Thanksgiving Part 5 (Dessert)

I don't know if it's a similar tradition anywhere else, but in the US, it is traditional to feast ... and feast ... and feast on Thanksgiving. And, to go with that feast, it's a tradition to finish it off with dessert. And with our desserts, many of us continue the gluttony by drinking. But, we must drink properly. And that is why you have come here.

Here, instead of having one dessert and one wine, we are going to have seven desserts with seven different wines, although in some cases, we might decide to try out more than one wine with a dessert just for kicks.

Why not? It's a blog. We can do whatever we want.

For this year's Thanksgiving dessert list, here is the lineup and I feel certain you will be having one of each:

• Pumpkin pie
• Apple pie
• Cheesecake
• Chocolate cheesecake
• Sweet potato pie
• Pecan pie
• Pear and cranberry pie

I know; you've never heard of having some of them for Thanksgiving. But, this is 2020. It's a year when you've not had the opportunity for the celebration you wanted and therefore, you must feast until your clothers no longer fit.

Pumpkin Pie

When we think about pumpkin pie as compared to other desserts, we think about it being heavy and dense as well as having that delicious pumpkin spice. It's full enough to carry most any wine, but its weight requires some particulars.

We need some sweetness to calm down the spice and probably our choice of a bit of  effervescence or body to pair with the density of the pie.

If you do want the effervescence, have a sparkling wine, but not one that is labeled Brut (the driest category). Go instead with ones labeled demi-sec or sec or even extra dry (actually fairly sweet). If you want to go the more traditional route, you should enjoy the ability of a Sauternes or Barsac or e meidum to sweet Riesling to go with your pumpkin pie.

Apple Pie

With apple pie, our choices are to go with honeyed notes or caramel notes or both. Either should be sweeter than the pie itself. 

Many people that I know serve their apple pie with vanilla ice cream and a slice of cheese or at least one of the other. For that combination, I prefer the honeyed approach. Go with a Jurancon Moelleux or a Tokaji.

On the other hand, if you serve your apple pie as a separate dish with no other food accoutrements, you'll want a sticky, gooey Tawny Port. Frankly, the really significantly aged Port probably are too raisiny and not caramelly enough. Go for a 20 year if you have some laying around needing to be open. It should pair wonderfully.

Cheesecake

I don't think I've ever had cheesecake with Thanksgiving dinner, but some people tell me it's the thing to do. And, if they choose to do the thing to do, they must drink properly with it.

Think about how people eat their cheesecake. They top it with fruit. Well, you can choose to do that if you like. On the other hand, if you choose not to eat more food (fruit is a food), drink your fruit instead. 

With cheesecake, I would tend to get my fruit from an ice wine or eiswein. In particular, I think the Vidal Blanc from southern Ontario in Canada or from the Niagara Escarpment or Finger Lakes in upstate New York would go wonderfully. The harsh cold there producing an instant freeze in the grapes produces an intense sweetness to go with the natural fruity flavors.

Chocolate Cheesecake 

Not all cheesecake eaters are content with just cheesecake. Some of them think that dessert is not complete without chocolate on top and layered in. Once you add the chocolate, the wine has to be different.

Here I think we have two choices. And in both cases, we are going to essentially be drinking chocolate cherries. If you prefer the tradtional 500 ml bottles from the Languedoc region of France, go with a Banyuls. This Grenache-based dessert wine is known as one of the classic pairings with chocolate and it should fit the bill wonderfully here.

However, if you like tannins in your dessert wines, go with a Recioto della Valpolicella. Essentially this wine is an Amarone in which the fermentation process was abruptly halted. And, when you stop the fermentation process, you retain the natural sugars. So, imagine the raisiny notes of the Amarone with some sweetness, some chocolate cherries and yes, some chewy tannins to go with your chocolate cheesecake.

Sweet Potato Pie

I don't particularly like sweet potato pie. It tastes too much like sweet potatoes. There, I said it. But, you might like sweet potato pie, and if you do, you should drink properly with it.

What might we want here? To me, excellent additions to make this strange concept of a vegetable pie a winner might include some ripe peach and almonds. But, this is another weighty pie and so we do need some serious weight in the wine.

Go to Alsace and pick up a nice sweet, late harvest Pinot Gris. It has all that we asked for with a nice touch of honey that will come the vegetals of the sweet potato and make for a wonderful complement.

Pecan Pie

Nut pies are tough to pair wine with and we'll come back to that general challenge later. The reason is the tannins in the nuts. Yes, in particular, pecans are loaded with tannins. And, in pecan pie, you have that really caramelly, really sugary crust. That's not an easy pairing.

If you served Gamay with your turkey and your guests didn't finish it, that Gamay will actually pair really well with pecan pie.

I'm going to throw you off here, though. You know what pairs better than that with pecan pie? Bourbon. Yes, good old Bourbon from Bourbon County, Kentucky. The combination of the sweetness in the finish, the smoke from the barrels, and the tannins imparted from the barrels make for an excellent pairing with pecan pie.

Pear and Cranberry Pie

Here's another one that threw me for a loop. I had never heard of pear and strawberry pie let alone had it to finish off Thanksgiving dinner. But, two ... not one, but two ... readers told me that this concoction was their traditional way to finish off Thanksgiving dinner.

Who knew?

Having never tasted this supposedly amazing dessert, I have to work this one out. Which wine with some sweetness has lots of pear, enough acidity to handle the cranberry, and actually belongs with dessert? Frankly, I don't think I want a lot of alcohol in this wine. Instead, I want the explosive fruit of a wine from the Piemonte. Let's go with Moscato d'Asti. Almost non-alcoholic, often at ABV at 5% or potentially even lower, but loaded with pear and with the effervescence to calm the cranberry, I think this is a winner.

In closing, I know there are other Thanksgiving desserts and if you have one that you like that I haven't covered here, you know how to find me. And, this is a lot of food and a lot of alcohol. Enjoy your feast, but above all, be safe and healthy.