As Thanksgiving approaches and we start to think about our wine selections, I am here to warn you from my years of sommelier experience at restaurants, retail and hotels, that making the wrong choice could be dangerous to your palate. Or, at least, that making the right choice can make the experience much more fun.

 I agree that turkey can be great with Pinot Noir, red Zinfandel, Gewürztraminer, or Beaujolais, but to us Americans, Thanksgiving is usually the day we put on our special "fat pants," four sizes bigger, and put together a plate of food that can feed starving nations: foods that don't necessarily mesh well together as a combo plate, and almost certainly not with the wines above.

 As well as the above-mentioned wines go well with a well-cooked, juicy turkey, when you drink them with tart, sugary cranberry sauce, candied yams or sweet potato casserole loaded with brown sugar and more sugar from marshmallow toppings, creamed corn, oyster stuffing , you create a taste that doesn’t work so well.  Certainly, once you get away from the simple "what do I have with turkey" question, it gets a little tricky.

With that said, what do we match up with the traditional overstuffed plate of Thanksgiving fare, without making our mouths resent us for it? It's simple! We need a sorbet or palate cleanser to wash away all that sugary, herbaceous food off of our taste buds. I love roses or sparkling roses (the bubbles help cleanse the palate). Most roses even go well with the pumpkin pie as a contrast to the 50 pounds of sugar we just ingested. At ABC for value, I love Moncigale Rose from the Cotes Du Provence (under $10.00) and 2010 Domaine du Fregate Bandol Rose ($16.99).

 For the perfect sparklers , Collalto Spumante Rose (strawberry, biscuit, fresh lime finish) is unique and perfect and a selection of Italian wine importer Nadia Galati (on sale this month $16.99 from $18.99). If you want to splurge, the Haton Brut Rose (on sale for $28.99 from $34.99…a steal) and the top of the line Grand Cru Rose from Charles Mignon ($46.99) beats most $200 bottles of Rose Champagne. All of the above are not just perfect pairings with turkey, but with the entire plate of food even down to dessert!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving and I promise you if you give my tried and tested Thanksgiving food and wine pairing suggestions a try, this year when you go around the table to say what you are thankful for, the first thing out of your mouth will be "I am thankful for Larry ‘The Wine Guy’!”

.....Gobble, Gobble

Guest blogger Larry Baker is the wine consultant at our Pembroke Pines store. You can see more of his wine and food suggestions on his personal web site: www.larrythewineguy.net.