Instead of our usual "A Fern Between Us: Emotional Sanitizer Wine Show" episode for Thanksgiving pairings, we will settle in for a quick read and a fast mastery to your holiday meal pairing!
Lets face it, most of us are exhausted, maybe even recovering from Covid, so lets not reinvent the wheel. Thanksgiving is notorious for being difficult to pair wines to because of all the combating foods on the table. Here are a few tricks to instantly make your foods more wine friendly and make you look like a Master Wine Pairing Badass...
*Caramelized onions. Add them to asparagus, mashed potatoes, yams... gives a savory component that makes even the most unfriendly wine pairings work.
*Cauliflower. add one head to 6 potatoes, pureed to make jaw dropping mashed potatoes that love wine.
*Mushrooms add an earthiness wines love. Add to gravy, serve sauteed and added to veggies or stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese as a fun side dish.
*Nuts! Nuts are amazing with all kinds of wines. They either bring out an earthy aspect, minerality or utilize the salt to highlight the fruit in the wine. Add them to stuffing, chop up and sprinkle on side dishes, or serve warm on their own as an appetizer.
Now lets talk wine. An easy go to is rose wine. It is one of the easiest to pair to a multitude of foods and is a crowd pleaser. For red, choose a lighter bodied style such as Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo or Sangiovese. I'm going to try to avoid falling down a rabbit hole of confusion with the grapes I just mentioned also being known for making some of the biggest, boldest wines there are (Barolo and Brunello respectively). What I encourage you to do is explore the lighter styles that offer complexity and interest with a depth of flavor rather than a bold body that can fight with more delicate food flavors. Finally, don't forget the Port! Port not only is a classic with dessert, or as dessert, but is also wonderful as an aperitif prior to the meal! It goes amazingly well with hard cheeses, nuts and pate.
Wanting to change things up? Try offering the same grape, but different wineries and/ or regions. This is not only something that will be fun for guests who may have never done a wine tasting or food pairing to experience. It is also a great conversation starter especially if you have guest that don't know each other. For example, try a Vivac Sangiovese, a Russian River Valley Sangiovese, and a Vino Nobile de Montepulciano (trust me that is Sangiovese). Place all 3 on the table and let people try the different wines with different foods, compare and contrast how they are alike or different and vote for a favorite! Of course there are no wrong answers, but we expect it to be the Vivac. Just kidding! Or are we?
I obviously suggest you start with Vivac wines for all your holiday meal needs. They are European in style, meaning higher in natural acidity and lower in alcohol making them much more food friendly. They are 100% NM True, and are winning Gold Medals at prestigious competitions around the world. Click on the grape name above for a link that takes you directly to our website (or click here for the full list) with tons of information about the wine and has ordering made easy! You can also visit our tasting room daily 10:00am- 6:00pm or call 505-579-4441 for personalized shopping service.
Happy Thanksgiving/ Friendsgiving/ Reason-to-celebrate from all of us at Vivac Winery!
Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures
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