Pairing wine with a Thanksgiving meal, with all its flavors and spices, can be a difficult task, but usually gewurztraminer for the white and pinot noir for the red offers the most success.

Gewurztraminer (pronounced gah-vertz-trah-meen-er) is a rich and floral white that can take on the strong flavors at the Thanksgiving table.

Its fruity sweetness may annoy some people before dinner, but it works wonders with the food. Fetzer's gewurztraminer has been a popular pairing with turkey and trimmings for several years.

Red wine is a more challenging match because pinot noir is often the best pairing.

Good pinots can bust a budget, but the Montoya is an affordable pinot noir that has won tastings with Thanksgiving food two years in a row.

Here are some white and red choices:

WHITES

• 2008 Fetzer Valley Oaks California Gewurztraminer, $9.99. Full of fruit and floral aromas, especially of peaches and violets, plus spice, including ginger. On the palate, tastes include dried apricots, peaches and ginger. The wine is off-dry (slightly sweet) but in perfect balance.

• 2007 Hugel Alsace Gentil, $14.99. Pleasant scents include lemon-lime, slate, creek stone and wet soil. Off-dry but with great balance, this French wine has neat lemon tastes with a nice oiliness. The citrus goes through to the finish. A blend of gewurztraminer, muscat, pinot gris, riesling and sylvaner, the Hugel is also a great match with the food and a bit drier than the Fetzer.

• 2008 Oak Grove California Reserve Viognier, $9.99. The nose suggests lemons, lime, baby powder and lime. Almost spritzy on the palate, with flavors of citrus, honeydew melon and a hint of waxiness. A surprisingly good match with the meal.

• 2007 Park Lane Winery Alexander Gewurztraminer, $14.99. The perfumy, briny aroma offers peaches, lemons and watermelon rind. In the mouth, tastes include watermelon, honeysuckle, peaches, talc and residual sugar with hints of geranium. The food and wine seem to compete against each other.

• 2007 Villiera Stellenbosch Gewurztraminer, $14.99. The rich bouquet is reminiscent of apricots, peaches, oranges, candied ginger and spices. With its rather light body, this wine is not as sweet as the other gewurztraminers, tasting clean with hints of maca-damia nuts and spices. Quick to finish, it is not as big as the other gewurztraminers.

REDS

• 2008 Montoya Monterey Pinot Noir, $14.99. A fruity nose of strawberries, blueberries and lemongrass, along with mint and barnyard smells. Tastes include blueberries and strawberries in a soft texture. A great match with the food that can make your mouth water.

• 2008 Angeline California Pinot Noir, $12.99. A smoky nose offering scents of cherries, lemon, citrus, blueberries, leather and pepper. More smoky notes on the palate, accompanied by green herbs, peppercorns, strawberry cream and cherries. The turkey makes the wine more inviting.

• 2007 Potel-Aviron Beaujolais-Villages, $13.99. The nose reminds you of red cherries-tart Bing cherries — plus cherry cream soda, blueberries and brown sugar. The wine tastes pretty much like it smells. It is tart with lots of body and hints of green herbs. The food brings out the wine's cherry flavors.

• 2007 Louis Tete Let Pot Beaujolais-Villages, $14.99. Scents include strawberries, cranberries, cherries, cream and yogurt. Flavors include sour cherries, raspberries, rhubarb and new leather. Creamy but tart, like sour cream. The wine fell off a little bit in the middle of the mouth, but it still works well with the food.


Frank Sutherland writes for the Nashville Tennesean.