OK it happens every year, a flood of people think there must be one perfect wine to go with "Thanksgiving dinner". Never mind that Thanskgiving dinner is 100 different things to 100 different people. Some people have very bland turkey and mashed potatoes. Some have very sweet candied yams and sweet cranberry. Others go for the spicy flavors. No one wine would be "perfect" for all these different situations!

Then we have the different issue. If you hate buttery Chardonnays, then it doesn't matter if some wine expert somewhere feels a buttery Chardonnay is perfect with turkey meat. You're going to hate it. You might do far better with a smooth merlot. If you favor a spicy, pepper gravy and heavy duty side dishes, then a Shiraz as a wine might be perfecto.

So I want to say that no wine is ever the perfect wine It all depends on your dishes you're making, and your taste buds. A wine I absolutely adore with Thanksgiving, you might find far too mild, or too sweet, or too tart.

What wine are YOU having for Thanksgiving, and what food items are you serving it with?

My menu isn't planned yet (though I hope to pick up some pheasant).

I would like to recommend as I do every year that folks celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with American wines. It is after all an exclusively American holiday (the Canadians have theirs another day).

Even better than just any old American wine, I urge people to celebrate the local harvest by trying local wines. there are wineries in all 50 states.

Pheasant! What a cool item for Thankgiving! We always just get turkey, maybe we should look into some sort of an interesting additional bird too!

Yes that is an awesome idea Brom. How about a Massachusetts wine, to celebrate where it all began! They have some great cranberry wines in Plymouth

I've done turkey at Thanksgiving very seldom in the last ten years or so. I used to like my Christmas goose at Thanksgiving, but then they became too expensive for me.

A Massachusetts wine would be nice and historical too, but I don't think I'll getting to New England in the next week.

The idea of a cranberry wine is intriguing - might be an interesting aperitif. We have a local winery here in Jersey, in fact a couple of wineries, that make cranberry wine.

That's the kind of thinking that makes a festive dinner meaningful and memorable.

I'm not into flavored beers, but one of the several pumpkin spice beers currently on the market nmight work for some guests too.

Yes you can make some really cool cocktails (sangria-like) with cranberry wine as a base, and the color is very festive

I brought a Rosenblum Viognet and a California Pinot Noir (Central Coast - Name escapes me just now) and both went wonderfully with the Turkey and the Viognet went well with the Ham.

We also had Squash Casserole, Mashed Sweet Potatos with marshmallows, Mashed Rutabagas, Collard Greens (yuck - I had none), and Stuffing. Both wines went fine with the whole meal (except for the collards, which I cannot vouch for).

That sounds delicious!! Bob makes a delicious dish of yam circles with a triple sec (orange) sauce which we adore. I've definitely had that marshmallow dish that you're talking about!

Dad brought us a pinot noir to have with the turkey which was quite nice, I'll have to write that one up tomorrow.