Mastering Wine Tasting & Wine Pairings with Food: Thanksgiving Edition
For those of us who work in the wine industry, we have a tougher job than you think.
Sure, it doesn’t seem that bad of a job when you walk into a restaurant or wine store and see the owner or manager tasting a whole bunch of wine with a "rep”. But actually, all along the supply chain, from importers to distributors to stores and restaurants and wine bars, there is so much to consider when trying and tasting a wine and making a decision of whether to buy it, and how much. We actually talked a lot about this, and the tariffs, in a recent article.
Fruits of a lot of decisions: Recently imported wines just arrived in the US.
There are factors to consider that come into any purchase decision, like price, type of product, where it is from, who made it, how it was made, recognition. Then…. there comes the taste.
When Vero Founder, Sheila Donohue, had a year of sabbatical in 2017 and was considering switching careers from banking & technology to wine & food as an importer, she went around to wine stores in NYC asking what matters most when deciding what wine to purchase. The answer was taste and flavor.
Then, of course, each final consumer has to also go through a decision making process when purchasing wine, who will consider similar factors as the wine buyers in the business, and, in some ways, their job is more difficult because often they don’t get to taste the wine beforehand. But really, what does wine taste like?
Breaking Down the Complexities of Winetasting
According to Gordon M Shepherd, Yale neuroscientist and author of NeuroEnology, How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine, the flavor of wine "engages more of our brain than any other human behavior." The book explores what happens physically but also mentally when wine tasting, smelling and swallowing wine, and, as you can guess, a lot goes on and it is a super complex process. It involves all aspects of the brain, but also physical aspects, like, for example, saliva, which can influence very much the final taste of a wine. And, at the end of this brief yet complicated act of tasting, you make a judgement call, every one of us, ultimately deciding how good the wine is.
In fact, when you think about it, they say that each one of us has a different palate. So does that mean that we can all individually decide the quality of a wine, even give our own score to it? You bet!
So, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years celebrations around the corner, where wine is often in the center of gift giving and meals, how does one decide which wine to buy for a gift when everyone’s taste is different? Need some tips on pairing wine and food?
Here is where you may want to rely on a wine expert to guide you. In fact, that’s why we’re writing this series of articles on wine tasting and pairing wine with food, just as you are fretting over what wines to buy for holiday dinners and for gifts.
This article is focused on choosing wines for Thanksgiving, whether you are hosting, or you are a guest or you want to gift a loved one with whom you cannot share this special day.
Other articles in the series are the art and science of how to pair wine and food, a guide to taste in food and wine, exploring and recognizing different flavors in wine, and understanding mouthfeel in wine and food.
Given that we all of different palates, there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to wine & food pairing. But some guidelines are still helpful, right?
Thanksgiving turkey with a red wine ready to enjoy.
Food and Wine Pairing Tips for Thanksgiving
When it comes wine pairing for Thanksgiving dinner, two of the most important factors for pairing is acidity and tannins. You definitely want acidity but you don’t want too many tannins in your wine to pair with the meal. Just a quick note for novices: tannins, while they can be present in white (and orange) wines, they are more commonly present in red wines. While acidity is present in white and red wines, the levels of acidity tend to be higher in white wines.
Why acidity? It’s a necessary component to pairing foods. It allows the wine to cut through the flavor of the food and meld with it. Think of it as a knife. A knife is sharp and can be dangerous, but without a knife you cannot make most dishes.
Why not too many tannins? Ok, if you are a dark meat turkey person, having noticeable tannins in your wine is a good thing. The tannins create a drying, astrigent affect and with more fatty foods, like dark meat turkey, tannins cut the grease or oils in the food. But, with white meat turkey being most common around Thanksgiving tables, the white meat, if anything, needs to be moistened; after all, why do we put gravy on top of it? So, are you getting the picture? Lots of drying tannins in your wine will not go with white meat turkey, so we discourage a very tannic wine for turkey wine pairing. Sorry, cab and malbec lovers! But keep reading on - we have some alternatives for you to consider!
Also, you definitely want a quality sweet, or dessert, wine on your Thanksgiving table for when the desserts come out. And, very important, you want your sweet wines to have acidity. That’s what both cleanses your mouth when drinking it, not leaving a syrupy taste on the finish, and what makes it pair with food. Hint: most sweet wines you find everywhere, i.e., mass produced wines, lack acidity. The sweet wines we select, made artisanally by small producers, have great acidity. They are so good that wine drinkers that typically shun sweet wines will like them.
The last main aspect to consider when selecting wine for Thanksgiving, especially for white wines, is to choose white wine that has some body, weight or texture to stand up to the flavorful dishes around the dinner table. The white wine should have some oomph to it. A plain Jane white wine will get lost in midst of the colorful personalities of the flavorful dishes for Thanksgiving dinner.
Top Picks for Wine Pairing for Thanksgiving Dinner
So what to serve at Thanksgiving dinner?
Here are our best wine for Thanksgiving picks based on pairing foods guidelines. Believe us, it is not easy for us to narrow down to one for each type. Besides loving a wide range of wines, we carefully curate all of the wine we import and sell. But to help you select, here are the ones that we feel are standouts to have on your Thanksgiving table:
A white wine like Parella goes great with a Thanksgiving meal.
White Wines with some Oomph
As we mentioned, you want a white wine with acidity and that has some weight to it, where it has several dimensions, best if it has a combination of weight, texture, fruit.
If you are a natural wine lover, or will share Thanksgiving with one, try Febo’s Parella, made from the Trebbiano Abruzzese grape. Not to be confused with other Trebbiano grapes, Trebbiano Abruzzese has more going on, with great texture, acidity and minerality. Febo is a small family winegrower in Abruzzo taking great care to produce organic, biodynamic, natural wines from their vineyards which are in the family for generations.
Go even further south the the heel of Italy, in Puglia for a stainless steel aged white wine from Domus Hortae, Ti Esti. From the minutolo grape, it has a “spicy” characteristic that helps give it a flavorful and more intense palate that goes great with foods.
Lastly, we find that Vero Producer Zamichele, with their Lugana wines, made from Turbiana which is a noble grape, are up their with the best white Burgundies. When we imported in their wines, we have discovered that they are great alternatives for Chardonnay lovers, whether the unoaked Lugana, or their oaked Lugana Riserva equivalent. One key client of ours said “Zamichele makes the best Lugana white wine he ever tasted.” For Thanksgiving meal, we would recommend the oak aged version to stand up to some of the more flavorful dishes of Thanksgiving dinner.
Red Wines at Thanksgiving
As mentioned, we recommend red wines that have acidity and whose tannins are tamed.
A red grape with lots of acidity is Barbera, and you can select one of several we carry, like Aldo Clerico’s Barbera d’Alba, Ivaldi’s Barbera d’Asti or Nizza DOCG, or Case Corini’s Barla. It goes without saying that this wine will pair with many foods, not only at Thanksgiving.
When recently visiting a client who selects wine for a top Asian restaurant in New York city, she selected Vigna Petrussa’s Schioppettino di Prepotto. When asked why, she said because this red wine has great acidity yet lower tannins, which she looks for when pairing with Asian food. We agree with her, but also in line with Thanksgiving dishes, which, like Asian cuisine, has many different and accentuated flavors.
A Thanksgiving turkey, ready to enjoy.
Other great options for red wines with a meal come from the grape zweigelt. Check out two options of this grape, one from its native Austria, Michi Lorenz Klassik Zweigelt or from over the border in the Czech Republic the Thaya Zweigelt. Both are great versions of this cool-climate grape that is brimming with juicy complexity and just begs for food to eat while you sip.
Wait, what about Orange Wine?
Orange wine, as many of you know, is made from white grapes in which the winemaker used extended skin contact, or maceration, which imparts more color, gives a white wine some tannins, and allowecs the aromas and flavor to become more intense and complex. It sounds like it could be a good type of wine for Thanksiving dinner, right? You betcha!
Our top recommendation for an orange wine to have at Thanksgiving is La Maliosa’s Saturnialia Bianco. When Vero Founder, Sheila Donohue, taught at the Culinary Institute of America, where they were tasting this wine, the class full of chefs all agreed, hands-down, that this is a wine for difficult food pairings. Meaning, it can pair with any food! With the wide array of types of dishes at Thanksgiving, this wine is a great choice to carry you through the entire meal.
Last but not least, Sweet & Dessert Wines for Thanksgiving
As mentioned, we recommend seeking sweet (or dessert) wines that have acidity to balance out with the natural sugars in the wine.
We recently imported in Ivaldi’s Moscato d’Asti because it has great acidity, and, in fact, winemaker Andrea Ivaldi prefers slightly less residual sugar in his Moscato d’Asti to make it more balanced. This will probably be the best moscato you ever had, even for you who are not fans of sweet wine! Or go for strawberry and rose flavors with Ivaldi’s Brachetto d’Acqui. Almost like a red moscato, it is aromatic, sweet, slightly sparkling, and a pretty ruby color. We love it on it’s own, but we have discovered it actually makes a pretty awesome base for a wine cocktail!
We would be remiss not to mention Vigna Petrussa’s Picolit when talking about sweet wines. This is the best of the best sweet wines, which naturally is made with noble rot, putting it up there with the best dessert wines of the world, like Sauternes and Tokaji.
Don’t Forget the Olive Oil and Specialty Foods!
As Americans, we tend to reach for the rich pats of butter… but this year we here at Vero propose another alternative. Give EVOO a shot! Extra virgin olive oil is just as every bit packed with flavor as butter, but with polyphenols and antioxidants it is good for you too. There are several options available, from a Tuscan blend and a monocultivar, to other small production EVOOs from Abruzzo or Le Marche. All organic, try them all to find your favorite way to enjoy. Hint… we love it drizzled over turkey breast!
Add a crunchy kick as well with things like hazelnuts to your dish. Enjoy them as an aperitivo, or crush them up as garnish. Personally, we love this Hazelnut Pesto as a spread and sauce to add a nutty flavor to your mashed potatoes! Even better… try it as a spread on your sandwich with leftover turkey the day after.
Happy Thanksgiving from Vero!
What are you waiting for - Start Shopping!
Let us help you to master thanksgiving dinner wine pairing! Buy today or schedule a free chat with a sommelier to help you decide. If you work in the wine business, contact us today to get pricing and arrange a tasting appointment.
You can also get a head start on your holiday gift giving with our Vero Gift Guide.
Of course, we sell our curated small production, farm to glass wines to both businesses and consumers across the US:
If you are a distributor reach out to us introduce our highly curated portfolio of one of a kind small production wines to your state.
We sell to wine stores and restaurants in certain states - contact us to learn more.
If our farm crafted natural wines and olive oils are not in your local shop or restaurant, buy wine online here, and we’ll ship it to you, including wine gifts.
We also have an award winning wine club for true wine explorers that are seeking to continually discover unique, sustainable and authentic small production wines they never had. These are wines selected by our sommeliers and curated for each box.
We do corporate gifts and sommelier guided wine tastings. Email us and we’ll tailor unique and sustainable corporate gift ideas.
