Wine ideas for Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving is right around the corner here in Canada which means that if you're anything like me, you're already dreaming about the big, juicy turkey with thick, brown gravy, mashed potatoes glistening with butter, cheesy vegetable casseroles, stuffing and PIE. Of course a meal is only as good as its accouterments, and what turkey dinner is complete without pickles (at least 3 varieties), cranberry sauce and delicious wine?

Outside the realm of traditional white and red wines, which can sometimes be difficult to pair with all the trappings that accompany a turkey dinner, lie two of my favourite turkey dinner pairings: sparkling and fruit wines. This post give some suggestions for both. If you're not feeling adventurous, consider trying the Summer Solstice from Mott's Landing, Belleisle White from Gillis of Belleisle, L'Acadie Blanc from Winegarden Estate or Long Reach from Dunhams Run. These four white wines are all fairly dry and will appeal to most palates.

Cranberry wine
Don't let the name, or the fruit, fool you. Cranberry wines offer a clean finish that helps cut through all the heavy (read: best) parts of your holiday feast. Magnetic Hill Winery, Winegarden Estate and Waterside Winery all have dinner-friendly cranberry wines.

If you prefer your cranberries like your diamonds, SPARKLING, then look no further than Waterside Winery, Winegarden Estate and Mott's Landing Vineyard. If you prefer something a little sweeter, stop by Gillis of Belleisle Winery for their Cranberry Ceilidh, a cranberry dessert wine sweetened with unpasteurized honey.

Sparkling wine
Because of their carbonation, sparkling wines pair especially well with big flavours. We have several sparkling options here in NB. Winegarden Estate offers a selection of grape and fruit sparkling wines and Waterside has sparkling rhubarb and blueberry wines in addition to the cranberry mentioned earlier. Magnetic Hill Winery is releasing a line of sparkling fruit wines that will be ready in time for Christmas.

Dunhams Run Winery and Winegarden Estate both have traditional method (TM) sparkling wine made from NB grapes. TM sparkling wine is created when a secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, causing pressure and carbon dioxide to build up. The process takes anywhere from 2 to 10 years. Dunhams currently has 4 different TM sparkling wines available and Winegarden has their Charm label which they've made since 2006.

*updated Oct 8, 2014