Raise a glass: Perfect wines to elevate your Thanksgiving table

The monthly wine column is back!

Sorry for the hiatus, y’all, but life got a bit busy in September and October. But we’re back and just in time to set your Thanksgiving table with vino your friends and family are going to crush on — at least I know I’m crushing on all of the ones I’m recommending. From your stuffed turkey to your standing rib roast and everything in between, this year’s wine list has you and your table covered!

Just a few reminders for what’s really important when it comes to choosing wines to pair with your Thanksgiving menu.

Structure matters most — acid, alcohol, tannin, sweetness, fullness of body, etc. And for this meal, I’m a sucker for the lighter side of wine, and this year’s recommendations tell that story.

Acid, acid, acid! Thanksgiving is notoriously rich — it’s why we all reach for the cranberry sauce to provide some lift to our stuffing and gravy. A high-acid wine will be the lemon to your fish this Thanksgiving.

Reach for lower alcohol wines — think 13.5% or lower when you can. The higher alcohol wines are themselves bigger, richer, and denser. If that’s your thing, go for it. But for me, the contrast between a lighter, buoyant, lower alcohol wine with high acidity is just the counterpoint I want to rich, indulgent plates.

Same for tannin load — unless the main you’re serving is melting rib roast or something similar, I’d stick with the lower tannin reds — think Pinot, Gamay, Grenache (ahem, the new ones coming in at 13/13.5%…be still this wine guy’s heart!). All of these attributes give us lighter bodied wines — high acid, lower alcohol, lower tannin … all give us lighter bodied wines.

So, let’s get to some bottles. All of these are pre-approved!

The 2023 Curran Grenache Gris is out. Right, no surprise here that I’d be recommending my all-time favorite rosé, but it’s a new vintage, and I have to point you to it. The thing about this wine is that it will work across your Thanksgiving Day. It’ll be as happy served with a dish of conversation as it will be with salads, apps, or really any main you can throw at it. Loaded with strawberry and citrus fruits and a vibrant acidity, I cannot get enough of this wine. Craft’d routinely stocks.

I stumbled upon the Tenuta Sallier de la Tour Syrah Sicilia DOC 2021 while at Food Matters several weeks ago and thought “a $15 Syrah from Sicily? Gotta give it a try!” and I’m so glad that I did. If you’re hosting a crowd this Thanksgiving, this red wine is going to be your friend. Syrah can get really ripe and quite high in alcohol–not my jam. But this is not that Syrah — this is in the Northern Rhone style — meaty, peppery, briar fruit. The tannins have been really well managed, and it’s loaded up with acid. From ham (careful with sweetness …) to beef to turkey and cranberry sauce, this wine will be very happy with your mains, and your wallet is going to thank you! Pick up at Food Matters.

The Evening Land Seven Spring Pinot Noir is a perennial favorite red wine of mine, and it is perfect for Thanksgiving. This Pinot from Oregon will be happy served from salads to mains. It’s got bright red fruits, a savory line, and is never overbearing. This producer always favors a lighter, more subtle touch. I also think quality for price — there’s not a better Pinot on the market. If you’re serving a big slab of salmon instead of turkey for your Thanksgiving like I am, this wine is for Y-O-U. Craft’d routinely stocks. Race ya!

A wine rep whom I know was promoting the wines from Camins 2 Dreams coming out of Santa Barbara County California. They’re sourcing grapes from AVAs across the county and making some really exciting wines. For your Thanksgiving table, I’m strongly recommending the Gruner Veltliner, a white wine. It’s gorgeous with vibrating acidity, a range of citrus fruit, and some smokey pineapple. Perfect accompaniment to roasted veggies, apps, and your turkey and gravy. If your table is going to be set with fish, you cannot go wrong. Both Craft’d and Food Matters stock wines from the distributor and should be able to get on special order, if there’s any left.

The Guado al Melo L’airone Vermentino is a white wine from Italy. it’s got really vibrant acidity and almost demands to be consumed with food, about which many European wines have an opinion. When the rep tasted this wine with me, I think the first comment out of my mouth was “This wine is perfect for Thanksgiving.” And it remains so! Turkey, gravy, stuffing, butter mashed potatoes … give it to me (well, if I ate turkey) with this wine. It’s got a core of citrus and mineral but also has some really food-friendly savory and herbal qualities. And it’s got fantastic acidity to get your palate ready for its next bite. Craft’d has or can get for you.

I adore the Georges Joillot Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. We got several cases of it at Casting for Hope for our fall programming … and exactly none remains. For one, this red wine is a really cool story. And if you’re serving wine nerds, they’re going to break out their phones and start googling. Passetoutgrains is an old style of wine coming out of Burgundy, and many producers who still make it do so knowing they are losing money on the Pinot grapes going into it. They make it to preserve the tradition.

Passetoutgrains is a blend (nearly unheard of in Burgundy!) of Gamay and Pinot Noir. This wine is gorgeous on its own with red and black fruits, silken tannins, integrated acidity … just beautiful to drink. Another wine that I’ll race you to, and which will be happy across your Thanksgiving service from start to finish.

Just a little further south in France, we find the Clement Jerome Brouilly. Brouilly is one of the crus of Beaujolais (which the somms are just crushing on these days, boo) and is all Gamay, a red grape. The carbonic and whole cluster (winemaking decisions) show themselves but are a lot more integrated than the young and early release Beaujolais. This one is dark red and even black fruit, spicy, dense. This wine will also be happy with a few minutes of chill if you’ve got folks in your party who like a chillable red (like me). I’d be happy with this wine and a good conversation, a hunk of fatty fish, or almost any veggies with a good, charred roast on them. Meat eaters will be happy with it, too.

This year, I’m recommending one big wine for your table. The Antonelli Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG is the perfect swap out for your big California Cab. For one, it’ll be a lot less expensive; for two, it’s a lot more interesting. This wine has big alcohol at around 15%, big tannins, and a lot of viscosity. If you’re serving a big hunk of beef or sausages, give this wine a try. Give those mains plenty of salt to stand up to the tannins in this wine. My favorite thing about this wine is how gracefully it carries that 15% alcohol, and your Cali Cab friends will be really happy with it.