Let’s sit down for a second to talk turkey wine. I’ve got my “wine glasses” or “rosé glasses” to set the mood. As happy as I look in my new shades, you might doubt my depth of knowledge on the subject. I do know enough to be dangerous.

I worked in a wine store right after college. Seems like yesterday to me. I learned about a lot of different wines in the world. We tasted the merchandise so we could better help the customer. I really liked that part of my job, those Thursday nights in the back of the store with yummy wines and disgusting spit buckets. If we swallowed every drop, we would have passed out on the floor. After we nursed the flavors in our mouths, we spewed the excess into a bucket. Nice, I know, the dirty part of the job.

The more I tasted the more I realized, WOW! I have a lot of wines to try and I still won’t know it all. And every year is different, compounding my never-ending thirst for wine knowledge and well, wine. The guys that do know EVERYTHING, are an elite group, the wine guys in a fancy restaurant most likely, the sommelier. Since none of those guys are my BFF, I rely on myself.

I like French wines because the French really do know what they are doing and have a right to be proud of their work. I like their style because the flavors are subtle to pair better with food. More is going on then the fruit. California wines are good too, but a lot of them are REALLY BIG and that’s not me. It’s kind of like wearing tiny polka dots on a dress versus very large polka dots. I like dots but don’t want to be obvious about it.

The wine I am having with my turkey is a Beaujolais Nouveau. In France, there used to be a race to market to be the first to present the Beaujolais Nouveau by the third Thursday of November. Now it ships out weeks in advance to make it around the world by mid-November. This kind of wine doesn’t really sit around in barrels much. It’s young wine, tasting like fresh strawberries. It is probably the most fruit-forward of any wine I drink.

It’s spectacular with turkey because turkey is boring and needs some zing. That’s why we have cranberry sauce and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and sweet potatoes. Turkey by itself is a bland protein fix.

Georges Dubeouf is the most widely known producer of this fresh tasting wine. The label changes annually and this year, well, it seems Barbie got a hold of it. My wine guy said it was just miserable unpacking the boxes because the boxes had the same crazy hot pink, polka dot graphic. “Barbie on Acid” is how he described the experience.  I need my new wine glasses to read the label.

If you haven’t got your wine stash for Thanksgiving yet, here is a recommendation for your turkey course. I hope you enjoyed our chat.

Bright Wine!