Get a turkey leg up on Thanksgiving pairing

In my family, we have large Thanksgiving dinners, and I am assigned to bring the wine.

Some members of my family are regular wine drinkers; others are just occasional.

I usually pick a red and a white, to match personal preferences.

For years, I have advocated the traditional white for turkey -- gewurztraminer -- and pinot noir for the red. The spicy gewurztraminer handles the spices in a Thanksgiving meal, and pinot noir is the most versatile red food wine.

But it is fun to experiment. I asked the wine-tasting group to compare five whites and five reds that could be served for this holiday. We tasted and ranked them first by themselves and then compared them with turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce. Following is what we found.

White

-- 2003 Columbia Valley Cellarmaster's Riesling at $11.99. Riesling's perceived sweetness handles spices well, as does the gewurztraminer. One school of thought says that for whites at Thanksgiving, sweeter is better than dry. The Columbia had an oily, honey-filled aroma with hints of peaches. It tasted very sweet, but the sweetness was balanced by good acids. The food made the wine taste not as sweet and more smooth. This pairing was an excellent match. The Columbia was voted our favorite white with the meal.

-- 2003 Trevor Jones "Boots" White at $14.99. This wine was a blend of sauvignon blanc, semillon and muscat. Its aroma offered mandarin oranges, peaches and nectarines. It tasted as refreshing as a spring breeze, elegant and with a long finish. This was our favorite white without the food. The tastes of the food, however, overwhelmed and brought out a metallic taste in the wine.

-- 2002 Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer at $14.99. The color was pure gold, and the aroma suggested crystal ginger, honey and spicy pepper. In the mouth, this wine was dryer than the others, with a creamy texture. The food dried out the wine, making it taste a bit hot.

-- 2003 MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris at $14.99. This wine had a flowery aroma with white peaches, melon rinds and honeydew melon. In the mouth, it was very fresh with good acids. With the meal, the wine was still sweet-tasting, standing up the many flavors of the food. This was our second favorite with the food.

-- 2002 Schmitt Sohne Classic Riesling at $12.99. This aroma reminded us of green apples and citrus fruit. In the mouth, it tasted almost effervescent. It was good with the meal, but not as good as the Columbia.

Red

-- 2002 Baron Philippe de Rothschild Carmenere Reserva at $13.99. This wine had an aroma of bell peppers, black anise, green tomato vines and a bit of dustiness. It was spicy hot in the mouth, and the dustiness continued on the finish. The food brought out the oak in the wine -- a little too heavily.

-- 2002 Melini Borghi d'Elsa Chianti at $10.99. This aroma reminded us of cranberry jelly and rose petals. In the mouth, the wine's various elements did not work in harmony. The acids and tannins outweighed the fruit. (Tannins are the chemicals in wine that give it structure and can taste harsh or astringent.) The food watered down the wine, reducing the fruit taste even more.

-- 2003 Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Equis at $12.99. We discovered lots of fruit, particularly raspberry, in this aroma, with hints of pepper. It was light and simple in the mouth, but it was lip-smacking with some tannins. With the food, the fruit went away, accentuating the harsher elements of the wine.

-- 2001 Van Ruiten Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz Blend at $11.99. Cedar dominated the aroma along with notes of dill and vanilla extract. We tasted sweet fruit, especially burnt cherry, with pepper, spice and hints of wood fire. This blend made a good match with the food, which made the sweet slightly sweeter and softer. This wine was our favorite without the food.

-- 2002 Jewel Pinot Noir at $13.99. The Jewel had a smoky aroma, full of ripe strawberries. It had lots of cherries and other fruit in the mouth, with plenty of acids. With the meal, the savory quality of the wine came out. This was our favorite wine for a Thanksgiving red.

Questions may be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville 37203, or e-mailed to editor@tennessean.com.