The Family Chardonnay

Generally speaking, the classic wine with turkey is going to be somewhat fruity version of Chardonnay. This is the traditional wine grape that makes finest French Burgundies and Champagnes, not to mention the much drier and flintier Chablis. But I think for Thanksgiving, if you are going with the classics, you want a California Chardonnay, the best of which generally come from the north end of the Napa Valley or the Sonoma side of the mountain range.

This 2008 Napa Creek fits the description almost perfectly, and considering the fact that I paid less than $10 for it at a local store, you can certainly afford enough to serve a large family gathering. With turkey, I prefer a Chardonnay with a bit of “oak”; that's the vanilla taste component that gets into this type of white wine when it is aged for a time in oak barrels. How long the wine spends in wood determines how much vanilla taste is absorbed, and some Chardonnays are distinctly over-oaked, which can be a good thing if the food is highly seasoned.

Generally, turkey is a bit mild for that style, but I also think you want to avoid the other, more citrusey style that they make through cold fermentation in steel tanks. Those wines are great with seafood, but they tend to be over-powered by foul. The Napa Creek has what I would describe as a “butterscotch” component that really matches up with your turkey, stuffing and candied yams.

Napa Valley Winery raised eyebrows when it first entered the scene, following in the steps of the infamous “Two Buck Chuck” with wines made from grapes that were actually grown in Napa Valley. A number of experts thought owner Fred Franzia couldn't possibly make money, but he has apparently been buying up surplus inventory, and he operates a cradle to grave winemaking operation that sells under several other labels. There certainly isn't any problem with this particular effort, and I recommend it to your holiday table.