11/13/06 Thanksgiving Dinner

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are answering questions from the email. A listener wrote to ask "With Thanksgiving coming up will you tell us your favorite wines and what you will be serving for Thanksgiving dinner?" So you want my recommendations for wines to accompany Thanksgiving dinner - I have to admit it varies each year. In the past I have gone to my collection of wines and found something I had been aging. I usually pulled out big reds that I wanted to share with family and friends. There was as usual too much food, and the wine was too big and it wasn't really complimentary to the dinner. I felt as though I had wasted my wine. Now I save those wines for other types of dinners. Currently at Thanksgiving I look for reds that are lighter and higher in acid. For the past two years I have served some great Pinot noir from Oregon and California. But if you like something a bit heftier in the red wine category try Zinfandel. We have enjoyed a few that really worked well with the traditional Thanksgiving meal. For whites we love dry Gewurztraminer and Riesling. However, no matter what, we always begin with appetizers and champagne. One year it was oysters on the half shelf and a shrimp boil with bubbly. Another year it was salty cheeses with fruit chutneys and nuts along with our bubbles. So that is what we are serving at my house. From all of us here at Vine to Wine we wish you the best of Thanksgivings and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.