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Picking a holiday wine doesn't have to be a headache — here are some suggestions that can make anyone's holiday gathering a delight.
I am always surprised when people fret about what wines to serve with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. On the one hand, there is so much to celebrate that breaking out the good stuff seems requisite. It would be easy enough just to trot out a nice white wine and serve it throughout the meal, but I will admit that there are often conflicting sweet flavors in the traditional turkey dinner - the cranberry sauce, the sweet potatoes, even (ugh!) marshmallows.
Although it is a favorite at our house, roast goose is not the choice of most people for Christmas dinner these days, though it is a fabulous dish and quite easy to make. Here, too, however, sweet items like cherries or oranges may come into play. If a massive roast beef is to be served, the options for red wines are magnificently varied.
But for starters, the rich flavor of a good mahogany-skinned turkey with a dark brown gravy is better savored with a red wine than a white, although a bold, oaky California chardonnay from producers known for such a style will do nicely, like Au Bon Climat's 2007 Chardonnay-Santa Barbara County ($20) or Acacia Vineyard's Chardonnay Carneros 07 ($18).
The turkey stuffing, usually packed with assertive herbs and spices, can obliterate French white Burgundies and Italian whites, so the best pairing for a stuffed bird is pinot noir, either a fragrant, elegant style from Burgundy, like Bonnes-Mares or, if money is no object, a wine from the Romanée-Conti estates, like La Tâche, Richebourg, or Romanée Conti itself. The enchanting fruit and light tannins of a good pinot noir can readily merge with sweet flavors like corn and sweet potatoes, while adding measurably to the crisp, fatted skin of the turkey. Try one of the big-bodied examples from California's Russian River Valley, like Williams Selyem, which would also go well with a cheese course. (Speaking of cheese, if you decide to pass up the pumpkin pie for some candied pecans and a nice Stilton, or you plan to serve a wedge of aged cheddar alongside your mother's apple pie, try a vintage port from any of the great quintas, like Croft, Sandeman, or Warre's.)
If the main course is roast beef, then I'd go for a bold Bordeaux, like Château Margaux, or Pomerol, or a magnificently refined Italian red like Angelo Gaja's Barbaresco. California cabernets are perfect for the fatted roast beef; among my favorite choices would be Clos du Bois, Araujo Estate, Clos Pegase, and Freemark Abbey.
Assuming a pumpkin or apple pie or spiced figgy pudding is in the offing, I'd end the holiday meal with a very sweet dessert wine, like Quady Essensia - a ripe orange muscat - or a late-harvest Riesling from Château Ste. Michelle, both with a luxurious sweetness and nutlike backbone that are just as good with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
