Gobble, Gobble

Today, we gather to celebrate my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.

I am grateful for all my blessings. A warm comfortable home, a bountiful table of food, early morning pre-hunting breakfasts with good natured ribbing between relatives, healthy breaths of crisp air, colorful birds at my feeders, and fluffy flakes of snow.

Traditions abound, such as turkey with all the fixings, parades and football, after holiday sales and post-feast naps. Today, I am also experimenting to see which wine pairs the best with some twists I am making to familiar fall flavors.

The turkey is stuffed with citrus and seasoned with herbes de provence, yams with a toasted spice rub, green beans with pine nuts and lemon zest, cranberry sauce with fresh orange juice and a sage sausage and apple stuffing. The wines I chose were a Cabernet Franc and a Rhone style Grenache. Both have supple tannins which make them more food friendly and both have a spicy bright fruit flavor.

Most wine critics suggest serving a zinfandel with turkey, but many zins on the market are big, jammy fruit bombs with a strong alcoholic bite.

Stay tuned for the results of our sensory experiment.