Thanksgiving Part 2

So, you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps it will be dinner for one, or for two, or for five, or for ten. Or, maybe you live in a state where it's not an issue or your home is big enough or maybe you've rented out a 10,000 square foot banquet hall and you are hosting 100 people. I'm not going to judge you for what you and your co-feasters think is safe. You might have reason to know.

But, thinking about yesterday's menu, you're trying to decide on wine to serve. And, the rules here, in fact there should probably be a Constitutional amendment to require it unless you have a health or religious or-age-based objection is that there must be wine.

Which wines should you serve?

Let's foucs first on the red wine drinkers and let's focus on the meat. Your choices would appear to be either turkey-based or ham-based although there will always be some renegades who muck up the works with the likes of spam (is that a meat?) or haggis (is that a food?), but we are going to limit choices to ham or turrkey. And, since I expect turkey to be in the majority, I am going to start with ham. And, I'm going to be even more specific and I am allowed to because I am the one writing -- it's going to be a glazed ham, for example, one with brown sugar and honey, and you might spiral slice or even buy it that way.

What do we know about this sort of meat? We know that it's got some fat, but not particularly marbling. We know that it's got a level of sweetness to it. So, we want a wine with some sweet fruit and we want a wine with some, but not a high level of tannins to cut through the fat around the edge. To me, ripe cherries go well with this. But, we also might want sufficient acidity to deal with the sugars involved. 

Which wines accomplish this?

They need to be red. I cannot imagine a white wine with this sort of ham. And, they should not be very full-bodied. And, you don't want them to be too dark in nature. So, while you could go with a Grenache-based wine (think Chateauneuf du Pape for a treat), I am going to direct you to the lighter side. Try a Pinot Noir from a moderate climate. For example, choose one from Russian River Valley in Sonoma County, California or from the southern part of Willammette Valley in Oregon (perhaps the Eola-Amity Hills AVA). Or, consider a Gamay-based wine such as a Beaujolais if you'd like to go later. And finally, if you happen to have some great Burgundies just sitting in the cellar waiting for some drinkers, it's hard to go wrong. 

But, remember the first rule: you must serve wine.

Tomorrow, we'll move forward with more of our Thanksgiving pairing.