Wine With Thanksgiving Turkey and Ham

Above, a couple of dinner wines I have regularly. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This coming Thanksgiving, I will be having Thanksgiving up at the Lucier's. 

I will be contributing to the dinner by bringing wines. During our ride back from Denny's yesterday, I asked Greg Lucier what meat is on the menu and he said ham.

I had earlier checked with Wine Spectator and Dr. Vinny made these recommendations for Thanksgiving dinner wines:

Usually when I give advice about Thanksgiving dinner, I say that you can throw the turkey out of the equation, since turkey is pretty neutral and goes with nearly any wine. Instead, you need to find wines that will pair well with a complicated array of side dishes. Many traditional holiday sides can have a sweet component to them, such as cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and even stuffing with dried fruit or apples. A Thanksgiving wine needs to be versatile enough to go with any of these sides, and I have to assume there is a green bean casserole in the mix.

But ham, you say? Ham narrows the focus a little bit more. I love Riesling and Gewürztraminer with ham, and those would typically pair well with the sides, too. On the red side, I’d continue to stick with soft and fruity examples of Zinfandel, Pinot Noir and Grenache. And don’t forget the bubbly, which goes with just about everything.

When we were discussing Thanksgiving dinner, I mentioned the Riesling and Gewürztraminer. The Riesling received a favorable response. I will concentrate on the Riesling and, on the red side, either the Zinfandel or Pinot Noir. 

The local Gallup Albertson's supermarket has a good selection of wines. If I have questions, Eric, the liquor manager, is knowledgeable enough to answer them and make recommendations.