Thanksgiving 2020: Four Wines To Enhance Your Holiday Feast

This year more than ever, we have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. The challenges of this past year have brought families closer and made us reevaluate our lives. Although many of us cannot celebrate Thanksgiving 2020 together because of COVID, we can share wine on this holiday, whether in person or virtually. Here are four wines to spruce up your holiday dining.

If your main course for your holiday meal is turkey with all the fixings, many wines will liven up your table. Please note that my wine choices this year are Italian because I feel Italian wine goes well with turkey. Each of the four wines represents a different wine region in Italy. One comes from the Veneto, two others from Tuscany, and the lastly Sicily.

Thanksgiving 2020 White Wine

Pasqua Hey French: you could have done this, but you didn’t: Looking for something unique and different in a white wine Hey French is a wine that I would say thinks outside the box. This “First Edition” Bianco expresses a younger generation’s influence on changing traditional methods and adding their own interpretation to the winemaking process.  It starts with a blend of Garganega, Pinot Bianco, and Sauvignon and utilizes four different vintages, 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017 to create dimension and character in this wine. The wine aged in French oak tonneaux for six months.

I found a wine with depth and more complexity that I attribute to the various vintages brought together in this wine. Like most wines from the Soave Classico region, the wine presents lots of nice acidity and minerality. The viscous wine displayed aromas of lemon and flavors of citrus and tropical fruit. I think the depth and texture of this wine lend itself to complementing a turkey dinner.

Thanksgiving 2020 Rosé

Frescobaldi Alie 2019, Toscana IGT: Another atypical wine but in this case a Rosé: the wine combines Syrah with Vermentino. The Vermentino adds an atypical dimension to the wine that gives the wine body and depth. The effervescence in this wine gives an almost sparkling wine effect. Besides giving one the sensations of sparkling wine, find elegant and delicate  yet bright qualities that accentuated the flavors of pink grapefruit and peach.

Thanksgiving 2020 Red Wine

Mandrarossa Frappato: When I think of a turkey dinner, I think of Frappato. Frappato, an Italian grape from Sicily, can often be characterized as a wine with savory qualities. The grape creates a light-bodied, elegant, and easy-drinking wine. This particular Frappato is light, bright, and lively. Frappato texture, softness, and acidity make the wine pair nicely with turkey. Therefore, ideal wine to serve with your Thanksgiving dinner.

Tenuta Luce Lucente 2017: If you are looking for a fuller-bodied wine that accompanies not only turkey but all the sides that go with your Thanksgiving meal. Lucente is the secondary label of Luce, a winery in Montalcino. In 2017 at a luncheon featuring the Luce wines, I first sample the 2014 Lucente and other wines from this winery. Lucente blends Merlot and Sangiovese and typically ages for 12 months. The Lucente 2017 is a young wine, and I feel it needs time to breathe or, at the very least, aerate. On the nose, find mocha, tobacco, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. These same aromas are also found on the palate and accent the dominant flavors of berry jam.

While all these wines will enhance your Thanksgiving cuisine, whatever wine you choose this Thanksgiving is bound to make your dinner special. Although I have opted to suggest these wines for Thanksgiving, they are also perfect for other occasions.

The Written Palette wishes a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Common to the wine industry, this writer received hosted wine samples. While it has not influenced this review, the writer believes in full disclosure.