Find the perfect (Canadian) wine for your holiday feast

When it comes to seasonal feasts, my favourite for wine pairing is Thanksgiving dinner — and it’s not particularly close.

While there’s a case to be made for Christmas dinner — both feature turkey as the star attraction — Thanksgiving brings all those fall flavours, with sides that are right in season: think squash, sweet potato, green beans, corn and, of course, pumpkin (in pie format, no less). Add in some wild rice and/or mashed potatoes (or perogies, perhaps) and it’s truly an elite fall feast.

When it comes to wine pairings with this bounty, the options are practically endless. In fact it’s easier to list wines that don’t work that well — think big, full-bodied reds and rich, oaky Chardonnays.

Beyond that, practically anything goes. Aromatic white wines do particularly well with turkey and the trimmings, offering highly food-friendly flavours and, occasionally, a touch of sweetness (not a bad thing). Standout grape varieties in this category include Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Grüner Veltliner and the like.

On the red wine side, Pinot Noir and Gamay are the top candidates for your Thanksgiving dinner; most other reds will be a touch too heavy or tannic to pair with your bird. The former typically offers earthier, slightly savoury notes, while Gamay is a bit more fruit-forward and great with sides, particularly those with a touch of sweetness (glazed carrots, yams and cranberry sauce come to mind).

Beyond reds and whites, sparkling wines and dry rosés with depth of flavour are both options that rarely miss with Thanksgiving dinner.

The holiday is also the perfect opportunity to pair your meal with Canadian wine — producers in our country tend to do well with all the above-mentioned wine categories. With that in mind, here are six fab wines, listed from lightest to heaviest, that would go brilliantly with your Thanksgiving feast.

The Benjamin Bridge NV Méthode Classique Brut (Nova Scotia — $31.98, Liquor Marts and beyond) is a 55-45 blend of L’Acadie Blanc and Chardonnay grapes; this Nova Scotia bubbly is pale straw in appearance and aromatically brings bread dough, herbal, green apple, lemon zest and chalky notes.

It’s light-bodied and lean, with racy acidity and lively effervescence delivering green apple, lemon and gooseberry flavours along with subtle saline, chalky and bread dough notes.

A lively, elegant bottle of bubbly that’s perfect to cleanse the palate before the big meal. 4/5

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From a German family making wine in the Okanagan Valley for 40 years comes the Gehringer Brothers 2025 Classic Riesling (Okanagan Valley, B.C. — $23.99, Liquor Marts and beyond), new to our market — it’s medium straw in appearance and aromatically brings red apple, saline, lemon-lime and light herbal notes.

It’s light-bodied and just a smidge off-dry, accentuating the red apple, peach, lemon candy and pear flavours, with light-plus acidity and, at 12.9 per cent alcohol, a moderate finish.

Crisp, fresh and fun. 3.5/5

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Made from a hybrid grape developed in B.C. by crossing Muscat and Marechal Foch, the Sandhill 2025 Sovereign Opal (Okanagan Valley, B.C. — $22.49, Liquor Marts and beyond) is pale straw in appearance and brings big spice, peach, tangerine, apricot and ripe melon aromas.

It’s light-plus bodied and off-dry, which ramps up the stone fruit and tropical notes, while racy acidity and an underlying spice note keep things lively.

A very good alternative to Riesling, Gewürztraminer or other more typical Thanksgiving wine grape varieties — and on sale until the end of October (regular $24.99). 3.5/5

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Another new-to-us B.C. white is the Blasted Church 2025 Viognier (Okanagan Valley, B.C. — $28, Liquor Marts and beyond); it’s medium straw in appearance, with a beautiful core of ripe pear and peach as well as red apple, melon and subtle spice notes on the nose.

It’s light-plus bodied, dry and slightly viscous, brimming with a fruit salad of flavours (peach, pear, apple and a hint of pineapple), with some modest spice notes and a spoonful of marmalade coming with low acidity and a medium-length finish (it’s 13.5 per cent). 4/5

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Deep strawberry red in appearance (thanks to the juice staying in contact with the skins for three days before fermentation), the Hester Creek 2025 Rosé Cabernet Franc (Okanagan Valley, B.C. — $35.95, Kenaston Wine Market) is brimming with ripe, almost-sweet cherry and raspberry aromas, with secondary strawberry candy and watermelon notes in there as well.

It’s light-plus bodied and mainly dry, with ripe red berry and cherry flavours coming with a subtle rhubarb note and hints of watermelon and raspberry candy.

It’s ripe and flavourful (versus those pale, “delicate” pink wines), and is absolutely delicious. 4.5/5

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A top red contender for your Thanksgiving dinner, the Tawse 2023 Quarry Road Pinot Noir (Vinemount Ridge, Ont. — $42, Ellement Wine + Spirits) is pale ruby in appearance, and comes from the winner of winery of the year at the WineAlign 2026 National Wine Awards of Canada (more on the winery and award in a future Uncorked).

Aromatically the ripe cherry and raspberry aromas come with more Old World earth, violet, forest floor and spice notes. On the dry, light-bodied palate the red fruit flavours come with white pepper, earth, spice and plum flavours, with subtle wood notes along with modest tannins, light acidity and a relatively short finish (it’s 12.5 per cent alcohol).

An elegant, subtle and complex Pinot Noir that’s drinking brilliantly now. 4.5/5

ben.sigurdson@winnipegfreepress.com