Bottled bounty

Turn your Thanksgiving into a wine tasting

by Thor Iverson

UNCORKED

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Thanksgiving is a time for appreciating the diversity and abundance of things that come from the earth. So isn't it odd that most Thanksgiving-wine advice is about finding one single wine that matches perfectly with roast turkey? What happened to diversity and abundance?

As anyone who has ever attended a wine tasting can attest, it's fun to try more than one wine at a time. Sure, there's an educational aspect to comparing different wines, but the greatest joy comes from opening four or five bottles at once -- something that just isn't feasible at home. But now, as families gather for the Thanksgiving feast, it is possible. And since the mix of wine enthusiasts and "unenthusiasts" at such an event always makes picking a universally pleasing wine a difficult task, there's even more reason to uncork a few different bottles and turn your feast into a tasting.

As with any tasting, there are several ways to approach it. The most traditional would be to serve a series of wines in succession: sparkling wines, light whites, heavy whites, light reds, heavy reds, and dessert wines. But unless your entire family is really into wine, this might be a bit too regimented. (Besides, the chaos of family holidays doesn't lend itself to structured tasting.) The easiest, and probably best, way to serve multiple wines is just to put them on the table and let guests pick and choose. And who knows? Maybe you'll convert a cousin or two to the glories of the grape.

On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to start with a sparkling wine. Although this is a season when a lot of vintage-dated and luxury cuvée Champagnes are on the market in anticipation of December 31 festivities, casual gatherings usually aren't the time for such serious sparklers. Instead, go for the regular, non-vintage Champagnes from houses such as Bollinger, Taittinger, Pol Roger, and others. Or, look to bubblies from the US (Roederer, Mumm Cuvée Napa, and Argyle make my favorites) and Australia (deep red sparkling shiraz from Seppelt, Hardy's, or Rumball will shake things up a bit). Expect to pay $25 to $35 for the Champagnes, and about half that for the rest.

Light whites are somewhat problematic at the Thanksgiving table, as they easily can be bludgeoned into insignificance by the array of flavorful foods (of course, if Grandma is legendary for her flavorless fowl, then light whites might be the perfect thing). The wines that seem to work best are those with a little bit of residual sugar, or those with a "softness" that comes from otherwise imperceptible amounts of sugar. Both descriptions point squarely to three wines: pinot blanc from Alsace (Trimbach makes a widely available version, but Tempé and Schoffit are better), Vouvray (Clos Baudoin/Poniatowski, Huet, Pichot, and Champalou are all excellent producers), and German spätlese-level rieslings (look for Loosen, the various members of the Prüm family, and the pricey-but-delicious Weil bottlings).

Heavy whites are a different story. Chardonnays rarely shine as brightly as they do with Thanksgiving dinner. And this is the time to bring out the big, earthy, spicy, and oaky fruit bombs from the US, such as those from Duck Pond, Kiona, Chateau St. Jean (especially the Robert Young Vineyard bottling), and Storrs (all of their single-vineyard wines are excellent). Other options are gewürztraminer from Alsace or grüner veltliner from Austria.

Light reds rarely get better than Beaujolais, though the weightier cru bottlings are always a better bet than the (unfairly maligned) fruit-juice substitute known as Nouveau. Here's a quick shopping hint: buy any Beaujolais not made by mega-producer Duboeuf. Other options are Valpolicella (look for wines from Allegrini, Bertani, Tommasi, Dal Forno, and Quintarelli) and even rosés from such diverse producers as Bonny Doon (California), Druet (Bourgueil, in France's Loire Valley), and Ambra (Carmignano, from Italy).

Heavier reds, like lighter whites, are an area where one should tread with caution. Too much tannin and heft can taste unpleasant with turkey, and worse with sweet potatoes, which makes elegant, soft red Burgundy the perfect match. Bargain hunters (remember, these are the relative bargains of Burgundy) will want to seek out the '97 Drouhin Côte-de-Beaune-Villages for $20, the '97 Santenay or Côte-de-Beaune for $25, and the '97 Côte-de-Nuits-Villages for $27. From Italy, select with abandon from the gorgeous '97 vintage in Tuscan appellations such as Chianti (including higher-quality designations like Chianti Classico and Chianti Rufina), Carmignano, Rosso di Montalcino, and Morellino di Scansano. In this vintage, it's simply very hard to go wrong with any wine over $8 (though you should avoid Chianti in straw baskets).

Finally, if your dessert is pumpkin or apple pie, then your dessert wine should be something made from spicy, seductive grapes like muscat or gewürztraminer. Vendange tardive or sélection de grains nobles wines from Alsace are perfect (Trimbach, Weinbach, Ostertag, and Zind-Humbrecht make most of what you'll see in this market), but they carry a hefty price tag. Cheaper are muscats from domestic producers such as Quady, Alderbrook, and Bonny Doon, or gewürztraminers from Andrew Rich and Navarro. These American wines are usually too low in acidity for sipping on their own (they end up tasting syrupy), but with food they taste just fine.

Thor Iverson can be reached at wine[a]phx.com.

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