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.