Choosing wine for the holiday table is a bit like dressing everyone for a family photo. Is chardonnay presentable for the occasion? Will Cousin Sam\u2019s favorite sauv blanc clash with the stuffing? Will Auntie Mavis even drink it? We looked to local experts for tips on how to pair complex flavor combinations \u2014 and personalities \u2014 for an easy drinking and potentially conflict-free Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving dinner\u2019s rich dishes and warm spices pair wonderfully with bubbles and, frankly, it\u2019s a fun, splurgy idea that many guests can get behind. \u201cMy ol\u2019 reliable will forever and always be Champagne,\u201d said Alex Cuper, director of beverage and hospitality at El Che in the West Loop and Brasero in West Town. \u201cIt is a cheat code in the wine pairing world because it goes with everything, and it has bubbles, which means we\u2019re celebrating, which means we should all be happy! How can you not be happy with Champagne?\u201d Many people automatically reach for a red at Thanksgiving, but white wines that have a \u201cnatural, vibrant acidity\u201d pair beautifully with Thanksgiving\u2019s autumnal flavors, said Richard Hanauer, who oversees wine programs at Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You restaurants nationwide. Try a semillon or a white bordeaux from France \u2014 or a Rioja Blanco for an interesting twist, Hanauer said. Example<\/strong>: Muga Blanco, Chateau Tour de Bonnet White Bordeaux<\/p>\n \u201cChardonnay is a love or hate variety,\u201d said Jake Bennie, wine director of West Loop\u2019s Sepia and Proxi. Haters should know chardonnay works wonderfully with holiday dishes \u201cbecause there is bright fruit and freshness that will bring levity to rich dishes while still being able to stand up to them in terms of body,\u201d Bennie said. Soo Choi, who runs Plein Air Cafe in Hyde Park and helps select the products for its new wine shop, Plein Air La Cave, recommends a white Burgundy, which is made from chardonnay grapes in the French style. Example<\/strong>: Laurent Delaunay Les Grappillages Bourgogne Chardonnay<\/p>\n Medium-bodied varietals won\u2019t overpower your fall cuisine, Hanauer said. Try a Zweigelt from Austria, a Schiava from Italy or a Gamay from France, all examples of lighter-bodied reds. Choi always stocks a Beaujolais Villages for Thanksgiving quaffing. Examples<\/strong>: Weingut Schwarz \u201cThe Butcher\u201d Burgenland Zweigelt, Pardon & Fils Beaujolais Villages<\/p>\n Thanksgiving is not the time to \u201ctry to be the hero,\u201d Cuper said. \u201cLots of palates leads to more of a chance to choose something that isn\u2019t going to be for everyone.\u201d At home, Cuper steers away from wines on the \u201c\u2018natty\u2019 side of things\u201d or \u201csuper big and assertive\u201d ones.<\/p>\n David Kravitz, beverage director of La Grande Boucherie in River North, thinks a grenache from the Rhone Valley would be a great choice because it comes in all price points and isn\u2019t so heavy as to put everyone to sleep. \u201cWhen done right, these wines share the lightness of pinot with darker fruit and a note of black pepper,\u201d he said. Example<\/strong>: M. Chapoutier \u201cBarbe Rac\u201d Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape<\/p>\n <img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="1024" height="653" src="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-1024×653.jpg?resize=1024%2C653&ssl=1<\/a>" alt="Thanksgiving a la carte options at Heritage Restaurant Partners include oyster and kimchi stuffing and caviar." class="wp-image-948834" srcset="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C653&ssl=1<\/a> 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C191&ssl=1<\/a> 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C490&ssl=1<\/a> 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C980&ssl=1<\/a> 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1307&ssl=1<\/a> 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C766&ssl=1<\/a> 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1276&ssl=1<\/a> 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Heritage_Thanksgiving-11.7.24-credit_-Ryan_Beshel-047-scaled.jpg?resize<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction to Thanksgiving Wine Choosing wine for the holiday table is a bit like dressing everyone for a family photo. Is chardonnay presentable for the occasion? Will Cousin Sam\u2019s favorite sauv blanc clash with the stuffing? Will Auntie Mavis even drink it? We looked to local experts for tips on how to pair complex flavor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/DeepRedWines.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1079&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32691,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32688\/revisions\/32691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="818" height="1024" src="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM-818×1024.png?resize=818%2C1024&ssl=1<\/a>" alt="Alex Cuper, beverage director at El Che and Brasero, calls Champagne his "’ol reliable" pick for pairing with Thanksgiving dinner." class="wp-image-953964" style="width:400px;height:auto" srcset="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=818%2C1024&ssl=1<\/a> 818w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1<\/a> 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=768%2C961&ssl=1<\/a> 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=780%2C976&ssl=1<\/a> 780w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=400%2C501&ssl=1<\/a> 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?resize=706%2C884&ssl=1<\/a> 706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM.png?w=1002&ssl=1<\/a> 1002w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-5.00.49-PM-818×1024.png?w=370&ssl=1<\/a> 370w" sizes="(max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px">Alex Cuper of El Che and Brasero calls Champagne a reliable pick for Thanksgiving dinner. He avoids big, assertive wines. Credit:<\/span> Instagram\/El Che<\/span>
\nExample<\/strong>: Juv\u00e9 & Camps Reserva de la Familia Gran Reserva Brut, Colin Champagne 1er Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Blanche de Castille<\/p>\nDon\u2019t Ignore White Wines In Colder Weather<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t Forget About Chardonnay<\/h2>\n
Medium-Bodied Reds<\/h2>\n
Do Stick With The Familiar<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t Overspend<\/h2>\n