Add Flavor and Diversity to Your Thanksgiving with Roussillon

This Thanksgiving, stay warm with wines from France’s sunniest region.

Roussillon, the sunniest wine region in France, is celebrated for its diversityof terroirs, which offers a full range of wines and a wide array of aromas, flavors and textures to complement all of the dishes on your Thanksgiving table this year. From dry whites and reds to fortified sweet wines, Roussillon wines have something to offer for all of your guests’ tastes.

As guests walk-in, whet their appetite with a mineral dry white from Roussillon. The region’s proximity to the sea, combined with high winds or high altitude, gives Roussillon’s white wines a wonderful freshness that will cleanse your guests’ palates and get them ready for the feast ahead. With their minerality, floral aromas, and generous fruit, these whites pair well with fresh cheeses to keep your guests’ hunger at bay.

Try: Côtes Catalanes IGP, Domaine Roc Des Anges, Effet Papillon White, 2015

For those seeking a unique aperitif, serve a chilled fortified sweet wine to surprise and please their senses. While delicious on their own,
they also pair well with mixed nuts or a cheese board: their luscious texture and notes of dried fruits will soften the bite of aged cheeses, such as hard goat’s cheese and blue cheese.

As you sit down to your .Thanskgiving .feast, open up a dry red from Roussillon, such as a Côtes du Roussillon Villages or Collioure, whose complex tannins and notes of dark fruit and spices will mirror the flavors found in your dishes. Think of the way turkey is usually paired with cranberry sauce: the fruit-forward qualities of the Grenache grape found in Roussillon’s dry reds will emulate this classic combination. On the other hand, the spicy notes of the Syrah grape will enhance the flavors of herbs and spices in your stuffing.

Try: Côtes du Roussillon, Villages M. Chapoutier, Les Vignes de Bila-Haut, 2016

Try: Côtes du Roussillon, Villages Tautavel, Gérard Bertrand, Grand Terroir 2013

Try: Collioure, Domaine de la Tour Vieille, La Pinède 2015

Revisit the fortified sweet wine served .earlier as you move on to your last course. The warm flavors of Thanskgiving’s traditional desserts, such as pecan pie or pumpkin pie, go hand-in-hand with Fortified Sweet Wines’ complex flavors of preserved fruits and spices. Sip it between each out to balance out your dessert’s sweet flavors, or have it as a digestif as you enjoy a cozy moment with your family and loved ones.

Try: Banyuls Grand Cru, SCV, Banyuls L’Etoile, 2000

Roussillon wines, with their generous fruit and flavors of spices, will bring your Thanksgiving feast to life by combining pleasure, authenticity and conviviality.