Do you know why the Pilgrims were so awesome? The Mayflower was used mostly as a cargo ship in the trade of goods (often wine) between England and France. Wikipedia says so!

So what wine did they drink at the first Thanksgiving? Well here’s the basic rule about Thanksgiving food and wine pairing: there is no rule. The food is all over the place, making it near impossible to pick the prefect bottle. You can either have a whole different selection of full bodied whites like Chardonnay and some Rieslings and light bodied reds like Beaujolais and Pinot Noir (not a bad idea), or you can just go with grapefriend’s choice for this year: Pinot Gris!

Pinot Gris is the same grape as Pinot Grigio, except instead of being vomitous it’s delicious! It’s packed with pear and apple flavors, and the fuller body makes it great with a lot of TG staples like bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, and of course turkey.

Most of my favorites come from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, which is famous for its Pinot Noir. Well Pinot Gris is the awesome white alternative there, and is also grown in Alsace and a little bit in California.

I’d say I can’t wait to have mine on Thursday, but I’ve been sampling all week! Good times. Here are some of my favorites:

breggo

region: Anderson Valley

year: 2011

yum factors: Ripe apricots and ripe yellow pear – just delicious. Had this at sister winery Cliff Lede in Napa, and they poured this out for us as we started off on our amazing tour. What a welcome.

price: $25

buy it: here

erath

region: Willamette

year: 2011

yum factors: Riper fruit palate of yellow apples and more green pear. Has some mineral, slatey undertone for balance. Good acid. Crisp.

price: $14

buy it: here

hugel

region: Alsace

year: 2009

yum factors: Less fruit-forward,as most “old world” wines are – Plus, has some mineral to it which balances out the fruit. If you don’t want such a ripe, fruit Pinot Gris, this is a great choice and goes well with less rich foods.

price: $20

buy it: here

david hill

region: Willamette Valley

year: 2011

yum factors: Gorgeous nose! Perfumey white flowers, honeydew, ripe white peach and yellow apple – seriously, I could’ve just sat and smelled this for hours. But luckily I drank it too. Tastes like yummy peach and yellow pear. Not a ton of acid, but has a good medium body.

price: $18

buy it: here

chalk hill

region: the Chalk Hill part of Sonoma

year: 2009

yum factors: Great ripe yellow apple and green pear. Perfect example of Pinot Gris, another I loved as much as the Willamette’s.

price: $30 (I can only find the 2007 online, though I had the 2009)

buy it: here

duck pond

region: Willamette

year: 2011

yum factors: Really nice, restrained and super easy to drink. Lighter than other Pinot Gris, so maybe have this with first courses instead of the richer mains and sides. I actually like their Pinot Gris better than their Pinot Noir.

price: $12

buy it: here

sokol blosser

region: Willamette

year: 2010

yum factors: More Willamette yumminess – plus they’re organic (I wrote about their packaging during Green Week). One of my go-to’s

price: $18

buy it: here