I’m generally a beer man and don’t know squat about wine. We’re having Thanksgiving dinner with some neighbors and bringing the wine. Any recommendations?
I find Beaujolais goes well with turkey. This violates the ‘rule’ that one should drink white wine with poultry, and red wine with red meat. But it’s ‘permissible’ to drink red wine with game birds, and turkeys are considered game birds.
Personally, I go by the adage ‘Drink white wine only when you are out of red.’
Thanks. We’ll be taking take a couple of bottles. I can do a Beaujolais and another that does follow the rule.
I like a crisp Pinot Grigio to go with all the heavy food, but that’s pretty subjective.
This year we are visiting my family, so I’ll be going with a special blend… called Scotch.
I like a dry Riesling or a Gruner Veltliner. Beaujolais works well, too. There’s really no rules these days.
I like Gruner with turkey, too, although we usually serve a light red: a Graves or some other Bordeaux that isn’t too bossy. If you’re bringing ALL the wine, bring red AND white…there’s always people who drink one and won’t touch the other.
I drink rosé, and won’t touch red or white. If folks like me are there, (a) I apologize on their behalf; but (b) just know that we’re a thing.
Oh, and I forgot White Burgundy. As for “rules,” I always thought with turkey, reds were the classic pairing, especially pinot noir. But I personally prefer crisp, acidic, citrussy whites or, if I’m in a more refined, mellow acidity and minerals mood, that white Burgundy.
Well, rose wine is “in” again, so no one will laugh at you if you bring some of that, too, just in case The Other Waldo Pepper drops by.
It’s tough, though, finding a reasonable rosé in an average supermarket. I, too, really enjoy rosés and feel they’re an under-rated style of wine, but most of the rosé or blush wines I find at your average supermarket are syrupy sweet white zin types. (Unless that’s what you meant. And if that’s what you mean, usually there’s some sweeter type of wine around for dinner, too, though not necessarily a rosé.)
Is it? Awesome. Hopefully the selection will improve generally, kind of like how a wide range ciders all of a sudden appeared everywhere around here (much to my delight.)
I can assure you, I didn’t mean white zin.
I’m not a wine nut, but I do read the weekly wine column in the NY Times, which declared rose officially “cool” again about two years back. The Ukulele Lady is partial to this Serra Lori from the Argiolas vineyards in Sardinia:
It’s styled as a “summer wine”…shhh, don’t tell. And it’s easily available in Chicago, where you don’t have all the stupid blue laws that still exist in the Northeast.
I’m going with a Chinon this year (Loire Valley), per the recommendation of a local wine guy.
OK, good. 
It’s kind of odd, as I’ve never encountered someone who likes roses but wouldn’t find a white they like, as well. Usually, it seems to be the tannins of reds that people seem to dislike. Out of curiosity, what is it about a rosé for you that separates it from an easy-drinking white? (Well, I guess it’s kind of like a white with a touch of tannin, though some roses I can’t detect any tannin.)
Thanks! I’ll keep an eye out for it. (And I totally get “summer wine.” I do think of rosés as the ultimate picnic wine.)
I’m not sophisticated enough to use the right terms – but, in my admittedly limited experience, I found that white wines were always “not enough” in the same way that red wines were always “too much”. But between “blah” and “dial it back”, a good rosé always seems – I guess dry-but-not-too-dry? Maybe sweet-but-not-too-sweet? Also not too rich? And neither sour nor bitter? Just sort of crisp and refreshing?
Possibly there’s a white wine like that. Possibly there’s a red wine like that? All I know is, I’ve never lucked into one; I’ve only ever had whites and reds where the aftertaste leaves me thinking, Yeah, I Would’ve Enjoyed A Rosé More.
Beaujolais and food pairing [emphasis mine]:
I’ve always had Beaujolais Nouveau, noted in the quoted text as the lightest style, with the turkey.
Thanks, all. I went wine shopping yesterday. The Beaujolais selection was scant, so I ended up getting a bottle of Alexander Valley Vineyards pinot noir 2015 from California’s Sonoma Country for a red and a bottle of Santa Margherita pinot grigio 2016 from Italy for the white. Hope those will do.
One more newbie question: Are these supposed to be chilled? I’ve always heard the rule was white wine is chilled, red wine not, but you never know.
Thanksgiving dinner will be small, just four of us – the wife and I plus our married-couple neighbors. They have children and grandchildren, but they’re all on the mainland and won’t be here.
I went to Fred Meyer, and couldn’t find the Beaujolais. I had the wine steward paged, called the number on his card, and had him paged again. He never showed up. I did most of the rest of my shopping, then went to Bevmo.
I normally just get Beringer from Trader Joe’s, but I didn’t want to go to TJ’s yesterday. I only saw one brand of Beaujolais at Bevmo. I bought two bottles of Georges DeBœuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2017. $10.99/750 ml bottle with my new Bevmo card ($15.99 without). The cashier said she’d just tasted some in their employee wine tasting, and she said it was very good. Another cashier said she didn’t care for the 2016 offering. I’m sure the 2017 will be fine.
Pinot Noir should be served at about 60ºF/15ºC.