When considering your Thanksgiving wine choices, here’s the only advice you need: Drink good wine.
Don’t complicate it any more than that.
OK. You probably want to know why it’s that simple, and I’m happy to explain it. I’ve written Thanksgiving-related stories for at least a decade, just like every other wine writer — from local guys like me to national columnists in the big, glossy magazines. Some feel compelled to do so, but often we’re told to write these stories because they’re apparently popular, though I don’t actually understand why. None of my friends or family members stress about what wines they’re going to pour with their turkey dinner. You shouldn’t either.
There isn’t a single “perfect Thanksgiving wine.” It’s a myth.
A traditional Thanksgiving dinner is diverse. You have turkey, stuffing — with or without sausage — mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts or green beans and cranberry sauce. That’s a myriad of textures and flavors — before we even consider the preparation variants on each.
How can any single wine — no matter how amazingly food-friendly or delicious — make each of these taste better, while also tasting better itself? It can’t. At least I’ve never thought it could.
Before writing this year’s Thanksgiving story, however, I wanted to put my personal theories about Thanksgiving wine to the test. Maybe there was a perfect pairing out there that I just wasn’t thinking about?