For many people, Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday. With lots of good food enjoyed by family and friends, what's not to like? The wide variety of foods can make selecting compatible wines seem like a nearly impossible task. How do you find a wine that will taste great with turkey (white and dark meat), sweet potatoes, squash, turnips, salad, cranberries, sausage dressing, and whatever else is the family Thanksgiving favorite? The short answer is you can't. There isn't a wine made that would pair well with all those foods!

So what's the answer? When people ask me what kind of wine pairs best with a certain food, I always ask, "What kinds of wine to you like?"  Even if a wine is technically the best choice for the intended food, if you don't like it, you won't like it much more even it it's paired with the perfect food! Since there will be a variety of foods on the table, select a variety of wines - red, white, rose, and don't forget sparkling. It's one of the more versatile food wines because it refreshes your palate and makes everything taste better.

You may be thinking that red wine with turkey doesn't work. Maybe not zinfandel, but certainly pinot noir and almost any lighter style red such as Rioja from Spain, Cotes du Rhone from France, or Bardolino or Valpolicella from Italy. And if you want to treat your guests to something really special, try a Barolo from Italy. Yes they're robust wines, but Thanksgiving dinner is robust also. Just go with wines you like and have great holiday!