Giving Thanks… For Wine

Thanksgiving is a great holiday for family, food and wine.  We often find ourselves in a quandary about what wine to buy for this holiday (among other holidays).  There are many factors that influence this decision, not the least of them is budget.  You know you don’t want to buy the real cheap stuff… Nobody likes a headache the next day.  But if you’re like most, you don’t want to be pouring the $40 Pinots either.  Another factor is that not everyone “gets” wine – either they haven’t been exposed or educated or really experienced wine even in a novice way.

So I recommend looking at your guest list and trying to find that place that makes it work for most of your guests.  Here are a few suggestions that I find to be very reasonable.

Where as the Wine Ponderer had various recommendations for varietals to serve, I recommend Pinot Noirs for Thanksgiving if you are going to focus on one red wine.  It goes extremely well with poultry and doesn’t sit heavy with the meal.  Here are a few suggestions from California that I find to be a reasonable value.

Wild Horse – Normally sells for under $14, but you can get it at a discount at most places.  (Costco currently has a $3 discount per bottle going right now.)

La Crema is okay for $18.  But if you are going to spend $18, I highly recommend Meiomi.  (I mentioned Meiomi in my previous post – “High-End Wineries and Value-Priced Wines”.)

Au Bon Climat is good at $18.  Lincourt is good at $18.  Lafond is good at $19.  And Decoy is good at $20. (Also mentioned in my previous post – “High-End Wineries and Value-Priced Wines”.)

If you want to change it up and do a Zinfandel – the best value anywhere is Gnarly Head for under $10.  Another reasonable value is Peachy Canyon Incredible Red for about $10.

As I mentioned, these are just the California wines.  There are lots of other imported wines that represent great value as well.

So it comes down to how much you want to spend.  If you can do $18 – Meiomi is the best out of all of these.  If $14 (or a little less) works for you, then Wild Horse is a great value.  If you don’t mind doing a Zin, Gnarly Head is well worth it for under $10.

I wish you and yours a “wine-derful” Thanksgiving!

Cheers!