With the holidays fast approaching, thinking about wine should be an enjoyable part of your planning rather than a source of worry. From Thanksgiving to Christmas to the New Year, I’ve compiled a handy guide to assist in getting the ideal wine for all of your winter festivities.
Best Wines for Thanksgiving
When it comes to the assortment of food found on a Thanksgiving table, getting a wine that works with every side dish and sauce can be challenging. Turkey itself has a relatively light flavor, and the gravy is salty and rich. Much of the other sides aren’t particularly intense in taste. Still, they are filling, as we all know from the comatose-like state we enter post-Thanksgiving.
With that in mind, the wines need to cut through the weight of a meal while not overpowering the poultry and the sides. For red, that means opting for a wine with lighter tannins, some acidity to cut through the salt, and some generous fruit to match some of the natural sweetness from the yams, cranberry sauce, and carrots. A new world Pinot Noir like one from Oregon or New Zealand, a delicious Beaujolais, or a juicy Spanish Garnacha will all suffice.
For white wines, a more decadent style like Viognier and unoaked Chardonnay will match the intensity and weight of the meal while making the whole meal feel less filling. Additionally, an off-dry riesling can pair exceptionally well with much of the sweeter sides in the dish.
Best Wines for your Holiday Dinner
If you go for the turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas, then follow the advice above. If you’re going for a ham, then a Riesling will match the sweetness of the ham, with the acidity cutting through the fat of the pork. Rosé isn’t just a summer beverage and could be a unique addition to the table. If you’re a red lover, zinfandel, grenache work wonderfully with ham.
If game and fowl are your family’s preferred Christmas dinner, then Burgundy is best. A luxurious meal requires a complex wine, and Burgundy is a great suitor. With prime rib or roast beef, feel free to scale up the wine to a Bordeaux or other full-bodied red. Lamb could undoubtedly be paired with a northern Rhone syrah, Tuscan red, or Rioja.
Wine for Celebrations
While I may be biased, sparkling wine is a necessity during the holidays. Catching up with family and friends, enjoying a holiday dinner, and toasting to the new year are just a few of the events made better by a bottle of bubbly.
Champagne is one of the best options, but many people limit themselves to the major houses. However, there exist many comparably priced growers that create wines of tremendous depth and complexity. Furthermore, the method of production that makes Champagne, known as the traditional method, isn’t limited to the small French appellation north of Paris. Within France, excellent examples come from the Cremant titles that dot the country. The Cremant de la Loire, Cremant de Bourgogne and Cremant D’Alsace are sources of high quality and great value.
Spain’s answer to Champagne, Cava, Outside of France, provides wines with delightful citrus and bread notes at a fraction of the price. In Italy, look beyond Prosecco and discover the wines of Franciacorta, a great region in Lombardy that makes some of the best sparkling wines outside of France.
Best Wines for Gifting
Part and parcel of the holidays are the gifts. Gifting the perfect wine can be challenging. The wine needs to be classic enough that it will appeal to a wide range of people while also not being so common that everyone’s tried it. It may be tempting to go for a Napa Cabernet or a California Chardonnay, but try the same grape from a different region like a Cabernet from Chile or a Chardonnay from the cooler areas of Australia like the Yarra Valley or the Mornington Peninsula. For the Sauvignon Blanc lover, a white Bordeaux has got the grape’s characteristic herbaceous freshness while having the prestige of Bordeaux.
If you’re trying to impress and the price doesn’t matter as much, then few wines will impress the way a Barolo or Burgundy do. Both work well for collectors. Burgundy, the heartland of pinot noir and arguably the source of the planet’s finest wines will leave a great impression. However, the King of Italian wines, Barolo, has got broad appeal amongst lovers of full-bodied red wines.
