5 Wines to Pair with Thanksgiving Dinner: Take your meal to the next level with just the right bottle, or two

Every year, once the leaves turn and the weather gets brisk, I start to get excited about Thanksgiving. After all, what is not to love about a day that is centered on food, family, friends, and football?

That Thanksgiving dinner is one of the best meals of the year — turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, you name it, all drizzled with gravy and topped off with a piece of pie.

This year, I am hoping to take Thanksgiving dinner to the next level, by adding a glass (or two) of local wine that will pair with the meal. I am not what you would call a wine connoisseur. I know the basics, and am learning more as I go, but to understand what bottle I should bring to this year’s holiday gathering, I went to an expert: Scott Hilliker, the winemaker at Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery.

Located on the side of Mount Nittany in Linden Hall, the winery is the perfect place for a relaxing afternoon. During the warm months, you can sit alongside the pond, with the mountain above and the vineyard and valley below, taking it all in. The new tasting room in The Vinter’s Loft offers ample space for family and friends to gather by the fireside with a bottle of wine during the colder months.

Scott was nice enough to take a break from his busy day of production to talk wine with me, but I don’t think it was too much of a chore. This guy loves to talk wine.

Originally from North Carolina, Scott has a degree in biological science. Everything changed for him when he took an anniversary trip with his wife up to the wine county in the Finger Lakes region of New York. While there, he fell in love with wine and his natural curiosity took over. He started making vino in his basement and it escalated into something that he became passionate about.

“I love the whole process of taking grapes and you can ferment these grapes into wine and the wine evolves and changes over time. All of that was very fascinating to me. There is a science behind it as well, but there is also that artisan side to it,” says Scott. “You can give two wine makers the same grapes and they can probably come up with two different styles of wines. It is kind of a unique expression of your artistic side.”

After two years of making his homemade wine, he went back to school to learn the art and science of it in earnest. During his studies, he did an internship at Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery and has been on board ever since. It seems to be a match made in heaven.

“We grow really good grapes here in central Pennsylvania, and there is a lot of tradition here. We started in 1990 and it was the first winery in this area, so it is kind of a tradition here in State College,” says Scott.

When it comes to wine and food pairings, Scott says there are two different schools of thought: You can pair foods and wines that have similar flavors, or that have contrasting flavors.

Either way, he says, “there are not a lot of standard, go-to rules, but there are guidelines that you can follow to help make your food and wine experience the best that it can be.”

Scott shared five of his wines that he felt would complement Thanksgiving dinner.

• First, we looked at the Nittany Mountain Red, a zinfandel-blend wine.

“Zinfandels are really good as far as food pairing for Thanksgiving dinners. Since the wine is aged in oak, it has a lot of kind of toasty, smoky notes to it. There are some baking spices, like clove and cinnamon, that pair well and mimic a lot of the spices you’ll find in different Thanksgiving-type foods,” he says. The richness and boldness of the wine also pair well with dark meat and help amplify the flavors of the meal, he adds.

• Next up, Tailgate Red – the winery’s best seller – is an excellent choice for the last Thursday in November because the lighter-style wine has an acidity that will stand up well to the rich dishes traditionally served, Scott says.

“Tailgate Red has bright red fruit flavors – raspberries, cherries – and that is going to go along with your cranberry dishes and things like that. It will help amplify those flavors as well,” says Scott. “It is a fresh and fruity-type wine that makes it easy going with a lot of the dishes that you do have.”

• Looking at white wines, Scott says the aromatic Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc pair well with the greener part of a Thanksgiving dinner.

“The flavors here match up well with a lot of your vegetable-type dishes, your green bean casserole, your roasted Brussels sprouts; things like that will pair well with those two wines,” says Scott. “A lot of times you are eating mashed potatoes and turkey and stuffing, and your mouth gets kind of dull and dries out. So, a nice white wine that has some acidity is going to refresh your palate a little bit as well.”

• The Linden Vale Rose provides a balance between red and white, he says.

“It has lots of fruit flavors, is bright and crisp as well. It pairs well with a lot of different Thanksgiving dishes – white meat turkey and things like that. It is one of those wines where if you don’t know if they drink red or you don’t know if they drink white, it is kind of that in-between that will go perfect with everything.”

Asked which wine he would have at his dinner table this year, he jokes that “you are making me pick just one,” before settling on the Mount Nittany Red and the Linden Vale Rose as wines “that would pretty much cover any dish that is on your Thanksgiving table, and you have people that can drink both.”

I could see what he meant; I might just need more than one bottle. After all, there are lots of flavors and friends to think about. One thing is for sure: As long as we can get together with friends and family this Thanksgiving, it is going to be sweet for certain. Hopefully, my bottle (or two) of local wine will take it to the next level.