What is the best wine for Thanksgiving dinner?
If you only buy one bottle of wine for Thanksgiving, make it Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages (about $13): a light, fruity red that gets along with turkey, ham and every side on the plate.
Thanksgiving is twelve dishes on one table, and no single wine is going to love all of them. So stop hunting for the perfect bottle and cover the table instead: bubbles for when people arrive, a light red for the turkey crowd, a crisp white for everyone else, one jammy red for the person who only drinks red, and something sweet for pie. The six bottles below do exactly that. Every one is in a normal grocery store, the whole set costs about $90, and you should buy two of the cheap ones.
6 bottles that actually work with Thanksgiving dinner
1. Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages
about $13Gamay · grocery stores and most wine shops
The red that gets along with the whole plate. Light, bright cherry fruit, almost no grip, and it loves cranberry sauce. Give it 20 minutes in the fridge first. If you only buy one bottle, this is it.
2. Meiomi Pinot Noir
about $22Pinot Noir · most grocery stores, Target and Costco
The crowd-pleaser red. Plush, jammy, barely any grip, and the bottle people recognise on the table. If your family finds Beaujolais too light, this is the Pinot that wins them over. Chill it 20 minutes too.
3. Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling
about $10Riesling · nearly everywhere
The white, and the best match on the table for the sweet sides. Lime and green apple, crisp, cuts through gravy, and only $10. If your sweet potatoes come with marshmallows, the regular Riesling (not the dry one) meets them halfway.
4. Chandon Brut
about $22Chardonnay and Pinot Noir · most grocery stores, Target and Costco
Open it the moment people walk in. Dry, crisp and festive, and it keeps working at the table with anything salty or fried, from the stuffing to the green bean casserole.
5. Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel
about $12Zinfandel · most grocery stores
For the uncle who wants a "real red." Jammy and a little peppery, it handles dark meat, ham and smoked turkey without crushing the sides the way a big Cabernet would.
6. Stella Rosa Moscato d'Asti
about $13Moscato · most grocery stores and Target
For pie. Pumpkin and pecan pie make dry wine taste sour, and this is sweet, lightly fizzy and low in alcohol, which is exactly what you want at the end of a four-hour meal. Serve it ice cold.
Depends how you are cooking it
- Ham instead of turkey (or both)
- Lean harder on the Riesling and add a cold Lambrusco. Salty, sweet-glazed ham needs a wine with a touch of sweetness.
- Deep-fried or smoked turkey
- Fried wants acid: pour the bubbles and the Riesling. Smoked can take more wine, so the Zinfandel moves up the list.
- Friendsgiving on a budget
- Beaujolais-Villages and Mionetto Prosecco Brut (about $13) cover everything. Buy two of each and nobody will notice you spent under $60.
- Big crowd, mixed tastes
- Plan on one bottle for every two to three guests. Put out red, white and bubbles at once and let people serve themselves.
- Pie and dessert
- Pumpkin and pecan pie make dry wine taste sour. A Moscato or a tawny Port keeps up with the sugar.
What to skip
- Big, tannic Cabernet as the only red
- Tannin (that drying, grippy feeling) fights lean turkey and turns bitter next to cranberry. Fine to have, just not as your only option.
- Buying one bottle of something fancy
- Thanksgiving is about variety and volume. Three good $13 bottles beat one $40 bottle every time.
- Serving everything at room temperature
- Reds taste tired after an hour next to the oven. Chill the Beaujolais and the Pinot for 20 minutes, keep the whites and bubbles in a cooler of ice, and the whole lineup tastes better.
More questions about wine and Thanksgiving dinner
Red or white wine for Thanksgiving?
Both, on the table at the same time. Red drinkers get Beaujolais or Pinot Noir, white drinkers get a dry Riesling, and everyone gets a glass of bubbles when they arrive. If you have to pick one, the Beaujolais, because it works with the most dishes.
Is Pinot Noir good for Thanksgiving?
Yes, it is the classic Thanksgiving red. Light body, soft tannin and cherry fruit mean it works with turkey, ham, stuffing and cranberry without fighting any of them. Meiomi is the crowd-pleaser; La Crema Sonoma Coast (about $25) is the better wine.
How many bottles of wine do I need for Thanksgiving?
One bottle for every two to three guests over a long meal, more if people start at noon. A bottle pours five glasses. For ten people, that is four or five bottles: two light reds, one white, one bubbles and one sweet for pie.
What wine goes with Thanksgiving sides like stuffing and sweet potatoes?
The sides are why light, fruity, acidic wines win. Riesling for sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, bubbles for stuffing and green bean casserole, and the light reds for anything under gravy. Nothing on this list is heavy enough to lose to a side dish.
What is a good cheap wine for Thanksgiving?
Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling at about $10 and Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages at about $13 are the two best food wines in the grocery store at any price. Add Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel at about $12 and you have covered the table for $35.
What wine goes with pumpkin pie?
Something sweeter than the pie, or the wine tastes sour. Moscato d'Asti is the easy answer, and a tawny Port is the grown-up one. Dry reds and pumpkin pie do not get along.
Also worth a look
Keep reading
- What is a light red wine?
- Should red wine be chilled?
- How many glasses are in a bottle of wine?
- Prosecco vs Champagne: what's the difference?
- What is the best wine for Christmas dinner?
- What's the best wine under $15?
- What's the best cheap champagne?
Last checked 2026-10-19.