I like Riesling, a dry rose, or viognier with turkey.
I normally don’t care for white wines, and even ‘good’ oakey whites taste like turpentine to me. The exception is gewürztraminer.
My poison of choice when preparing and chowing down on Thanksgiving grub is Chateau Ste Michelle Gewurztraminer It’s dirt cheap, widely available, and simply lovely. It’s actually not a bad camping wine as it is a quite refreshing alternative to beer or bourbon around a campfire–and it doesn’t funk up your palate against s’mores. 
Chateau St. Michelle make some damn good wines! Their Eroica Riesling is pretty good, too.
I find a lot of humor in this post in the sense that being critical of one kind of normally bad wine while praising another equally bad wine is funny to me. Is this wine snob humor?
Interestingly, what you say about French wines is mostly true, although not in Alsace, which is where the abundance of Pinot Gris comes from!
As far as knowing the sweetness levels in a Riesling, you do have to experiment a bit to see how much sugar you like. The Germans make this pretty easy to grasp. A dry German Riesling will be labelled as “Trocken”. A slightly sweet wine will be labelled “halb-trocken”. Other terms on quality Rieslings refer to the ripeness of the grapes when harvested, ie, Kabinett, Spatlese, etc.
I just found this short article and it is VERY informative: Understanding German Riesling by the Label | Wine Folly
Chateau Ste Michelle isn’t a bad American producer, but for the $25-30 a bottle of Eroica costs, I can find a much better Riesling example from good old Deutschland.
I haven’t bought it in a long time, but I was thinking it was more in the $15/bottle range. If it’s that expensive, then I agree. I actually have a couple of local wine clubs I belong to where I can get a pretty nice Riesling at a good price, but they don’t sell nationally. In fact, I don’t even think they sell in the entire state of CA.
The problem with Rieslings from Germany, as I noted above, is that if you’re new to wine, the labeling will be incomprehensible. You’ll need a trusted friend or wine dealer to pick out the right bottle for you. It’s not a DIY project. 
I can say that my very favorite German Riesling producer is Donhoff. I’ve tried some aged examples of his wines and they are exquisite. The petrol notes that aged sweet Rieslings pick up is very intoxicating.
The Eroica is the one I was going to recommend, I have chosen it for Thanksgiving for years now. I also think Pinot Noir is a good choice. La Crema makes a nice one that is not too expensive.
ETA: The Eroica costs about $19 where I am. The La Crema about $18.
I’ve just returned from Trader Joe’s, where I bought some Three Buck Chuck to braise oxtails in for New Year’s dinner. The crew member who assisted me when I was looking for something to actually drink mentioned the Charles Shaw Nouveau was very good this year. For three dollars, I thought about getting a bottle. But we already have the stuff I bought at Bevmo.
According to the sign in the window of the wine shop down the block, Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive.
Silenus:. My large brawny 22-year-old son — the erstwhile Little Banjo — is home for the holiday, so we’re having that nice (medium) rare 28-oz rib steak (bone-in, for gnawing and later for dog purposes) tonight, with a couple of baked russets and some creamed spinach. The Ukulele Lady, who doesn’t indulge in such testosterone-heavy meals, is having leftover stir fry of pork tenderloin, Napa cabbage, and soba noodles.
L’chaim! Now that’s Thanksgiving eating!
I think I have the temperature problem licked. Found an old rectal thermometer I can use in the bottle.
For red, go with a Zinfandel or Beaujalais. Something not too complex or expensive, but rather fun and simple and accessible. And those don’t need to be decanted or let to breathe. And a Pinot Noir goes with just about ANY thing. It is my personal favorite.
For white…Chardonnay all da way.
For a blend of the two…THEE most popular wine in the USA: White Zin…which is called a blush wine. They leave the skins on the grapes for just a short time after crushing to give that pinky color. Women love it.
Happy T-Giving!!
Thanksgiving dinner was superb, but the host turned out to be a major champagne fan. So that’s what we drank. We gave them the two bottles of wine, but I’d heard such good things about the Santa Margherita pinot grigio 2016 that I went and picked up another bottle just for us. Haven’t opened it yet though.