Grape Crush – Down the chimney… and the hatch

Consider the flavors swirling about a typical holiday meal: tart cranberry, fennel-spiked sausage, creamy casseroles, briny oysters and so on. Choosing wines to highlight each varied element can be a challenge. As with most pairings, there are no hard and fast rules, but success lies in having enough choices—and a few all-purpose winners—to please palates and to help dishes shine.

All that sparkles. No two holiday menus are the same, but the essential bottle on every table is something bubbly. Champagne, Prosecco, Cava and domestic sparkling wines don’t cower to the traces of peanut oil and salt in fried turkey or the puckery sweetness of jellied cranberry sauce. Local Whole Foods Market Wine Manager Clayton Leavitt recommends the “lush and full-bodied” Tarantas Brut Cava ($12) from Spain, produced from organically grown grapes. “It has plenty of body, with grapefruit and spice and rich notes on the finish,” says Leavitt. “This is one wine that absolutely pairs well with everything.”

The right white. The heavy oak in many Chardonnays can clash with turkey, so safe bets are crisp, balanced whites that let a savory, sage-stuffed bird do its thing. Try Loire Valley’s Jovly Chenin Blanc Vouvray 2005 ($14), or the 2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($17), which nails just about everything, asparagus included.

Game on. On the red side, Leavitt likes the Chapoutier “Belleruche” Côtes du Rhone Rouge ($12). “Very Terroir-driven and complex, with bright fruit and a little spice on the nose,” he says. “It goes great with duck, pork loin or any wild game.”

Final act. Sparkling wines complement frosted cakes and pumpkin pie, but other common items from the dessert tray, like white chocolate bread pudding and crčme brulée, pair well with St. Supéry’s 2005 Muscato ($9), whose fruit and floral notes also make it an appealing apéritif. For chocolate desserts, go with a Port. The rich Consilience Zinfandel Port ($16) from Los Olivos California is a nice, smooth one to try.