I’m need something to bring to Thanksgiving at a friend’s. Since I’m going quite a distance bringing food isn’t feasable, so I decided to try and be a proper adult and bring wine.
The trouble is I very rarely drink, and never drink wine. I’d like something that would be suitable for a semi-fancy thanksgiving feast. My limit is ~$20, and it needs to be something I could find pretty readily.
Thanks!
If the host family aren’t wine people either, you could bring a White Zinfandel. Yes, I know I will lose my wine-snob card for saying this, but I think it goes fairly well with turkey, and certainly is something most non-wine people like. I like Beringer White Zinfandel best of all White Zinfandels. White Zinfandel usually costs under $10/bottle.
If you’d rather go with a white wine, I’d recommend a Chardonnay. I like Hardy’s Chardonnay (from Australia) as a nice, inexpensive white. I also like Meridian Chardonnay (from California). The Meridian Chardonnay is probably going to be in the $10-15 range. I usually buy the Hardy’s in a box (they sell boxes equivalent to four bottles), for which I pay about $20.
If you want a red, you probably want Pinot Noir or Merlot instead of a Cabernet to go with turkey. I would recommend Meridian Pinot Noir (same price range as the Chardonnay). I can’t think of a specific Merlot to recommend.
In California, all of these are available at most supermarkets. I have to say I don’t know if Virginia allows supermarkets to sell wine, but if it does you’ll probably find these there. If not, you are likely to be able to find them at a liquor store, especially the White Zinfandel.
I didn’t get as much marshmallow on my sweet potatoes as she did!
Another inexpensive wine that might work well is Beaujolais Nouveau.
The San Francisco Chronicle also has a list of bargain wines for Thanksgiving in today’s Wine section.
The thing about Thanksgiving is that the meal is usually all over the place tastewise. Sweet yams, earthy (if you’re lucky) turkey, heavy gravy, etc. So you want wines that are flexible – tough enough for the heavier flavors but not so relaxed enough not to kill the lighter parts. As it happens, your price range puts you squarely in the middle of perfect wines for a Thanksgiving meal – you don’t want to blow fifty bucks for a super-complex wine. Simple is key here.
White: Most people seem to like whites at Thanksgiving. I’d recommend either a dry reisling, if you can find one, or a steel-aged (not oak) Chardonnay. Don’t get a sweet reisling, which is what most American ones are. Ask your shop owner. If you go for the Chardonnay, which will be a lot easier to find, ask for something with good fruit and fairly high acid.
Red: You can never go wrong with a big Cabernet, especially for presentation purposes, when you’re buying for hosts. But I’ll recommend something a little simpler. I’m bringing a fairly big-nosed Pinot Noir simply because it’s our house favorite but simpler still would be a Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio in Italy). Make it fairly young – one to three years.
Thanksgiving is an American holiday, so I’ll recommend American wines – anything else would be like drinking a Guinness on July 4. 
Hey, you said you’re travelling – are you going out of state? If so, it might be fun to bring a local wine or two. We recently had a merlot from Williamsburg Winery that was pretty neat. I’d bet their Cab would work nicely and be off the beaten path for your hosts. It’ll likely be lighter than California Cabernets because of the growing environment.
Good suggestions so far, thank you. The Reisling and Pinot Noir sound just right. I do have a couple of higher end grocery stores near me with good sized wine departments. Any specific names to ask about would be very helpful.
manny, you’re right about the Guinness, I prefer Newcastle. 
I’ve also heard that Zinfandels (not white, but the red wine) are recommended for Thanksgiving.
Minneapolitans think alike. I say bring a Zin. Thanksgiving is an American holiday, bring an American wine. Zinfandel is the most American of wines. It’ll be fine for the meal too.
A good one I like for under $20 is Seghesio. If you want to spend a little more, buy something by Ridge. If you want to try to get something for $10, Montevina will not fail you.
friend profane,
while i am not an educated wine drinker, i do like francis ford coppola’s wines. a bottle of his diamond pinot noir runs abou 15 dollars here in the midwest.
i don’t care much for white wines, so i have no recommendation
lh
I apologize for the editing error that placed Pinot Gris with the reds, not the whites. Stick that stuff up there and put “red zinfandel” where I talked about Pinot Gris. Grrrr!
I hesitate to offer specifc names because different retailers have such different selections. I forget how wine is sold in Virginia – if you can go to a liquor store or a dedicated wine store, they’ll offer more help than a grocery store can in most instances. If wine is a grocery-only product in VA, then the wine lovers will gravitate to work there, so you can go ahead and ask someone at the store.
I think you’ll do fine with the reisling and the pinot noir, but I’ll leave you with one caution. A good pinot will tend to be on the expensive side. Some of the Oregons can be a good bargain, but the last few years out of Washington have been fantastic and have run up in price. You might want to see if you can afford $30 for that one – it’ll be worth it if you’ve got the cash to spare.
I was just at the wine shop tonight, and that’s what the owner recommended, and it was only $12.99 a bottle.
I’m not a wine drinker either, but friends who are consistently praise the virtues of Yellowtail. The shiraz is a favorite, with the chardonnay running a close second. It’s very inexpensive - I usually find it for around $7 a bottle - and people I’ve given it to are generally impressed with my choice and surprised that it’s so inexpensive.
I’m with you, longhair75. I don’t know a lot about wines, but I know what I like, and I try to remember it. I just “discovered” Copolla’s Blue Diamond Merlot - it’s under $20/bottle here in Michigan (just). It’s right up there with Kenwood Merlot on my I-like-this-o-meter.
If you want to pay a little less for a good red, I like Yellowtail Shiraz-Cabernet mix. Very nice stuff, that.
The Wall Street Journal wine critic suggests a Cabernet with Thanksgiving. He says you kind of want something big to go with all that hearty food, even if the food flavors aren’t too bold.
I think the most common recommedations I see for Thanksgiving are Red Zinfandels. One that I drink a lot is the Ravenswood (around $10) but Ridge makes a great one that is pricier ($25?). I like this recommendation because I usually reserve Cab for eating rich meats like steaks and lamb or powerful stuff like a spicy spaghetti sauce.
I picked up 1 bottle of each for this Thanksgiving. I think the Zin was a Cline and the Cab was a Robert Mondavi. They were both $15-$20.
I love red wine, but everytime my family has turkey we always have a couple bottles of Mateuse Rose (from Portugal).
It just goes perfectly with turkey and all the fixings!
MtM
I’m particularly fond of Fat Bastard Chardonnay It’ll stand up well, it’s very drinkable, and it’s extremely reasonably priced ($7 - $10).
Here’s an article from the Washington Post (free registration required and all that) with Thanksgiving wine recommendations.
Not that you haven’t received many excellent suggestions–but don’t forget sparkling wines. From that region in France, they’re “Champagne,” from Spain, “Cava”–but sparklers are made 'round the world.
Most of the cavas from Freixenet come in those famous black bottles, but their “Brut de Noirs” is deep rose, a bit fruity & quite adaptable to the standard Thanksgiving menu.
Prices for the French champagnes can be stratospheric but California also produces some excellent sparklers.
I love Freixenet Brut de Noirs, but for some reason I have a really hard time finding it. :mad: 
Italian Prosecco or (especially) Spanish Cava can also be found at reasonable prices.
Pinot Gris/Grigio is a white grape… how pray tell, do they make a red wine from it?
I’ve had some success with Pinots, Beaujolais (I don’t care for the Nouveaus unless I’ve been drinking), and Syrahs. I think last year we had a Petit Rousse (the name is French, but the wine is from Paso Robles, California). It retails for about $20 and even comes in a pretty bottle.
Cabernets might be a bit bold, and as a non-wine drinker you probably won’t like it.