GIVE THANKS WITH OKANAGAN WINE
The most important dinner item
Let me go out on a limb here and declare wine is just as important, if not more important, than the Thanksgiving turkey.
The bird is always there on this holiday, but the wine you pair with it can make or break the special meal.
Therefore, it’s a good thing turkey and all the trimmings is an easy combination to match with wine.
Basically, the meal can be paired with almost any white, red, rose or sparkling wine as long as it is fruit forward and has good acidity.
Those attributes complement the amalgam of white and dark turkey meat, fatty gravy and buttery side dishes.
Really, the only wines to steer away from at turkey time are an overly oaky Chardonnay and an ultra-chewy and tannic red.
So with the field essentially wide open, here are a baker’s dozen of bottles you should invite to your Thanksgiving table.
Bailey Williamson, the winemaker at Blue Grouse Winery in Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, has crafted four fruit-forward wines that are turkeyfriendly.
The 2019 Ortega ($24) has aromas and flavours of orange peel and caramel; the 2019 White Quill ($20), peach and lemon; the 2018 Red Quill ($24), cherry and cocoa; and the 2018 Quill Gamay Noir ($27), cherry and plum.
Blue Grouse’s wines are available in wine sections of Save-On Foods, at government liquor stores and the Mission liquor store in Kelowna.
While I’ve lauded virtually any wine pairs with turkey dinner, the all-time ideal is likely a slightly off-dry Riesling, which has the acidity to cut through fatty gravy and buttery potatoes and vegetables, but the sweetness to make the fowl sing.
Two such examples are the Pioneer Block 2019 Riesling ($20) from Harper’s Trail in Kamloops and The Lookout Riesling 2019 ($19) from Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards in Peachland.
Both wineries also offer a backup bottle, 2016 Fitz Brut Sparkling ($33) and Harper’s Trail 2019 Pinot Gris ($18).
Kelowna’s CedarCreek Estate Winery touts a Thanksgiving bundle of its Platinum-tier wines, one for every course.
The 2019 Block 3 Riesling ($30) can be served with the appetizer, the 2018 Block 5 Chardonnay ($35) and 2017 Block 4 Pinot Noir ($55) with turkey and stuffing and the 2017 Riesling Icewine with dessert.
If you want some international flair at the table, try the tangerine-and-herb profile, dry Copain Tous Ensemble 2018 Rose ($26), which sounds like it should be from France, but is really from Mendocino County in California.
Harvest Month
The BC Wine Institute is celebrating October as Harvest Month with a Wines of BC Explorer website and app to plan wine tours, experiences and getaways.
The app can suggest wine routes and lists the promotions of participating restaurants, stores and hotels.
There’s also a Harvest Sips & Trips contest that will see nine grand prizes awarded.
Let someone else cook your dinner
If you want someone else to cook the turkey, and you simply enjoy it with wine, then why not go out for Thanksgiving dinner?
Terrafina Restaurant at Hester Creek Winery in Oliver is putting on a three-course meal for $65 per person or $95, including wine.
Go to HesterCreek.com for reservations.
Time Winery’s restaurant in downtown Penticton is offering a three-course turkey dinner for $49 each or $255 for a family-style dinner serving six.
Wine is extra.
Go to TimeWinery.com for reservations.
Chef Ned Bell at the Naramata Inn is roasting Rosebank Farms turkeys from Armstrong for his special, $69, three-course dinners tonight, Sunday and Monday.
The restaurant also has an incredible list of Naramata
Bench wines.
Reservations at NaramataInn.com.
The inn has also moved into fall with new menus for lunch and dinner seven days a week and weekend brunches.