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A perfectly cooked roast turkey is a thing of beauty. Tender and juicy, with gorgeously browned crispy skin that makes each bite an absolute delight to the taste buds. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to choose the best wines to go with your turkey.
Turkey is the star of the table, and naturally, you’ll want to choose a wine that complements and highlights the flavors in the bird. The truth is that pairing turkey and wine is a breeze.
Whether you’re looking for the best red wine with turkey or choosing a white wine, we’ll cover everything you need to know to pick the best wine for your Thanskgiving celebrations.
General Tips for Pairing the Best Wine with Turkey
Thanksgiving can be stressful, but pairing wine and turkey doesn’t have to be.
Like chicken, turkey is ultra-versatile with wine. Many of the best wines with turkey are the same varieties that go with your favorite roast chicken—and for the same reasons.
First off, turkey is a lean protein. As far as what wine pairs with turkey, you’ll want to stick with richer whites and low- to medium-tannin reds. Because there’s so little fat to bind to the tannins, a high-tannin wine will come off overly astringent, even bitter, when paired with your roast bird. Save young, bold, tannic wines for steak night. That said, bigger styles mellow out with time. If you’re a die-hard Cabernet drinker, try pouring an aged wine at Thanksgiving dinner. With softer, more approachable tannins, older vintages can make great partners for turkey.
Don’t forget to consider the fixings on your plate. A dollop of homemade cranberry sauce spooned over your turkey should steer you towards berry-driven reds like Gamay and Pinot Noir, while sides like candied yams or maple bacon Brussels sprouts should have you reaching for an off-dry Riesling to complement their sweetness. Creamy mashed potatoes drenched in gravy love the vibrant, clean flavors of Chardonnay, and a buttery version takes mac ‘n’ cheese to perfection.
Offering a few different varieties to go with your turkey means guests can choose what wine to drink based on whether they prefer dark or light meat and what Thanksgiving sides they heap on their plates. A red and a white will do the trick, but depending on the styles you and your guests prefer, you can serve two types of red or two types of white.
Stuck deciding? The Laithwaites Wine Club ensures a mix of wonderful wines—for Thanksgiving or as the ideal gift for a fellow wine lover
Best 6 Wines to Serve with Turkey
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is always a winner with roast turkey.
That bright acidity, mineral backbone and range of fruit—from zesty citrus to ripe peach, are a match made in heaven with roast turkey. These flavors go well with turkey stuffed with stone fruit.
What’s the best white wine with turkey? Easy. It’s Viognier.
Rich and creamy, with ample stone fruit flavors, floral notes and a hint of honey on the nose and palate, Viognier is a brilliant foil to turkey’s leanness without overwhelming the meat’s flavors.
It also works well with root veggies like yams, potatoes, carrots, and green beans. So, if you want a wine that pairs with turkey and as many sides as possible, Viognier is it. For the finest examples of Viognier, look for those from California’s Central Coast or France’s Condrieu.
Whether you like it fresh and fruity or brooding and earthy, Pinot Noir always pairs well with turkey.
Thanksgiving is a fantastic day to break out a special bottle of Burgundy and celebrate with your nearest and dearest. Those mushroom, forest floor and spice notes flawlessly capture the season—and they’re a delicious match with sides of cheesy mushrooms or truffle mac and cheese.
If you’re a cranberry sauce person or whipping up a fruit-filled stuffing, head to the New World with Pinots from Oregon, California or New Zealand. The plush berry fruit in these wines complements the flavors in sweet-tart cranberry sauce and herby, dried fruit stuffing.
Pinot Noir’s low-tannin cousin, Gamay, makes an astonishingly good turkey pairing, too.
The cru Beaujolais wines are particularly excellent, serving up depth, complexity and, of course, deliciousness with each sip. They tend to boast more substance compared to some of the lighter styles of Beaujolais, with those hailing from Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon and Fleurie offering up wonderful minerality, structure and expressive fruit flavors. Moulin-à-Vent, the most tannic of the ten crus, is especially tasty with dark meat from the thighs and legs.
All that jammy berry flavor brings out the best in turkey, whether you’re tucking into flavorful dark meat or piling your plate high with slices of white meat. This is an excellent pairing for folks who prefer a full-bodied red. Zin’s tannins aren’t so high that they’ll come off as bitter between bites, and its dark berry-cherry profile with undertones of baking spice complement seasonal spices like cinnamon, allspice and clove that may make their way into your dishes.
Look for Zinfandel from Napa, the Russian River Valley or Dry Creek in Sonoma.
Rosé versions of any reds on this list would make delicious partners for turkey.
Dry, refreshing rosés with plenty of acidity and a touch of fruit are never out of place with turkey. Pinot Noir rosés bring elegance, finesse and pretty orange and berry notes. An off-dry white Zinfandel hits the spot, especially if you’ve used a seasoned rub for your bird, as this easy-drinking wine can help tame the heat of spice.
Have leftovers? Of course, you do.
Rosé wines work with everything turkey—casseroles, pasta bakes, salads, even the humble next-day leftover turkey sandwich.
They’re the ultimate all-rounder for Thanksgiving turkey.
