value play, and is ripe with plum and blackberry flavors and a smooth mouth feel. In addition to just about any beef dish, this bottle would work with pastas with meat sauces and grilled mushrooms. If you want to step up to a good mid-range Cab, we highly recommend Folie a Deux from Napa Valley ($28). Beautiful aromas of tart black cherry are complemented by bold flavors of blackberry and raspberry.

Of course, there are always a few guests who simply prefer white wines.

Ideally, you’ll want to start your guests off with whites and progressively move to heavier wines, but, for the folks who start white and stay white, great options abound. Gewürztraminer is a traditional white wine for Thanksgiving. I’ve nibbled on many a bird with a glass of zesty Thomas Fogarty or Chateau St. Jean gewurtz, both from California.

Riesling is also quite tasty with turkey and ham and many veggies. Pinot grigio has come on strong in recent years, and California’s Forest Glen is affordable at $10. It’s super crisp and less than 12 percent alcohol, which will help keep you awake even with turkey’s L-Tryptophan effect.

My feeling is that you also want to avoid oakened white wines at large holiday meals, so you’ll want to stay clear of most California and Australian chardonnays. You want to taste the purity of the fruit with your entrees, and not have the weight of the wood get in the way.

That said, chardonnay doesn’t have to be ruled out. You just need to look to France, since most of their burgundies are made from chardonnay and generally do not receive much oaking. Ubiquitous and well-priced Barton & Guestier, Louis Jadot and Georges Duboeuf all make great, food-friendly chardonnays with little or no wood.

But if you’d rather serve light whites from the good ol’ USA, Clif Family Winery (yes, of Clif Bar fame) just released The Climber 2008 White Wine ($14), which is made with 88 percent sauv blanc and lesser amounts of Muscat, Riesling, chardonnay and chenin blanc. This lovely wine has not received any wood treatment, and is ideally suited to shrimp cocktail, cold pasta salads or to simply sip on its own.

So don’t get frazzled deciding on just the right wine this Thanksgiving. You won’t find "right" or "wrong" solutions.

Better still, have each guest bring a favorite bottle, and turn part of your meal into a wine discussion. Maybe it will take attention away from your aunt’s not-so-savory gravy.