Home Choosing a wine for ham or turkey Choosing a wine for ham or turkey Holiday meals are special occasions which usually call for a festive bottle of wine. Traditional holiday meals often include either ham or turkey, which causes some debate, and confusion, over what wine should be served. Pairing wines with these two main dishes can be a little tricky. Let's take a look at these holiday meals and see if we can break them down and determine which wines would pair well. Ham - glazed or smoked Many holiday hams are cooked using a heavy sauce of some sort, glazed to form a crispy crust, which makes them sweet to the taste. There are also hams with more of a smoky flavor, the type that are cured and aged. In general, the heavier flavors of a glazed ham should be paired with a wine that has higher acidity levels, such as a Riesling, or a simple White Zinfandel. Lighter hams, those that have a smoky flavor usually go well with a Pinot Noir or a Vouvray. The reasons these different flavors go well together is that the meal becomes more balanced.

The acidity of the Riesling will help cut through the sweet, sugary flavor of the glazed hams, while the fruity undertones of the Pinot Noir will help taper off the smoky flavor of the cured or smoky ham. Heavier wines will drown out the flavors of the ham by overpowering them with either heat from the alcohol or too much pizzazz from the rich flavors. Turkey - white or dark The white meat of a turkey has a drier texture than dark meat. In order to balance out the texture of white meat, it would not be wise to serve a dry wine as this would not help to quench that need for moisture. Sweeter wines are generally the go-to for white meat as they force the palate to salivate. Any light, sweet wine will do. You may wish to try a sweet German wine. A turkey dinner with all the fixings provides a chance to highlight family favourites and the best of autumn's bounty. But the sheer variety of dishes on the table can also make it a challenge to choose a wine to accompany the meal.

Consider these factors before you head to the wine aisle. 1. Turkey menu You've likely heard that red wine complements red meat and white wine suits white meat, but that's not the whole story: Texture matters too. Turkey can be dry, so if 
it's the centrepiece of your meal, choose a wine that can complement it. Consider a crisp, mouthwatering white wine, such as a Riesling, or a light red wine with juicy berry flavours, such as a Pinot Noir. best wine areas in usa2. Location When planning a menu, chefs know that "what grows together goes together," and the same applies to wine pairing. best indian wine 2015If your 
menu includes specialties that celebrate your family's heritage, consider serving a wine from that part of the world. buy wine online from spain

Likewise, if you're celebrating local foods with your Thanksgiving dinner, look to your local wine region for beverages to serve. 3. Provide a variety of wines If you just can't decide, consider offering a variety of wines and letting your guests choose for themselves. This approach works especially well if you're hosting a buffet or serving a family-style dinner rather than a formal one. wine good company quotesAnd don't forget to provide a nonalcoholic option for your guests, too. best white wine for christmas lunchGrape juice, cranberry cocktail and apple cider are three delicious seasonal options. best wine stores near bostonThis story was originally titled "Pairing Pointers" in the October 2012 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

The Cheshire Cat has been portrayed in various Alice in Wonderlands as mad or, well, simply maddening. In certain versions he has been merged with the Caterpillar, who appears to be a rather short-tempered, pot-addled hipster. No matter, I feel their pain. It’s not that the Cat wasn’t willing to give poor Alice good directions (Should she go left or right?) or that the Caterpillar was misleading her (Which side of the mushroom should she swallow?) but that little Alice was asking questions for which the best answer is always: it depends. And so it is this time of year when I am asked questions to which any answer is a random guess at best and an intentional lie at worst. What wine is best, I am asked. What wine goes with this dish, they implore. Well, you see, it all depends. It depends on price; it depends on preference. I can extoll the glories of off-dry (slightly sweet in wine jargon) German Riesling with turkey dinner, but if you don’t like Riesling, of what use is my enthusiasm?

I can insist that Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir is an excellent rosé sparkling wine and great for any holiday meal, but if you think pink wine is not good enough for your guests (you must have some very snobby guests) then how have I helped? I can tell you that Bernard Diochon makes the most amazing Moulin-a-Vent (that’s a fancy kind of Beaujolais) and that I love it at the Thanksgiving table, but if you can’t find it (and you probably won’t, unless you like surfing the Web for your wines), then my “expertise” is worse than useless. Feel like we’re going down the rabbit hole? We wine people are a frustrating lot, full of qualifications and “could-be’s” and “perhaps” and “it all depends” but, you see, it does indeed depend. You, dear reader, seek certainty where there is little or none. Wine is a food: It is little more than grape juice left alone for a day or two. You know what foods you like and don’t like: It would be absurd for me to insist that periwinkles (little river clams, of a sort) are the perfect snack food for your next party.

Wouldn’t you scoff at me if I recommended barnacles (a delicacy in Spain) for your big holiday get-together? Of course you would; you probably haven’t ever tasted them. But aside from the fact that barnacles (percebes, in Espanol) are simply heavenly, most shoppers preparing for a gathering want something they know and can count on. With wine, if they already know such a wine, they probably aren’t asking me that question. For everyone else, the goal is to find something when the choices are overwhelming and mostly unknown. By now you recall that Alice got fed up with the Cheshire Cat and walked. Her subsequent decisions may seem hasty and ill-advised in retrospect. “Wait,” he said, and so will I. Don’t go. I have some ideas for you. This “it depends” business rests on these questions: ▪ How much money do you want to spend (a lot or a little)? ▪ What kind of wine do you like (sparkling, red or white)? ▪ What style of wine are you hoping to drink (powerful or mild; dry or sweet; spicy or gentle)?

Each question points you somewhere else, and sometimes you come back to the same place (at this point, Alice starts to storm off). “Wait,” as the Caterpillar also said. You want answers, don’t you? OK, here are some: ▪ If you like sparkling wine, Domaine Ste. Michelle, Gloria Ferrer and Roederer Estate are affordable American versions. Mionetto, LaMarca and Zardetto are all useful Proseccos with food, but then all sparkling wines go with virtually everything. At least I find that they do. I like real Champagne (you know, that place in France), and I recommend Billecart Salmon, Nicolas Feuillatte, Pommery and Louis Roederer, depending on how much you can afford to spend. ▪ You want something a bit sweet? German Riesling is actually more often dry than sweet, but I am ravenous for the slightly sweet versions: Donnhoff, Fritz Haag, J.J. Pruem, Leitz, Moenchhof, Selbach-Oster, Weins-Pruem and Zilliken will offer that sweet/tart character these wines exemplify.