3 Best Wines for Turkey Dinner

With the holiday season fast-approaching, we want to make sure you have the the right cans on hand for every occasion. First up for most folks around the country is… Thanksgiving.

No matter how you celebrate this food-focused holiday, turkey is likely on the table with sides like buttery mashed potatoes, jammy cranberry sauce, creamy gravy, and herby stuffing. Learn more about our three Thanksgiving wine suggestions and how many cans you'll need based on your party size.

3 wines for turkey dinner

Some of the best wines for turkey dinner are dry and bright with fruity or buttery notes. We have three Maker can recommendations – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. All three come from female winemakers and small-batch producers in California.

Hot tip: If we were going to serve all three, we’d serve them in that order. We recommend starting with rich and round, crips and refreshing Chardonnay – perfect for appetizer hour and those first bites of turkey. Pinot Noir, from the same maker as our Chard, is the perfect any-food pairing. Then, round out the meal with a Zinfandel packed with dark berry, vanilla, and spice flavor.

1. Chardonnay

Before you scroll past this one, hear us out. We know a lot of you are members of the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) Club, but trust us when we say this one will change your tune. Nicole Walsh made this one just for you — it's French-inspired and brighter than you'd expect from the cool Monterey coastal climate.

Nicole's take on Chardonnay is refreshing, balanced, and un-oaked, so you won't get that big, old-school Napa-style butter bomb. With notes of honeysuckle, golden apple, nectarine, and a hint of lemon cream, this wine is perfect for roasted turkey and its creamy accompaniments.

NEW WINE!

• Woman-Owned

Chardonnay

Ser Winery, Central Coast, CA

Honeysuckle, citrus, and crisp apple -- an un-oaked, French-style Chard that'll please Chard lovers and "anything but" folks alike.

6 cans= 2 bottles

$54

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2. Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is Maker’s best-selling wine. Notes of juicy red cherries, cranberries, and a hint of cedar make it absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving’s main event. It’s an alluring, complex, and mouth-watering wine that will please almost every person at the table.

This versatile beauty is regeneratively farmed by Martin Bernal-Hafner of Alta Orsa in the legendary AVA of Russian River Valley, where the warm days and fog balance the grape perfectly. Pair it with Thanksgiving dinner, but set some aside for earthy, creamy, rich meals in the future – think that cranberry goat cheese log from Trader Joe’s, mushroom risotto, roasted chicken, or salmon.

NEW WINE!

• Minority-Owned

Pinot Noir

Alta Orsa Winery, Sonoma County, CA

Juicy red cherries, wild violet, hibiscus tea, and subtle spice. This is a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir at its most joyful: pure, honest, and utterly alive.

6 cans= 2 bottles

$66

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3. Zinfandel

This Old Vine Zinfandel from Janell Dusi is a perfectly balanced wine full of dark berries, vanilla, and spice. It’s aged 20 months in 20% new French oak, giving it some earthiness under a bold and ripe expression of fruit.

Like most Zinfandels, this one by J Dusi is jammy and juicy – perfect between bites of homemade cranberry sauce or sweet potato pie. It’s a great wine for turkey dinner, but save some for winter drinking or dark meat dinners – you won’t regret it.

Shop Zinfandel

Perfectly balanced, zero sugar Zin from iconic old vines in Paso Robles — this gold medal winner by woman winemaker Janell Dusi is a fan fave.

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How much wine for turkey dinner

Each Maker can is 1/3 of a bottle which should get your guests through dinner. We recommend having something light and bubbly on hand for happy hour or pre-dinner snacks, then serving one (or all!) of the three wines above for turkey dinner. Having 2-3 cans per guest is adequate and, if you need a bottle reference, each 12-pack is equivalent to 4 bottles of wine.

Happy holidays, Can Fam! We can’t wait to see how you pair Maker wine with turkey dinner and other holiday food traditions.