Wines to pair with your Thanksgiving feast

It’s only days to Thanksgiving, but there’s still time to fancy up your feast with some special wines to pair with your holiday eats.

This week on Northwest Vine Time, host Brian Bushlach is joined by two certified Oregon sommeliers, Jennifer Cossey and Jeff Henrickson, who offer up their favorite wines to pair with turkey day delights.

Cossey, who loves Thanksgiving for wine pairing, says a good standard is Pinot Noir. She says it’s one of the most popular wines for pairing at the Thanksgiving table because it’s light bodied and goes well with turkey.

As for what she’d go for personally, Cossey suggests offering guests a Gamme Noir or a Gewurztraminer.

Gamme Noir originates from France, but Cossey says producers in Oregon including Evening Land, Amity, and Division are starting to make Gamme.

Gewurztraminer she says is a good choice because it’s a great fall white.

“It’s just a really interesting almost spicy white wine that goes really well with stuffing and turkey and all that.”

Henrickson recommends a Chardonnay or a dry Riesling. He says Northwest winemakers are really coming into their own with Chardonnay, having learned which regions and which products create the best results in our climate.

He says the holidays are really a time to introduce and try new things because you have a captive audience looking to imbibe and enjoy.

“You can introduce people to a couple of varietals because they’re here to eat and drink, so those are the times that you can slip in a Viognier or a Gewurztraminer or a Gamme, like, ‘Hey try this,’ and try and to get them exposed to just one more aspect of the world of wine.”

Northwest Vine Time can be heard on KIRO Radio on Saturdays at 6 p.m., Sundays at 4 p.m. Available anytime ON DEMAND at MyNorthwest.com.