Great Wines for a Traditional American Thanksgiving

Turkey Day in the States is now just a few weeks away, and if you're planning a traditional Thanksgiving menu of roast turkey with gravy, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, you might top off your lovely meal with one or more of these excellent wines:

• Pinot Noir (USA or France) - just full-bodied enough to stand up to the richer flavors on your plate (such as the gravy), but light enough to work with poultry and vegetables, allowing the flavor of the food to take center stage. A fine red option--and perhaps the most common. RED

• Grenache (France) or Garnacha (Spain) - the premier red wine for consumption with food that's not a juicy steak or cut of prime rib. Versatile, affordable, present (without being overbearing), with an earth-fruit balance that's oh-so-flexible. RED

• Gruner Veltliner (Austria) - full of limestone minerality and understated fruit (citrus and apple, both of which complement stuffing and cranberries nicely, and add sweetness to the meat); a refreshing, cleansing sort of dryness, with a crisp finish and a delicate but pleasing mouth feel (and good length) that enhances the enjoyment of the food. WHITE

• Pinot Gris (especially Washington State) - lively but poised citrus, melon and sometimes pear, with a minerality similar to Gruner; offers more definition and outright flavor than its Italian cousin Pinot Grigio, which can be so bland as to contribute nothing interesting to your meal. Has a pleasing, rich mouth feel. WHITE

My favorite? Pinot Noir for red, Gruner for white.

Happy Thanksgiving!