What is a good wine that don't cost an arm or leg for Thanksgiving dinner?

[B Calm]

Having a big family get together on Thanksgiving and like to treat everybody to a good wine with the meal.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Yellow Tail

Australian wine with a kangaroo on the label. Good stuff.

[B Calm]

3. Yellow Tail 2004 Chardonnay

[DemoTex]

10. Yellow Tail is the biggest selling wine in NC and SC.

I like it and at $10.95 for a 1.5 liter bottle, it is a bargain. Engels (a NC-based food chain) always has Y-T on discount. My little meat market in Greenville, SC, matches Engels' price on Y-T. I prefer the Y-T Shiraz (sipping a spot right now!).

[Capn Sunshine]

28. its Australian

eeeeeeeeeeeeew
Or you could get some GOOD wine...

[Shakespeare]

32. HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEE! I so agree....

Living in Sonoma, I've become quite California-centric (hell, I even lift an eyebrow at the stuff from Santa Barbara anymore, but usually think better of it and drink it anyway :7 ).

Like Shiraz? Try Geyser Peak's. They're a Sonoma winery, but their winemaker is an Aussie who makes it in the Aussie style (but using superior Alexander Valley fruit). And I think it's fairly widely available, too (their sauvignon blanc is also outstanding).

Chardonnay, of course, is done nowhere better than here (mmmmmmm...Russian River Valley chardonnay....).

If you can find it, Navarro (Mendocino County/Anderson Valley) makes an outstanding off-dry gewurztraminer that's an excellent Thanksgiving choice. And if you can't find it, Fetzer's budget-priced gewurz is also quite drinkable.

And our zins? Oh, man...don't get me started. Rockpile zin from Sonoma County...Oakley zin from Contra Costa county.....getting...so...thirsty....

[Dude_CalmDown]

21. My whole family loves Yellow Tail

Don't tell anyone but I kind of like it too. Other recommendations:

-Guinness
-Guinness
-Guinness

[bullwinkle428]

31. Thanks...I've seen Yellow Tail available all over in

my little town, and I've never actually tried it yet. I certaily will now, after seeing all of the recommendations!

[Zomby Woof]

2. I have 2 varietal recommends

If you prefer red, a good beaujalois is cheap, and is mighty tasty with the entire dinner.

If you prefer white, a gewurtztraminer will do the job. A good bottle of either is no more than 6-8 bucks. :-)

[B Calm]

5. thanks

what do you prefer, red or white?

[Zomby Woof]

6. The answer is...

Yes. ;-)

I suppose if forced to choose, I usually go with reds.

But for Thanksgiving, I usually go with the white Gewurtztraminer. It has a spicy/fruity palate which goes well with turkey and dressing.

[Lex]

9. A mixture of melted butter and Gewurtztraminer is good for basting

the turkey while it's cooking. Makes for a nice brown, carmelized bird.

Also, this allows for a liberal sipping of the Gewurtz while cooking.

[B Calm]

11. My grandmother always basted turkey in wine too..

Grandpa would treat us to his home brew dark beer on Thanksgiving.. It was always a real treat for a little kid to have beer with grandpa..

[Lex]

4. The beaujalois nouveau is released TODAY!

Read this:
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/112005/11162005/145565

We always serve that at Thanksgiving.

[Zomby Woof]

7. Keith Olbermann...

Just showed a feature about its release... a huge tub of it with dozens of Japanese people soaking in it, and drinking their own glass. :o

[Lex]

8. Yeah, that's exactly how we enjoy it at our house!

(Just kidding!)

:hi:

[kanrok]

22. I second and third this recommendation

The beaujalois nouveau is always a big hit. It reminds me of the holiday season. Buy a case, it's cheap - usually between $5-7 per bottle, approachable for those who don't drink a lot of wine, and really tasty. I love big reds, but this is a nice change of pace.

As for whites, I love the Clos duBois Chard. You can buy it for about $8 a bottle at Costco. Nice and tasty as well.

[ernstbass]

25. I fourth the nomination

and this is a wine that most people like.

[Coventina]

29. 5th nomination here.

The nouveau is synonymous with Thanksgiving in my mind.

[SocratesInSpirit]

12. Box of Wine!

Just kidding. :D

Sorry, couldn't tell you - am not at all familar with wines.

[baldguy]

13. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

$6-$10/btl, good cheap Italian red

http://www.epicurious.com/drinking/wine/bestproducers/articles/it_abruzzi_monte

[CatholicEdHead]

14. Smoking Loon Pinot Noir

Or Toad Hollow "Eye of the Toad"
http://www.toadhollow.com/available_NETSCAPE.asp

[Elidor]

15. Thunderbird!

Alternately, as a mexican waiter once told me, "Ees never too early for tequila!"

[man4allcats]

51. And let us not forget the venerable

Night Train! Available at all fine convenience stores in the cooler just beyond the malt liquor! ;-)

[WCGreen]

16. Bogle Merlot or Blackstone Merlot.....

Mrs. WCGreen swears by it, and after a few, like a drunken salior....

Seriously, it is only $ 8.99 at COSTCO....

[TK421]

52. Blackstone is my favorite

:D

[flvegan]

17. Stag's Leap 2001 Cab from Napa

Oh, how popular you will be...

'bout 30 bucks.

[BuddhaGirl]

18. Zinfandel is great with Turkey

try a Ravenswood zin....not too pricey and pretty good :-)

[Bamboo]

19. Nobody does it better,makes me feel sad for the rest.

Parallele 45 means 45th Parallel where it is grown.
http://www.wineaccess.com/store/totalwine-tampa/ecommerce/product.html?product_id=10079497
Cheap enough to make into mulled wine too.
Smoked Turkey and Cotes du Rhone is my menu.

[JVS]

20. Carlo Rossi Burgundy. 4 liters for $7.97.

[DrDan]

23. I like a Gewurtztraminer with Turkey

[fishnfla]

24. Kick. Thanksgiving food is boring, lets talk wine!

We're going with Liebfraumilch this year. Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow

[SW FL Dem]

26. I like Chardonnay and a good cheap one is Woodbridge (by Mondavi)

You can get a 1.5 liter bottle (twice normal size) at Costco for under 10 bucks. Many restaurants use this as their house wine. It's nothing to write home about but it is definitely very drinkable for the price when you have several people drinking it.

[kaiden]

27. Fat Bastard

n/t

[bleedingheart]

33. I second Fat Bastard....and the bottle will be a conversation starter..

[bullwinkle428]

30. Hogue Cellars has some excellent white varieties

available - I've recently tried their Riesling and Gewurtztraminer, but need to try some of their reds as well. Mental note for the shopping list this weekend! :toast:

http://www.hoguecellars.com/hogue.php

Price is right, at (typically) under $10 a bottle...

[youthere]

34. Check around to see if you have any local wineries....

They usually sell pretty reasonable, let you taste before you buy and usually have some pretty respectable table wines.

[Bridget Burke]

35. The Houston Chronicle wine writer has some recommendations.

Michael Lonsford points out that Thanksgiving "cuisine" goes well with many types of wine--white, red, pink--still or bubbly. He's got suggestions in all categories--subdivided by price range. No wine snob, he's got quite a few good ones for less than $10.

www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/food/lonsford/3458326

If you're asked to register (free) & don't feel like it--use Bugmenot. The article is really worth the trouble.

In reds, I'm a Zinfandel fan. My favorite is Liar's Dice from Murphy-Goode vineyards. At $15 or so, it's in my upper range. Lots more choices available.

Pink wines are often ignored. NOT "White Zinfandel"--but dryish rose's--many on the list.

Sparkling wines are also faves. Spanish "cavas" are good values--& there are some pink ones!

You don't have to serve just one wine, either.

[Horus45]

36. Gallo, Café Chardonnay

I know it sounds cheap because it's Gallo, but it's a great wine!
But it has to be the Café variety, the others are not as good.
And it is cheap! LOL

[skygazer]

37. Nouveau Beaujolais

Affordable, very good and a traditional drink for Thanksgiving. It's the first of the new crop, can only be released on or after the third Thursday in November and is light, fruity, tasty and excellent with turkey dinner.

[BlackVelvet04]

38. If you can find Virginia

wines try Chateau Morrisette's Black Dog. It's excellent.

Remember: Virginia makes wine, NAPA makes auto parts.

[Shakespeare]

40. No, Virginia just *tries* very, very hard to make wine.

I lived in DC for several years, and tried (and tried and tried) Virginia wines. On the whole, somewhere far below mediocre.

States outside of California who make drinkable wine are Oregon, Washington and New York (and NY just barely). Other states....not so much.

If Jefferson were still with us, I think he'd long ago have left Charlottesville for the top of Fitch Mountain in Healdsburg overlooking the Russian River. :-)

[Left Is Write]

39. For low cost, I have had no problems with Beringer.

Stay away from Turning Leaf, though. It tastes as cheap as its price.

I also like Kendall Jackson, which is about 15 bucks.

[youthere]

41. I like the Beringer Merlot...

they have a white Merlot that isn't bad either.

[EFerrari]

48. Barefoot Cab and Chardonnay beat Beringer to pieces AND

it's actually cheaper.

[Mrs.Matcom]

42. Try a Sauvignon Blanc

with turkey. Rancho Zabaco dancing bull is excellent! Hints of lemon grass and grapefruit will awaken the pallet and excite the taste buds. Matcom and I drink it all the time for a nice white. If you want red, try either Da Vinci's chianti or Il Bastardo's Sangiovese. Both are excellent too! Either way have a very Happy Turkey Day. Matcom will be cooking Chateau Briand! mmmmm :hi:

[Truebrit71sbruv]

43. Amarone Della Valpolicella ...

... from Italy. Not sure what it's likely to cost in the states, probably around 10-15 bucks a pop for a decent one - and believe me it's WELL worth the money for an exquisite red. You'll need to let it breathe a while to get the full worth from it, and it needs to be served in good-sized red-wine glasses to let the "nose" develop. But for a celebration it's very classy and extremely good value for money.

[northzax]

45. you can't get a decent Valpolicella for under 15

and I haven't found one I'll drink for under 25. But I'm willing to pay 50 for a real Amarone...too rich for my turkey day blood.

I vote for Cava to start.
Pinot Rose, or a nice Spanish Rose for the veggies.
Gewurtz and New Zealand Pino for the bird
Chompers for the pumpkin pie.
and, of course, port or Sauternes with the cheese.

but that's just me.

[Truebrit71sbruv]

47. As I said...

... not sure what you'd have to be stumping up for an even half-way decent Amarone in the US, but over here in Europe you can get your hands on some decent stuff at what seems like a much better rate than stateside...

:shrug:

[northzax]

49. well, if nothing else

you need to add 30 percent to the price to account for the euro-dollar conversion. and then import duties and the additional profit of the extra layer of middlemen importers. it's a pain. I do love the Amarone though.

[yellowdogintexas]

44. I like "Black Cat" (I don't know how to spell the German)

But it is a nice Moselle Valley wine and not expensive at all.

I also like White Merlot and White Zinfandel

and I stumbled upon a nice Chilean Rose not too long ago that I really liked.

[AntiCoup2K4]

46. Do they have Trader Joe's where you're at?

Go for the Two Buck Chuck's! It's really better than you would think.

[Midlodemocrat]

50. I recently went to a wine tasting fundraiser for MS, and

one of the whites was a chardonnary called Indigo Hills. Everyone loved it. About $8-10 bucks a bottle.

Another of my favorites is Kendall Jackson or Columbia Crest. Both pretty reasonable.

[Mr. McD]

53. Dr. Beckermann Piesporter Michelsberg Spätlese,

$4.99 at Trader Joes. Very nice. That's what I'm having.

[sakabatou]

54. We sometimes get 2 buck chuck