Holiday wine database offers help with pairings for Thanksgiving dinner
Pairing wines with hearty holiday meals such as Thanksgiving is a challenge for many folks.
So we asked wineries in the Finger Lakes and elsewhere in Western New York to offer helping hands. We’ve created a searchable database of their suggested food and wine pairings. You can search by price range, dish and other ways, such as red, white or blush wines. We also list the wineries’ Web sites to help you find the wines that sound good to you.
“Holiday meals are the most difficult ones with which to pair wine,” said Chris Reno of Chateau LaFayette Reneau in Hector, Schuyler County. “At a typical Thanksgiving dinner, for instance, you will have dry turkey, sweet cranberry sauce, rich gravy, spicy dressing and of course sweet potato. The range of sweetness, richness and textures is broad and the wine served has to carry all of them well. In order to best do that, we feel that the wine should have a bit of sweetness and acidity to back it up.”
Reno recommended the winery’s Pinot noir blanc and semi-dry Riesling “for all the over-indulging holiday feast” entrees, including turkey and ham.
Pinot noir, Riesling of all types, Pinot Grigio. Gewurztraminer and Traminette were popular white wine recommendations to accompany Thanksgiving or other holiday dinners. For red wine fans, winery officials often suggested Cabernet Franc.
Due to their freshness and bright colors, dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer “generally stand up and complement the rich meats and sauces,” said Oskar Bynke, estate manager for the Hermann J. Wiemar Vineyard in Dundee. Yates County. “If you need any red, our Cabernet Franc is … also a bright and fruit-forward wine.”
Lemberger had its fans as well. “It has everything to go with ham — pepper, fruit, roundness,” said Leslie Kroeger of Fox Run Vineyards.
Villa Bellangelo’s Pinot Grigio is ” ‘bone dry’ and mildly fruity and would be a nice offset from the richness of the turkey,” winemaker and vineyard manager Darren Bowker said. The Dundee winery’s dry Riesling is not so dry but “has a dry, mineral finish that would also cut through the richness of the turkey,” he said.
For ham, he recommended Bella Bianca and semi-dry Riesling, saying, “I think the sweetness of these wines would counter the saltiness of the ham as well as complement any pineapple” placed on the ham.
Fruit wines were suggested for those who want to try something different. Mary Jane Challen, general manager of Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery, said Cranberry Essence and sparkling Cranberry Frost were her winery’s most popular holiday wines. Esther Earle, co-owner of Earle Estates Meadery in Penn Yan, recommended the winery’s Crusin Cranberry and Apple Enchantment among others.
People needn’t feel limited to just one kind of wine. “I love Thanksgiving because of all the different wines I will have with dinner,” Fox Run co-owner Scott Osborn said. “For the grazing portion I will pour our 2007 Chardonnay and then for dinner for a white I will have our 2008 Riesling which goes oh so well with turkey but will also include two reds, our 2007 Pinot Noir and our 2007 Cabernet Franc/Lemberger blend, both of which are excellent with turkey. Then lastly for dessert our NV Port.”
He added, “I can’t wait for Thanksgiving dinner. Always the best food and a great time to spend with family!”
A variety of other wines also were suggested for dishes ranging from appetizers to dessert.
But wine buyers should not be intimidated by the number of recommendations. As Jeanne Wiltberger of Keuka Spring Vineyards in Penn Yan pointed out: “Please bear in mind that (these) are suggestions; we always encourage people to drink what they like with what they like.”
