11 Nov Turkey for Turkey

Nothing speaks to the Fall menu more than the Thanksgiving meal. And no meal is more difficult to pair wines with than the Thanksgiving dinner. It’s relatively easy to find something that goes well with the bird, but Thanksgiving is the one meal where the side dishes shine, and there are disparate flavors competing all over the table. Stuffing? A sultry, silky red. Candied yams? A lighter bodied, spicy wine.

So unless you want to have a half dozen (or more) different bottles open for that Thursday afternoon wine-free-for-all, the best thing to do is to find wines designed to go with a wide array of foods, like Turkish wines. A big, youthful (read: oaky) Cabernet might be the right thing for a porterhouse steak grilled to your specifications, but the nuances of roast turkey and its trimmings are overwhelmed by lots of new oak and the high levels of alcohol that usually accompany it. Generally speaking, Turkish wines produced without excessive oak, and are meant to go with the table, rather than to dominate the table.

Use this fun and simple guide to plot your pairings! Whether it’s the subtle richness of Diren’s Öküzgözü or Narince, or the fragrant and high-toned acidity of Turasan’s Emir or Kalecik Karasi that you are looking for as you plan ahead for your November dinner, you can confidently put the fine wines of Turkey onto your table along with the roasted bird.

So this Thanksgiving … think Turkey for Turkey!