My Thanksgiving Dinner Wines

The wines I selected for my Thanksgiving Feast.

Wine writers are very good at giving advice to those less experienced at matching foods with wine. But my guess is that many of us would pass on the advice for the knowledge of what so-called experts actually chose for their own family feasts. We've offered Thanksgiving Dinner suggestions in a recent article. Now here's a report on what I chose for my own celebration, along with notes on how successful the pairings were.

My First Course consisted of a wedge of Humboldt Fog Cheese and lightly candied walnuts from a friend's tree. The slightly tangy artisanal goat cheese paired very well with Ch. Ste.-Michele's lovely Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine. The wine carried over through the Second Course, an Orange and Fennel Salad, drizzled with a Fall Harvest artisanal olive oil from the Temecula Olive Oil Co. The combination of a fruity sparkling wine and fresh orange slices worked quite well.

The Main Course consisted of the usual kaleidoscope of gustatory delights: roasted brined turkey, cranberry walnut dressing, mashed garlic potatoes, creamed onions, steamed green beans, and corn soufflé. No single wine could possibly match all these flavors, so I chose two. For the lighter dishes, an Alsatian Riesling from Trimbach. For the dark meat, dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, I selected Sanford's Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills. Both wines went particularly well and covered the spectrum of flavors on the plate. The Pinot Noir complemented the dressing particularly well, since the bright cherry flavors of the wine underscored the dried cranberry and orange peel notes in the dressing.

Finally, to pair with Pumpkin Maple Custards served in mini pumpkin shells, a Petite Champagne Cognac from Remy Martin. Heaven.