Your Thanksgiving Wine Pairing Guide
Top beverage pros take the guess work out of what to serve with your holiday meal
We’re taking the guess work out of what wines to bring to your Thanksgiving feast! A few of Lettuce’s resident wine experts—John C. Slatter (Aba and Ema), Kevin Bratt (Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab), Kat Hawkins (Miru and Tre Dita), Katie Wilkinson (RPM Restaurants), and Brad Wermager (Wildfire)—share their picks for the best wines for Thanksgiving, from reds and whites to pair with turkey, to dessert wines to enjoy with pie. Our sommeliers are here to help you make your holiday meal a success with every sip!
Sparkling
The preferred host gift also happens to be the best pre- and post-dinner drink. Pour a glass of sparkling wine or champagne to toast with loved ones before digging into Thanksgiving dinner, or help settle the stomach by popping open a bottle of bubbly after a heavy meal.
Kevin Bratt of Joe’s Seafood likes to start holiday meals with a sparkling Blanc de Blanc for its crisp and refreshing qualities. For an after-dinner sip, he says to opt for a Brut Nature, which is lower in sugar and plays well with that full stomach.
Kevin’s Top Picks:
Champagne: Laurent-Perrier Brut Nature from Champagne, France
Champagne: J. Lassalle Blanc de Blancs from Champagne, France
Sparkling: JANSZ Brut Rosé from Tasmania, Australia
Just bring the wine and let Lettuce do the cooking! Click here to order Thanksgiving to-go.
Reds
To pair with turkey, low tannins and red fruits are the way to go, RPM Restaurants’ Katie Wilkinson shares, such as Gamay and Cabernet Franc. On her table, she goes directly for Pinot Noir from California, as the tannins work effortlessly with turkey while the light red fruit also complements cranberry sauce. Wildfire’s Brad Wermager seconds the selection, sharing that in general Pinot Noirs pair perfectly with dishes that incorporate red fruit, such as cranberries, cherries and pomegranates.
Words to look for on the label: Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Côte de Nuits, Thivin, Breton and Lapierre
Kat Hawkins, wine director at Miru and Tre Dita, adds, “Light to medium bodied red wines offer the flavor and concentration that guests are looking for without adding to the ‘food coma’ and weighing you down. Grapes like Barbera, Sangiovese, and Nebbiolo are best when selecting reds for your Turkey Day spread.”
Kevin says a full-bodied red with just the right amount of dark fruit and spice works well with the dark meat of turkey. He goes for a wine bursting with raspberry and currant flavors, such as the Achaval Ferrer ‘Quimera’ from Mendoza, Argentina.
Kevin’s Top Picks:
Red Blend: Achaval Ferrer ‘Quimera’ from Mendoza, Argentina
Pinot Noir: 2016 Henri Boillot from Volnay, France
Zinfandel: 2015 Dashe Cellars Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley, California
Splurge-Worthy: 2019 Cabernet Franc, Barboursville Vineyards, Barboursville, Virginia
Interested in learning more about wine? Check out the RPM Sommelier Experience.
Whites
Katie says to look for white wines with medium acidity and notes of fall orchard fruits like pears and apples, such as a Chenin Blanc. The texture and medium density stand up to turkey, while spiced notes are reminiscent of the season. She also recommends picking up a Rhône varietal from California like Viognier, Roussanne, or Grenache Blanc.
Words to look for on labels: Châteauneuf-du-Pape; C
Since herbaceous flavors like rosemary, thyme and sage are so common on a Thanksgiving table, Kevin suggests matching those with a nice dry or off-dry Riesling to complement. Look for Rieslings from New York or Germany.
Words to look for on the label: Dry; Off-dry; Napa; Sonoma; Mosel, Germany
Orange Wines
No Thanksgiving is complete without a spread of sides that showcase a range of different fall flavors. The best complement for those dishes, John C. Slatter of Aba and Ema says, is an orange wine with good body that isn’t overly fruity and has an acidity that isn’t too piercing.
“Orange wines are having their moment, and why not at the Thanksgiving table!” shares John. “Examples of great orange wine (white wine made from macerating the skins of white grapes) are coming from around the world, and offer the texture and complexity to stand up to all the sides on the table.”
John’s Top Picks:
2022 Mylonas ‘Naked Truth’ Savatiano from Attica, Greece
2022 Breaking Bread Marmalade Orange Wine from North Coast, California
Rosés
Check out Brad’s tips for the best wines to sip with each of Wildfire’s Nightly Specials.
Spending Thanksgiving in sunny Orlando? Stop by Summer House on the Lake at Disney Springs to grab a bottle of the signature Summer House Rosé to-go! This fresh and lively rosé is California-made with the essence of Provence, with flavors of tart cherries, watermelon and light berries that will complement a range of Thanksgiving dishes.
Dessert Pairings
For another perfect pairing with the fall-spiced desserts of Thanksgiving like those available at Aba and Ema (including Honey Cake, pictured above, available at Ema Glenview), John suggests serving a Vin Santo, which he calls “a fun and underrated dessert wine commonly found in Tuscany.” John’s favorite, however, is from the Greek Island of Santorini, which uses Assyrtiko grapes that are sundried for several weeks, pressed, and then the wine is aged in chestnut barrels for several years, giving the wine its signature nutty-ness.
John’s Top Pick: 2016 Santo Wines Vinsanto from Santorini, Greece
More Turkey Day Tipples
Add more festive fun to your Thanksgiving with seasonally inspired cocktails like Pizzeria Portofino‘s Autumn Spritz, a pear-fect mix of warm fall flavors. Get the recipe here. Or, try our recipes for the Apple Cinnamon Sangria Spritz, inspired by Lil’ Ba-Ba-Reeba! or the Spiced Pear Negroni, inspired by Aba.
From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving – may you enjoy great food, great drinks and great company!
Looking for Thanksgiving recipe ideas? Here’s a guide to some of our favorites.
