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about Pinot Noir from the Burgundy region of France. A “white Burgundy” is invariably a Chardonnay from that region, which produces the finest bottles of that variety in the world.) “Pinot Noir is a lighter style wine that pairs perfectly with a lighter meat,” Joy says, noting that for the holiday season, Rouses Markets will sell an exclusive line of Pinot Noir from A to ZWineworks called Engraved. “What I like about Engraved is that it hits you with just a little bit of spice,” she says, “It has a really balanced quality to it.” (Balance in wine refers to the tension of fruitiness versus acidity. Too little fruit, and a wine is “thin.” Too much fruit, and it is “flabby.”) If you decide to smoke your turkey this year, you have options. When it comes to pairing wine and food in general, there are two ways to go. In the case of any spicy food, you can run in the opposite direction and grab a wine with a slight sweetness to it to balance things out, or you can run in the same direction and drink a “spice booster.” In the case of a smoked turkey, a Shiraz would really up the intensity level. On the other hand, a good “opposite” wine would be, again, that McBride Sisters Brut Rosé, which would be a refreshing counterbalance to the turkey’s smokiness. Fried turkeys present an interesting opportunity. First, you can burn your house down while preparing them, in which case I suggest you go for any wine in reach, and lots of it. But if your house remains standing and there are no fatalities, the key to pairing fried turkey with wine is to consider that delicious, crispy fat on the bird. To really make it sing, you’ll want to uncork a bottle packing a little acidity — something like a Sauvignon Blanc. Rouses has just started carrying a label called Sun Goddess, which is a collaboration between Fantinel Winery in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, and Mary J. Blige, the singer. “She’s getting a lot of really good press from it,” says Joy. “What I like about Sun Goddess is that it’s got some tropical notes to it, and a really nice acidity and smoothness at the end. That would balance the fried part of the meal.” Let’s say for Thanksgiving dinner, though, eating one animal at a time just isn’t your thing, or isn’t enough, or you are just really bad at making decisions in general and have chosen: D. All of the above. Turducken it is! (Did you know that in England, where geese are more prevalent than turkeys, Gooducken is the

local favorite? Now you do!) In terms of flavor, turducken is…all over the place, to put it mildly. “I would go with a big bad cab for turducken,” says Joy, referring to those loud, full-bodied bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon for which California is famous. “You’re going to want something that cuts through every single one of those meats, and especially the game part of it.” She recommends a label from DAOU Vineyards, which is located on the Central Coast of California. Their 2018 bottle, which is very affordable, is getting major press right now, including a score of 92 points in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate magazine, the industry magazine that rates wines on a scale from 50 to 100. (You get 50 points for just being a wine!) The DAOU 2018, Joy says, “is a very consistently well-done cab that, if people aren’t drinking it, they should.” As winter finally makes an appearance in the South (it’s going to snow in New Orleans for Christmas this year — you read it here first) there is, lastly, the best option for Thanksgiving dinner — the option everyone really wants, no matter how hard they pretend to like your oven- roasted turkey. That option is turkey gumbo. And since everyone will be celebrating your choice of cuisine anyway, what better wine to pair it with than a sparkler? If gumbo is on the menu, put a few bottles of Prosecco in your shopping cart. It’s not a super-sweet sparkling wine and has a crisp, clean finish. “We have some really great Proseccos in the store right now,” says Joy. “One is called Standard Issue Prosecco Cuvée No. 6. It’s perfect for something like turkey gumbo. The wine could be an aperitif, but in this case, it’s a fantastic palate cleanser. You want to taste your gumbo, you want to taste those spices — and a Prosecco is the way to go.” There’s no need to settle for a single type of wine, though. Another good option for turkey gumbo would be a Riesling, which is a white, flowery wine. In particular, Chateau Ste Michelle has a lovely line of Rieslings on Rouses store shelves, and each would make its presence known while still allowing the gumbo to shine. Thanksgiving this year is going to be a renewal and, with any luck, a turning of the page. It’s been a hard 2020, and we could all use a drink. But if you’re going to do it, do it right. Set out a few bottles of wine for the holiday, and let them elevate your meal and mood and usher in a new, hard-won year.

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