WINES FOR THANKSGIVING: Picks From 10 Winemakers & Experts

**Scroll down for picks & tips on picking the best wine for Thanksgiving from winemakers and wine experts**

Thanksgiving is the clusterf*ck of wine holidays. Pardon the language, no other word adequately describes the delusion that your carefully chosen wines will ever pair up with their intended dish. Most people usually just grab the closest bottle, destroying your subtle unoaked chardonnay with jalapeño cornbread. And the expensive Pinot you were saving for the main course? Yeah, Uncle Billy has a corkscrew too. That was gone before the salad.

So, forget the idea that there is a perfect wine buying strategy. All the Best Wines For Thanksgiving articles offer conflicting advice, and the idea that everyone in America should be hunting down the same ten bottles is ridiculous. What the holiday does offer the casual wine lover is a good learning opportunity. There's a wider variety of bottles on your table than most other nights, and with a little attention you'll come away with at least one wine/food pairing to remember, and one to avoid.

Developing a relationship with a wine store is always one of your best bets. They know the wines and will get to know your preferences. For Thanksgiving, they will usually ask whether you want only U.S. wines or if other countries are acceptable. Be a patriot, or a slave to your palate -- the choice is yours. But since the trend seems to be European now, I asked some American winemakers (many of whom are also organic and biodynamic), and some wine-loving friends, which of their wines they'd be serving and about their own Thanksgiving traditions.