We've tried over the years to find that one wine that goes with the traditional American Thanksgiving day feed and because the nature of the beast with regard to this feast is that the servings do not come in courses, but instead waves, we have learned that there are no absolutes in this process. The final determinations of what, where, and how comes down to one basic premise... if you like it, drink it. Being that said, of course, we do have some directional/guidance type suggestions.

The hodgepodge of dishes included in this gastronomical bombardment are such that most could be piled into a bowl, stirred, and served; the resulting coagulant would taste fantastic and be of a lesser high-maintenance experience to boot. But maybe that's just me. The "shortest distance between two points--straight line" concept may not be suitable for most when dining is concerned.

Our wine of choice: Dry-barrel fermented Gewurztraminer.
Our bottle of choice: Tucker Cellars at a whopping $8.60 per bottle. The most miniscule skosh of sugar and huge presence of pear and apple, spice and mineral dominate this juice. For more spice, more eloquence, try the Alsatian versions. Everything is covered from the cranberry sauce to the pumpkin pie... even the asparagus. We just received 3 more cases of the Tucker and plan to sell it through Christmas as we all know the next two weeks of chewing on the remnants of that 20-plus pound bird will need the accompaniment of something reasonable to wash it down.

For a more "red" experience we suggest a Southern Rhone style wine that is heavy on the Grenache and not so much on the Syrah side of things. Roses' work really well as does a Pinot Noir or Pinot Muenier for keeping the tannins light and the fruit forward. Try not to over-power that which is powerless... there?s not much point in it.

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New to our shelves and in the spirit of promoting festive frivolity and if nothing else, something to do when the weather totally craps out on you, we present:

Winerd ? a wine board game: Answer wine-related questions and have a taste too... or more. The New York Times said, "Welcome to a whole new group of clever wine paraphernalia dedicated to expanded enjoyment". The Winerd game includes: the Winerd game board, nearly 300 fun and interesting Q&A cards relating to just about every aspect of wine, 12 Bonus/ Challenge cards, 4 custom synthetic cork playing pieces, and a Blind Taste Test Notepad. Wine, family, friends and spit-bucket (if needed) not included. For up to 4 players or teams, I'm not sure if you can play yourself, alone as in solitaire but I'm going to find out... because I hate to lose.