Our Thanksgiving dinner will be pretty traditional this year.  I’ll try to stick to my mantra of offering a variety of consumer friendly wines to the guests while saving the “collectibles” for another time. 

We’ll start with cilantro/horseradish spiced shrimp cocktail paired with a Schramsberg Mirabelle Sparkling Rose.  We’ve had a lot of success with this palate refreshing pairing, the bubbly playing perfectly off the spice of the cocktail sauce.  Schramsberg also offers a wonderful Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir Sparkling Wine.  Also on the appetizer menu is a warm spinach/artichoke dip with veggies.  I’m not yet sure what wine I’ll choose for this.  Considering that the dip is somewhat thick and creamy yet has a tang of the artichoke, I may go with a White Bordeaux.

At the table, we’ll launch the “Main Bout” with a warm carrot-dill soup and follow it up with a light spinach salad.  We’ll have a Rombauer (California) Chardonnay, Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer and Robert Eymael (Monchhof) German Kabinett Riesling on the table for these dishes and the main course consisting of: turkey with stuffing, sweet potato casserole, garlic-serano mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans with almond slices.  For those who prefer a red, a Ken Wright Pinot Noir and a Seghesio Zinfandel will be available.

While we never have room for dessert after this meal, we will devour it anyway, I’m sure.  This year, we’ll keep it traditional with an apple crumb topped pumpkin pie and a warm apple-pear pie, courtesy of Jax Kitchen (www.jaxkitchen.com).  If guests are game, we can pour a little Sauternes or a little JJ Prum Auslese Riesling.  Otherwise, it’s overdrive time for the cappuccino machine. And of course, there will be lots of leftovers, which will be the subject of my final Thanksgiving series. 

Let us know what you’re preparing for the holiday by logging on to the Community Forum (http://www.wineinquirer.com/forums/) or sharing your comments on the Comment section at the end of this piece.

Have a food and wine question?  Ask us and we’ll try to accommodate.

Tags: Chardonnay, Eymael Monchhof Riesling, Gewurztraminer, JJ Prum Auslese, Ken Wright, Pinot Noir, Rombauer, Schramsberg Sparkling Wine, Seghesio, Zind-Humbrecht, Zinfandel