There are so many articles written about the perfect wine to match up with the Thanksgiving meal. I often wonder how many folks really pay attention to any of it. The Wine Dude claimed that although painful, it is the responsibility of any serious wine writer to contribute something along these lines. I’m not sure if I agree.
I wrote an article about two or three weeks ago on Riesling, not intending it to be a Thanksgiving special. I did mention that Riesling is good with turkey and all, but that was an after-thought since the article was seriously and only on Riesling. I consider myself a serious wine writer and critic and I felt no urge to contribute to the noise of what wines go with turkey.
That being said, I do think that folks are willing to ask their local wine steward for suggestions (I being one of them) on wine pairings with the turkey meal. In the store I work at, they are few and far between. Most folks know what they like, and are willing to take a chance on drinking it during their meal.
Think about it. Thanksgiving is a stressful time as far as getting everything together, cooking the right amount of food, timing the preparation and making sure all your guests are happy (phew)! The last thing we want to do is get on-line, check out some suggestions for wine pairing and then try to understand what we should buy. If there are specific recommendations, what are the chances we will find them in an expedient manner? Almost everyone waits for the last-minute on this, so even if someone like The Wine Dude puts information out there on where to find the wines, who has the time to search them out. I work at a busy grocery store with an awesome wine department and one of our busiest days is the day BEFORE Thanksgiving…Last minute!
My oldest child invited my wife and I to her house for Thanksgiving this year. My youngest and only son who is a Chef, went over the night before to help his sister and her boyfriend prepare the meal. They did an absolutely awesome job with everything! Before we came over, I asked her about the wine. She said she had some sparkling wine, a malbec and something else (I can’t remember). Shocked, I told her that since I was the wine guy of the family, I would bring the goods. It went over her head, because she was consumed with the arrangements for preparing the meal. That taught me a valuable lesson…Wine is the last thing on their mind, even if their relative is a known wine writer.
Wine is important to me, because it is my livelihood. It is important to many who enjoy it as a beverage with a meal, but it does not take priority for most. We like it, we drink what we like, we experiment from time to time and we ask our local guy or girl expert for advice. We may find that the choice we made was not perfect, but it was adequate. Some may make a mental note not to do Cabernet franc again for Thanksgiving, but how many will remember? I do not feel bad for not writing a Turkey Day/Wine article.
I have decided that this day forward, I will write about wine, suggest pairings, and just hope that someone remembers my recommendations and they actually work for them. Christmas is coming soon, and who the hell knows what folks are going to eat that day…I don’t. In any case, I will write a couple of articles about good reds, and bubbles that are great values. I hope you read them, and if anything works for what you are doing in December, that makes me happy.
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as I did, and I hope this article made some sense.
Cheers! Stan The Wine Man
