What to Drink for Thanksgiving, Part 3

Whether you're planning the dinner at your home, or whether you're a guest in need of something to bring, or whether you're eating out and you want to be knowledgeable when ordering, today's "What to Drink" installment is all about white wine. We'll also have beer recommendations, so come on back for that.

Certainly, we support the notion of "drink what you like." If you prefer a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio to what we're recommending today, our wine team in the stores will be happy to help. Our suggestions are based on our experience with pairings, as well as our own palates.

We have found that a lightly sweet Riesling or a spicy-sweet Gewurztraminer to be the optimal white wines for Thanksgiving. They are not too light in body, so they hold up against the bold flavors of a Thanksgiving table, with the sweetness and spiciness playing nicely opposite the various traditional dishes.

Gewurztraminer is difficult to pronounce, but its complex character is why it's great for Thanksgiving. We suggest the Trimbach Gewurztraminer, from the Alsace region of France.

Gewurztraminer is at once the fruitiest and the spiciest of the white varietals; it's a unique wine. It reaches the height of perfection at Trimbach in Alsace.

Trimbach's dry personality makes it ideal as an aperitif and it pairs extremely well with specialty cuisine with pronounced flavors like you find on the Thanksgiving table. It's also a fine accompaniment for fish or seasoned meats, spicy and exotic dishes, soft cheeses (think Munster), and an assortment of desserts.

Available for only $16.99 in the Bottle Club®.

When it comes to Rieslings, we're very partial to wines produced by Josef Leitz. Generally, their vineyards face 100% south. The steeply sloped vineyards have very good drainage and are perfectly adapted for complexly structured, mineral driven wines. The more vigorous vineyards are those with high loess and loam. These vineyards bring forth the juicy, fruit backed Riesling. You'll find these to be nicely balanced wines that have a light, fruit-driven sweetness.

The Leitz Rudesheimer Riesling Kabinett is one excellent choice. It has a ripe aroma leads into flavors of apple and ripe citrus, with notes of guava and sage honey. The well-spiced finish is long. And it's only $13.96 in the Bottle Club®.

We're also partial to the Leitz Dragonstone. Dragonstone is translated from "Dracheinstein". The name goes back to the rock with this mythological name and also possibly to the form of a dragon. The soil consists of loess-loam sand stone and quartzite and in some parts also of chalk. The wines are amazingly elegant with a delicately spicy note.

The usual kirsch and lime flavors are now in the finest conceivable form: barely perceptibly sweet. Pointed yet creamy, salty and minty; animated and seductive. Only $14.99 in the Bottle Club®.

In case you missed them, click for Part 1 and Part 2 of "What to Drink for Thanksgiving."Next up: Beer for Thanksgiving.