Uncorked

Thanksgiving Picks

Alan offers perfect suggestions for your big meal.

What a great time of year to be a Foodie. Our favorite cooks make those once a year special treats, like oyster dressing (my mom's favorite), or Divinty made with the two ingredients that are the bane of my existence, black walnuts and anise. These specialties are usually made once a year because they contain expensive ingredients and have distinctive flavors and textures. The trick is trying to find wines to match up with all of these exotic flavors. The wine market today has many options that provide a broad spectrum of flavors and origin countries to choose from.

First there are the usual suspects that every wine writer known to man will tell you are perfect for Thanksgiving: Riesling for white and Pinot Noir for red. Riesling in the Old World style has a brisk acidity that balances the sweetness of the fruit. Many of the special dishes for holiday entertaining are in some ways a combination of sweet and sour flavors, which Riesling enhances. I am a hesitant of new world Riesling because they often grow in places where they attain ripeness but the temperatures do not get low enough at night to maintain the bright acidity you get from Alsace or German wines. So stick with Old World choices, like the ones I've listed below.

Pinot Noir, the current darling of wine geeks, possesses the acidity and will enhance the savory character of many of our favorite dishes. You may remember my August column which gave you lots of information about why Pinot Noir is a great wine. Oregon's Willamette region is blessed with terrific wine-producing temperatures. Two mountain ranges, the Cascades block the high desert climate of Eastern Oregon and the Coastal range, create the cool temps that Pinot thrives in; the Cascades block the high desert climate of Eastern Oregon and the Coastal range, created from platonic movement, blocks the cold, wet, flow off the Pacific. My general recommendation this year is buy Oregon Pinot 2006 or a Burgundy from the 2005 vintage.

More adventurous types might opt for Rosé or sparkling wine (Champagne). The color of the Rosé and the bubbles of the sparkling wine make them festive choices. You can even get a Sparkling Rosé, but be prepared to spend a little more as they are more difficult and more time-consuming to produce. The color of the Rosé comes from the wine’s contact with the skin, while Sparkling Rosé has red wine added to it, creating a creamy style with a sexy darker color. If you want to impress those wine lovers in the bunch with new options, look no further than Torrontes from Argentina, Albarino from Spain or Falanghina from Italy. These wines exhibit great acidity to complement the same lovely qualities the Riesling does: bright acidity and pretty aromas, but they fly under the radar screen for many wine buyers.

This year give your cook a great wine that truly complements those once a year Thanksgiving treats.

Suggestions for wines:

Scloss Volrads Kabinet Riesling Germany 2007

A to Z Pinot Noir Oregon 2006

Bethel Heights Pinot Blanc Oregon 2006

Domaine Olivier Bourgogne 2005

Vueve Clicquot Rosé NV France

Zolo Torrontes Argentina 2007

Morgadio Albarino Rias Baixas Spain 2007

Vinosia Falaghina Campania Italy 2006

Chateau de Trinquevedel Rosé Tavel 2007