Berger: Thinking about Thanksgiving wine

Even though we were 40 years apart in age, my old friend Rolla and I shared a Thanksgiving ritual that always ended in a Monday morning commiseration.

It was some 30 years ago, and Rolla passed away decades ago, yet I still remember his jocular stories about this ritual we shared.

He and his wife, and I and my wife, would trek many miles into the wilds of the rural countryside to the home of in-laws who would prepare and serve, for a large family, a Thanksgiving dinner with so many courses the sideboard groaned and our constitutions began to flag almost before the bird was out of the oven.

The point of commiseration was with the wine we both were always served, at both homes. It was always Cold Duck or some variant thereof, a sweet semi-bubbly that was more like grape juice with bubbles, a terrible indignation to impose on any self-respecting turkey.

Rolla and I always sang 'woe are we' for hours the first Monday after Thanksgiving.

Oddly enough, as I have learned over the years, Cold Duck may not have been the best choice for the typical Thanksgiving dinner, but it's a whole heck of a lot better than some port-y Cabernet Sauvignon or some 17 percent-alcohol zinfandel.

Think about the typical dinner we expect on Thanksgiving day: Likely it's going to be turkey with sage dressing, some stuffing that may well be made with raisins or chestnuts (slightly sweet), with side dishes of cranberry sauce (very sweet), candied yams with marshmallows (very sweet), and maybe even cornbread (slightly sweet).

Sweet things do not go with dry red wine. Sweet things also do not complement dry white wines much, and only something like off-dry Gewurztraminer will work as a foil for the panoply of flavors on the typical Thanksgiving dinner table.

I have tried pinot noir. Perhaps such a wine has the right flavors for the bird, with its rustic aromas and slightly gamy nature. But the wine still has the raspy acidity and tannin that clang hard against the sugars in the side dishes.

So where are we when it comes to trying a wine for the Thanksgiving dinner table?

Actually, there are a number of choices for the bird-day dinner, and one of the best is actually sparkling red wine! No, not Cold Duck, but something not that far away. One good choice, if you can find one, would be a sparkling Shiraz from Australia, or any relatively dry sparkling red. But those are harder to find, so our quest continues.

Other sparkling wines that do well here include Italian Proseccos, which are more reasonably priced than Champagne. In a more serious vein, try sparkling rosés or blanc de noirs from California, such as Roederer, Gloria Ferrer, Mumm Napa.

In white bubblies, the slightly sweeter Schramsberg Cremant or Mumm Napa Cuvée M are both slightly sweet and offer some of the flavors that work well with Thanksgiving meals.

If none of those choices works, then you have to become creative, and that means making a wine yourself, sort of.

It is the do-it-yourself Kir Royale. To do this, get a bottle of crème de cassis or a good-quality blackberry brandy and add about a teaspoon of it (no more) into an already poured glass of bone-dry bubbly. The spirit will flavor the wine with an added berry note, and the slight added sugar will make the wine perfect with all the trimmings for the bird.

Beyond sparkling, look for Beaujolais Nouveau. Most of this fruity and fragrant light red wine is perfect with all of the sweet and not-so-sweet things on the typical Thanksgiving dinner table.

A number of Beaujolais Nouveau wines will be available starting the third week of November, including one from the well-regarded George Duboeuf. The vintage to buy is 2015.

Another similar type of wine is J. Lohr's Valdiguie, which is made similar to Beaujolais. All Beaujolais should be served slightly chilled.

Pink wines are best for serving with ham, and California makes a plethora of great ones. The best are from 2014, the most recent vintage that's out. (The 2015s are still being readied for market.)

An always reliable, bargain-priced pink is from Marques de Caceres Rioja Rose, a blend of Tempranillo for depth and Garnacha for spice and fruit. At about $7, this is a startlingly fine wine that would work fine with either the turkey or the ham.

Finally, for the really adventuresome, one stylish wine from Italy may well work for honey-glazed, clove-studded hams.

It would be a wine called Brachetto d'Aqui.

Brachetto is a slightly fizzy, slightly sweet red wine that can be sweet enough to serve with dessert, but drier versions are excellent with sweeter main dishes.

Ask a good wine merchant for one.

Finding some of these wines may be a bit of a chore, but the result will be worth it. If you choose to go with a red wine, go light on the marshmallows.

Wine of the Week: 2014 Trivento Amado Sur (white wine), Mendoza ($15)— This Argentine blend of 70% chardonnay with 20% pinot gris and 10% viognier is floral (from the latter grape), has good mid-palate weight from the chardonnay and a tropical fruit aromatic from the pinot gris.

A nice aperitif or companion to simpler foods.

Sonoma County resident Dan Berger publishes 'Vintage Experiences,' a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com.