Tastings: Wine with turkey

Thanksgiving is all about family and friends and food and perhaps even football. It's definitely not about getting in a dither over choosing the perfect wine to pair with turkey.

If it were just turkey it might be a more precise exercise, but because traditional Thanksgiving menus feature such diverse flavors as tart (cranberries), sweet (yams), spicy (dressing) and creamy (potatoes and gravy) plus light and dark meat, there are as many appropriate wine choices as there are dishes on the table.

The most important wine characteristic for such a feast is acidity. Wine color matters less, although I think it is nice to offer both red and white. And for this American celebration, I like to stick with American-produced wines.

When shopping for wines, it's a good idea to ask for the help of one of the store sales staff. When I lived in Washington, D.C., my favorite wine shop's professionals steered me to many wines I might never have tried without their endorsement or the samples they poured for their customers.

These wine professionals know their inventory and have tasted most of the wines in the store and will give honest appraisals of any bottle.

In our state wine shops, not all of the staff are qualified wine professionals, but the state Liquor Control Board is making a concerted effort to improve the wine knowledge of their sales people who work in their premium wine stores.

The premium stores stock more and better quality wines than other PLCB stores, so it's preferable to shop in a premium store. In our area the premium stores are:

• One Oxford Center, 320 Smithfield St., Downtown (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., closed Sunday)

• Waterworks, 974 Freeport Road, (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Robinson Town Centre, 1850 Park Manor Blvd. ( Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Eastside Shopping Center, 5956 Penn Circle South (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon- 5 p.m.)

• Sewickley, 521 Beaver St. (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• McCandless, 8090 McIntyre Square Drive (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Bill Green Shopping Center, 10 Old Clairton Road, Pleasant Hills (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Ross, 7920 Perry Highway (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Monroeville Mall, 326-328 Mall Blvd. (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.

• Village Square Mall, Bethel Park, 5000 Oxford Drive, (Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

• Cranberry, 20111 Route 19 (Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m.)

At the Oxford Center wine shop, Jeff , as his name tag identified him, answered my inquiry about what to buy for Thanksgiving. He first offered me a printed card with food/wine pairing suggestions.

The card lists turkey as a good match with almost any medium to dry white wine as well as most reds. I would agree that with careful attention this can be valid. My one caveat is that the red should be focused on fruit and acidity and show lighter tannins than some might.

For this reason I would avoid the bigger cabernet sauvignons and stick to the lightest of syrahs and zins. Jeff suggested a pinot noir, which is also my favorite red grape variety for the Thanksgiving meal, and a panoply of whites. We narrowed his choices down to the following:

• Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling 2007, Washington state, PLCB #8656, $10.49 (on sale until Nov. 30). A slightly off-dry wine with fine acidity and minerality.

• Dr. Konstatin Frank Riesling, New York Finger Lakes, Dry 2007, PLCB #18163, $18.99; Dry 2006, PLCB #18019, $18.99 (limited availability); Semi-Dry 2006, PLCB #18020, $17.99. Dr. K. Frank was the first winery in the United States to produce a riesling to rival those from Germany, and his wines are consistently reliable. Of the above wines, I would prefer the 2006 dry riesling but depending on personal taste, any are excellent choices.

• Toasted Head Viognier 2007, PLCB #9909, $11.99 (until Nov. 30).

• Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer, 2007, Washington state, PLCB #8065, $10.99. This medium dry gewurztraminer is an excellent value and fine match for the variety of dishes on a Thanksgiving menu.

• Mark West Pinot Noir, 2007, California, PLCB #07725, $9.99 (until Nov. 30)

• Erath Pinot Noir, 2006, Oregon, PLCB #13260, $17.99

• Castle Rock Napa Merlot, 2006, PLCB #12334, $8.99. A nice soft merlot for a very nice price.

I liked Jeff's choices. He seemed familiar with his stock and was extremely patient with my endless questions regarding each bottle. He freely admitted that he had not tasted all the wines.

He also pointed out something no one else had ever told me regarding the price tags on the shelves. White tags are for normally stocked wines; blue are for premium wines that come into the store in limited quantities and once gone, don't return. Green tags indicate organic and biodynamic wines.

After leaving Jeff I scouted the store for some Chairman's Selection wines I would add to his list of turkey-friendly possibilities.

My additions are:

• Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blanc, Napa, PLCB #29306, $12.99 (normally $24).

• Tablas Creek Cote de Tablas Blanc, 2006, Paso Robles, PLCB #17843, $18.99. A lovely blend of Rhone varietals, viognier, marsanne, grenache blanc and roussane. This is not a Chairman's Selection but a great choice for your Thanksgiving table.

• Luna Freakout 2006, California, PLCB #18065, $10.99. Luna is a brand founded by Michael Mondavi and his family. This is a white wine blended from chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio and ribolla gialla, an unusual combination that leads to the "freakout" designation and interesting result. Dry, with spice and smoke added to the citrus aromas, it is perfectly suited to turkey and trimmings. This wine rated 90 points in the International Wine Cellar magazine.

• Jekel Monterey County Gewurztraminer, PLCB #18123, $6.99 (normally $12). This semi-dry wine will suit those who prefer a bit of sweetness in their wine.

For our readers residing outside Pennsylvania, I shopped at two independent wine purveyors to get their recommendations for Thanksgiving. The first was Good Mansion Wines, 95 14th St., Wheeling, W.Va. (304-233-2632, open Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.). Housed in a historic landmark in downtown Wheeling, this wine shop is a sensual pleasure not only for its extensive wine selection but also for the rich Victorian interiors. Owner Dominick Cerrone is from a large Italian family. His childhood Thanksgiving dinners were the only meals the family consumed without wine. His immigrant parents normally had a bottle of red wine with dinner but for this American holiday, they wanted to follow American customs in the strictest interpretation and since they had never seen Americans drinking wine with meals, they celebrated on this one day of the year without wine!

Good Mansion wine recommendations are:

• Domain Weinbach Gewurztraminer Reserve Personnelle, 2006, Alsace, $44.49. Alsace is the ancestral home of the gewurz variety and produces the finest examples of this grape.

• Eroica Riesling, 2006, Columbia Valley, Washington, $27. This wine is a collaboration between Germany's Dr. Loosen, a respected riesling producer and Washington's Chateau Ste. Michelle. It is considered a top American-produced riesling.

• J. Estates Pinot Gris, 2007, Russian River Valley, $18.56.

• Patz and Hall Carneros Pinot Noir 2004, Hyde Vineyards, $62.52. This is a highly rated pinot with a bit of bottle age to heighten the complexity and silkiness.

• Rex Hill Reserve Pinot Noir 2005, Oregon, $36.99. Everyone agrees that pinot noir is a natural match for turkey and Oregon produces some of the best.