Holiday Turkey Dinner Wines

by Patricia Fioriello on October 14, 2009

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holiday turkey

Holiday season is approaching and turkey is going to be on your list of dishes to serve during holiday get-togethers, especially for Thanksgiving.

The main question that comes to everyone’s mind is what wine to serve with turkey? To answer this question first think what would your guest prefer? Some like red wines, others may want a wine with a little sweetness and a few even prefer dry wines. So if you have to choose a perfect combination with the turkey.

List of common wines that go with turkey

When the preference is red wine: red wine is a good choice for dark and meat based gravies. Light fruity reds are always a better choice with turkey. Pinot Noir is a good choice as it has little tannin.  It will not overpower the taste of the meal. One can go for various brands of Pinot Noir like Burgundy from France, or anything from California or Oregon.

Pinot Noir is best served at cellar temperature. If you put this wine into the refrigerator just about twenty minutes before serving, it will bring out a good fruit flavor and reduce a bit of the alcohol bite. Fruitier Merlot’s and Shiraz are also preferred by many people. Beaujolais Nouveau is harvested in November.  It is made from Gamay grapes that make wine fresh, light bodied and fruity with a hint of cherry and plum. It complements turkey dishes very well. A few good brands that go with turkey are Sterling Vineyards Winery Lake Pinot Noir or Camelot Pinot Noir.

When the preference is sweet wine: a good choice can be White Zinfandel or many other German wines.  They are great for a turkey feast. One of the good wines can be Vouvray from the Loire River region in France. It has a nice fruit taste.

When the preference is dry white wine: Chardonnay can be the most natural choice. Other good ones are Pinot Grigio or a Viognier or a White Burgundy from France. Riesling is also a good choice among German wines. There are varieties of Riesling wines.  If you want a less sweet variety then you can go for ‘Kabinett’ and if you prefer a sweeter taste then one can go for Spätlese.

Other than these, one can go for sparkling wine that enhances the taste of turkey as well as the festive season.

Another feature that is an important consideration while choosing a wine with turkey is how you are going to serve the turkey. It can be fried, roasted, grilled, smoked etc.  Say you are having fried turkey then go for some lighter wine like Cortese (Piedmonte region in Italy) or a sparkling Cava (Penedes in Spain) or Barbara (piedmonte region).

Patricia Fioriello

Patricia Fioriello has 64 posts at Really Red Wine

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