Cakebread 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon
Family owned winery Cakebread Cellars has been producing benchmark Napa Valley bottles for over half a century, representing the storied terroirs of Rutherford, Oakville, and Calistoga. The hand-harvested 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is another reminder of the brand’s refined and nuanced approach to winemaking. This classic bottle offers layered flavors of red and black fruits alongside dark chocolate, baking spices, and a hint of toasted oak. Well-integrated tannins and a bright finish make this a compelling wine that drinks well both with and without food.
After planning, cooking, and decorating, selecting the perfect wine to serve or bring to your holiday party can be the last thing on your mind. That’s why we compiled a list of the best bottles for absolutely any occasion. Throwing an unconventional Friendsgiving get together? Constructing an elegant spread of oysters and caviar? Spending a cozy evening by the fire after the chaos dies down? We've got you covered.
Here are 50 wines to seek out this holiday season.
Le Moné is the lighter, livelier and more approachable apéritif, with seven times less sugar than the category leader. It's the perfect companion to bubbles in a spritz. New York-grown Traminette and Cayuga grapes are fortified and infused with Meyer lemon and other citrus.
Vibrant, bright, and clean on the palate, this apéritif offers bright citrus on the nose and finish. Its low alcohol by volume (ABV) provides an appealing and balanced foundation, making it ideal for all manner of holiday spritzes and cocktails.
Le Moné Meyer Lemon Aperitif
Tasting Notes:
Blackberries, spice, chocolate
Perfect For:
Enjoying with roasts, indulgent cheese platters, or even a festive, bûche de Noël.
The ruby-red Ö-61 is inspired by Ötzi, the name given to the mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3150 BC, and who was discovered in the Ötztal Alps on the Austria-Italy border. Ötzi’s life was revealed by the 61 markings found preserved on his skin, the oldest tattoos ever discovered.
This wine is assertive and aromatic on the nose, offering deep black fruits — blackberries, blackcurrants, and plums — with a backbone of spice. Velvety, firm tannins follow through to a long, persistent finish with subtle chocolate flavors.
Ö-61 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: $17.99
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Price: $75
Perfect For:
An elegant holiday gift or to serve as an aperitif at cocktail hour or with any holiday meal.
Tasting Notes:
Red & black fruits (blackberry, cherry), dark chocolate, toasted oak
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Price: $35
Perfect For:
Mixing with Prosecco for a fun and festive holiday sparkler.
Tasting Notes:
Meyer lemon, honeysuckle, lime
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Price: $10.99
Perfect For:
Pairing with cheeses, hearty vegetable dishes, and poultry.
Tasting Notes:
White pepper, rose petal, strawberry
Since 1970, the Perrin family, also owners of the famous Château de Beaucastel, search for the most suitable terroirs to produce high-quality affordable straightforward Rhône wines. Unpretentious, La Vieille Ferme wines, available in red, white, rosé and sparkling styles are authentic, honest, and delicious. In some of the world’s best restaurants and bars, La Vieille Ferme has been acknowledged as one of the best value for money wines in the world.
The pale pink, Provençal-style rosé is made from a blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah. Aromatic and floral, this rosé has a lingering and spicy finish. Pair this medium-bodied rosé with rich cheeses, poultry, and hearty vegetable dishes to delight holiday guests with a festive pink drink.
La Vieille Ferme Rosé
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Price: $12.99
Perfect For:
Holiday happy hours, appetizers, creamy pastas and risottos, and so much more.
Tasting Notes:
Citrus, green apple, and white florals
America’s Favorite Italian wine, Cavit Pinot Grigio is fresh, bright, and joyful — the perfect wine for any festive moment. It’s made from carefully selected grapes grown in the chilly mountains of northern Italy and crafted in a state-of-the-art, solar-powered winery. What’s in the (80% recycled glass) bottle? A wine positively bursting with juicy notes of citrus, green apple, and delicate white flowers.
Cavit Pinot Grigio
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Price: $50
Perfect For:
Hearty autumn salads with cheese and roasted nuts, grilled salmon, or even fresh strawberries and cream.
Tasting Notes:
Ripe raspberries, roses, and toasted nuts
Nicole Hitchcock, estate director and head winemaker of J Vineyards, embraces the artistry of sparkling wine production with this delicate rosé. Produced from hand-harvested Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier sourced from certified sustainable California vineyards, the J Brut Rosé is placed in a rare French Coquard press and is aged en tirage for a minimum of 24 months, allowing the wine to achieve maximum complexity.
Ripe raspberries, rose petals, and toasted almonds abound on the nose, yielding to a lush, creamy, and balanced palate. A blush-pink and crisp wine that carries its versatility through from appetizers to dessert, this sparkler can be paired with beet salads with goat cheese, salmon courses, and even strawberry-forward desserts.
J Brut Rosé
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Price: $15.99
Perfect For:
Pairing with a charcuterie board, blackened salmon, and mushroom-forward dishes
Tasting Notes:
Red and dark cherries, raspberry, and toasted oak
Founded in 1979, Hahn Wines has over 40 years of experience making high quality wines. They’ve spent decades dedicated to taste born of their history and fanatical attention to detail in the production process.
This fruit-forward Pinot Noir features notes of red and dark cherry along with raspberry, plum, and a hint of toasted oak. These notes linger on the palate leading to a long finish that pairs with charcuterie, blackened salmon, and mushroom dishes.
Hahn 2023 Founder's Pinot Noir
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Price: $15.99
Perfect For:
Taking center stage at holiday meals, particularly meat courses and mains.
Tasting Notes:
Blackberry, black plum, and oak
Franciscan’s team of established winemakers have sourced grapes from California’s top estates for over 40 years. These fruit-forward, full-bodied and carefully crafted wines evoke a sense of these remarkable terroirs while delivering a consistently excellent wine.
This bold Cabernet Sauvignon reveals blackberry and black plum on the nose and front palate, with secondary notes of oak and vanilla with a velvety finish. This decadent bottle pairs well with show-stopping holiday roasts like filet mignon and standing rib-roasts.
Franciscan
2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
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Price: $43
Perfect For:
Highlighting a dinner of roasted poultry and meats, or savory entrée pastries.
Tasting Notes:
Plum, pepper, and dried porcini mushroom
Dave Phinney, founder, owner, and winemaker of Orin Swift, spent four weeks compiling images from magazines to compose the iconic Abstract label that graces the bottle of this California red blend. The wine inside is a collage of tastes, with a blend of grapes sourced from hundreds of lots in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and the Russian River Valley.
A blend of Grenache, Petite Sirah, and Syrah, this full-bodied wine delivers aromas of plum, black pepper, cedar, and dried porcini mushroom. Firm tannins are balanced by a palate with lush flavors of blueberry preserves and stewed, dark fruit. This deep purple wine pairs elegantly with duck, lamb, and holiday Wellington.
Orin Swift 2022 Abstract California Red Wine
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Price: $14.99
Perfect For:
Indulging alongside pasta with creamy sauces and shellfish.
Tasting Notes:
Apricot, baked apple, citrus fruits
Founded in 1976, William Hill has nearly 50 years of experience making high quality wines. With meticulous vineyard planning and precision winemaking techniques, William Hill is able to offer the wines that meet the highest of standards everyday.
The rich and fruit-forward Chardonnay offers notes of ripe apricot, baked apple, and citrus fruit on the front palate, followed by toast and vanilla cream. Its medium body leads to a long finish, making it an ideal match for pastas with rich, creamy sauces, lobster, and seared scallops.
William Hill 2022
California Chardonnay
Design:
Danielle Grinberg
Partner Content:
Hannah Selinger
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Price: $100
Perfect For:
A glitzy evening of wearing sparkles and popping sparkling.
Tasting Notes:
Strawberries, grapefruit, croissants
If your New Year’s Eve is all about dressing in sequins and throwing a glamorous get-together, this is the bottle for your at-home Champagne toast before hitting the town. Billecart-Salmon is a historic house, but its bottles are timelessly chic. We love the expressive rosé, made with a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. It’s effusive and aromatic yet focused with notes of fresh pastry dough, strawberries, citrus, and minerals with a crisp acidity.
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé NV
Editorial:
Hannah Staab
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Price: $20
Perfect For:
Serving as a welcome drink as guests arrive or for toasting around the dinner table.
Tasting Notes:
Green apple, yellow pear, stones
This Cava delivers both history and nuance from Castell de Grabuac, a medieval farmhouse, where the Suriol family has been farming the property since the 1600s. Now the Suriol family produces wines under two brands. The bottles under the Suriol name present a polished, estate-grown fruit, while the Azimut line is for easy-going fun wines made from organic grapes.
This bubbly Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada blend delivers approachable yet complex notes of green apple, yellow pear, freshly squeezed lemon, and minerals with a creamy texture. With its friendly price tag, it’s perfect to serve a big group for a welcome drink or toast.
Azimut Cava Brut
Nature NV
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Price: $38
Perfect For:
Finding great value in French bubbly.
Tasting Notes:
Brioche, green apples, hazelnuts
If you’re looking for a bottle of French bubbles for a good value, look to the country’s Crémant wines. These are made in the traditional method, but in other regions across France.
This one comes from the Jura, an alpine region to the east of Burgundy bordering Switzerland and is made with a blend of local grapes including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pulsard, and Trousseau. It’s aged on the lees for 18 months, giving it a profile of bready, creamy notes like brioche, vanilla, roasted hazelnuts, and salted butter. It’s still wonderfully fresh on the palate, with citrus and green apple notes lifted up by lively bubbles.
Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
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Price: $73
Perfect For:
Pairing with hearty holiday pasta dishes like lasagne, bolognese, or cheesy stuffed manicotti.
Tasting Notes:
Cherry, tobacco, earth
Podere Le Boncie Le Trame Toscana Rosso 2021
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Price: $24
Perfect For:
Sipping with an Italian-inspired charcuterie board or a holiday pizza night.
Tasting Notes:
Black raspberry, blueberries, violets
Lambrusco is an under-used player in the holiday pairing arsenal. It’s sparkling and it’s red, checking off two must-haves for holiday get-togethers in one. This example from Fattoria Moretto is made from organically farmed grapes grown on the hillside vineyards just outside of Modena.
The wine is aromatic with bright notes of violets, black raspberry, and blueberries. It’s dry on the palate with frothy bubbles and a nice structure. Lambrusco wines are traditionally paired with the fatty meats and cheeses of the local region, so go ahead and pop a bottle with your Italian-inspired charcuterie board. It will be the perfect match for silky prosciutto and tender speck, or an all-out pizza party.
Fattoria Moretto Canova Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Emilia-Romagna NV
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Price: $20
Perfect For:
Popping festive sparkling rosé on a budget.
Tasting Notes:
Raspberries, strawberries, saline
This bright pink bubbly from Portugal is one of the best value sparkling rosés on the market today. It’s made with local grapes — 80 percent Baga and 20 percent Bical — biodynamically farmed by Filipa Pato and made in the traditional method. Wild strawberries, ripe raspberries, and saline float out of the glass. On the palate, the wine shines with a bright minerality and vibrant bubbles.
Filipa Pato 3B Sparkling Rosé Extra Brut NV
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Price: $65
Perfect For:
Getting the New Year’s Eve party started, or ending the night with a toast.
Tasting Notes:
Green apple, lemon zest, chalk
Depending on your age and party proclivities, when it comes to New Year’s Eve, midnight might either be the beginning of your night or the time to have a quick Champagne cheers and head to bed. Either way, popping this festive bottle from Laherte Frères is the perfect recipe for a great evening. The blanc de blancs bottle is mineral-driven and precise, with layers of citrus zest, green apple, honey, and roasted nuts. It’s a stunner for impressing guests and getting the party going, but it’s also fit for sitting on the couch and savoring with your partner before calling it a night.
Laherte Frères Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV
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Price: $22
Perfect For:
Brightening up a cold winter evening with pink bubbles.
Tasting Notes:
Strawberry, orange slice, cheese
This 100 percent Pinot Noir sparkling rosé brings the sunshine of Alsace to even the dreariest winter nights. The wine from the hilly, eastern region of France has concentrated red fruit flavors of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry, with some freshly squeezed orange. There’s a creamy, savory note on the palate similar to a tangy cheese on toast. A great value bubbly to brighten up any holiday celebration.
Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé NV
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Price: $35
Perfect For:
Pouring a mid-range sparkler for holiday get-togethers.
Tasting Notes:
White flowers, lime, slate
Sometimes you need a sparkling wine that’s a step up from Prosecco but not quite as pricey as Champagne. This sparkling Riesling from the Finger Lakes fits the bill, providing great quality and complexity in the under-$40 price range. It’s aromatic with bright notes of lemon, lime, white flowers, and honeysuckle on the nose. On the palate it delivers Riesling’s signature zippy acidity, making it extremely food-friendly.
Ravines Sparkling Dry Riesling, Limestone Springs 2019
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Price: $90
Perfect For:
Balling out on an ornate holiday spread of Champagne, caviar, and oysters.
Tasting Notes:
Toast, cheese, white peaches
This is the bottle to whip out when it’s time to truly impress. The blend of organically grown Chardonnay (70 percent) and Pinot Noir (30 percent) is sourced from the clay and limestone soils of the Rilly-la-Montagne 1er Cru site of Champagne. Aged on the lees for over 30 months, this wine is rich and complex with aromas of toast, white peaches, green apples, and white flowers. Hints of lemon zest, roasted nuts, vanilla, and ginger also linger on the creamy, full-bodied finish. Serve this alongside a caviar spread with blinis, toast points, potato chips, and crème fraîche for the full-on indulgent holiday experience.
Vilmart "Grand Cellier" 1er Cru NV
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Price: $22
Perfect For:
Pairing with everything on the Thanksgiving table from cranberry sauce to turkey.
Tasting Notes:
Apricot, mango, slate
After working at wineries across the Finger Lakes for the past decade, winemaker Kelby James Russell decided to buy a vineyard and start a label of his own. And this dry Riesling from the project’s first vintage is an extremely promising start.
The wine is expressive on the nose with aromas of apricots, mango, grapefruit, and smoke. The palate is full of ripe peaches and tropical fruits, but finishes with a crisp, mineral note. This bottle’s blazing acidity makes it the perfect match for mashed potatoes, stuffing, or sweet potato casserole, lifting up the food’s fattiness with its bright touch. Looking to serve all-American wines this Thanksgiving? This bottle is one to add to the menu.
Apollo's Praise Dry Riesling 2023
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Price: $65
Perfect For:
Mulling over by the fireplace or gifting to a white Burgundy-lover.
Tasting Notes:
Lemon curd, vanilla, toasted nuts
Benjamin Leroux is an esteemed producer in Burgundy, making high-end wines in many premier cru sites across the region. This Bourgogne Blanc is his entry-level bottling, but it’s just as worth seeking out and provides impressive value for the price, with some grapes sourced from Meursault and Puligny-area vineyards.
The wine opens with aromas of citrus, orchard fruit, vanilla, and baking spices from spending 12 months aging in large oak barrels. The palate is rich and textured — with layers of apples, lemon curd, butter, spices, and toasted nuts — but the wine’s focused acidity brings wonderful balance. This is the perfect warming white to enjoy by the fireplace, especially with a crew of Chardonnay drinkers.
Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Blanc 2022
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Price: $36
Perfect For:
Impressing guests at a more formal dinner or gifting to the holiday host.
Tasting Notes:
Grapefruit pith, olive oil, roasted hazelnuts
Sometimes you want to feel indulgent during the holiday season, and this unctuous white wine from Bordeaux achieves just that. While most probably look for reds from Bordeaux, the region’s Pessac Léognan appellation provides stunning white wines at a great value.
This bottle is a blend of 80 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 20 percent Sémillon, which together provide incredible complexity. The Sauvignon Blanc brings notes of fresh citrus like grapefruit pith and lemon curd, as well as a bright acidity, while the Sémillon rounds out the wine with an oily texture and richness that lingers on the palate.
Chateau Lespault Martillac Pessac Leognan Blanc 2021
Winemaker Giovanna Morganti is a small but well-known producer located in the Chianti hills of Tuscany. With this wine, she seeks to showcase a pure expression of Sangiovese, and the results are impeccable. Cherries, strawberries, red plums, leather, tobacco, earth, and salt fill the senses. The palate is wonderfully balanced between bright acidity and grippy tannins that make it ideal for cheesy pasta dishes. But you can also decant the wine and sip it on its own, observing its great finesse as it evolves over an evening.
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Price: $35
Perfect For:
Serving with fresh oysters topped with lemon and mignonette.
Tasting Notes:
Lemon, oyster shells, sea spray
Acidic and mineral-driven, Muscadet has long been an affordable go-to for seafood pairings. This year, opt for a cru bottling, which offers extra character and complexity.
This bottle from the Clisson cru is brimming with fresh citrus notes of lemon and lime with hints of white flowers and sea spray. The palate has some added weight to it compared to a typical Muscadet, from extended time aging on the lees, along with a distinct slate-like minerality from Clisson’s signature granite soils. Starting off your holiday celebration with a platter of fresh oysters? This is the bottle to pop.
Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine ‘Clisson’ 2020
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Price: $22
Perfect For:
Enjoying with a buttery scallop risotto — you can even add a splash to the dish while cooking.
Tasting Notes:
Yellow apple, chamomile, honey
Brothers Bruno and Jean-Michel Pieaux are fourth generation vignerons in the village of Chançay in France’s Loire Valley. The two work with vines that range from 40 to 90 years old, grown in Vouvray’s signature tuffeau soils. The result is a wine with a great balance between freshness and richness. It offers an aromatic nose of chamomile, lemon zest, ginger, and herbs. The palate is crisp with sharp acidity that’s balanced by concentrated notes of baked apples and honey.
Domaine du Margalleau Vouvray Sec 2022
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Price: $40
Perfect For:
A pre-dinner cheese board (with ample goat cheese).
Tasting Notes:
Chalk, grapefruit, grass
Sancerre is generally a safe bet for pleasing a crowd. But if you want to make sure your holiday dinner doesn’t feel like just another wine Wednesday, seek out this special bottle from Gerard Boulay in the famed village of Chavignol.
The wine, sourced from vineyards across Chavignol’s slopes of kimmeridgian soil, is precise and mineral-driven, but also offers ample fruit character. Notes of juicy grapefruit, lemon curd, green apples, and tart pineapple are accented by hints of savory herbs, chalk, fennel, and grass.
Gerard Boulay Sancerre 'Chavignol' 2023
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Price: $31
Perfect For:
Matching each dish in your feast of the seven fishes — from fresh seafood salad and crispy calamari to lemony spaghetti alle vongole and buttery prawns.
Tasting Notes:
Lemon zest, flint, pineapple
Planning an epic feast of the seven fishes? You’ll need a stellar Italian wine that can hold its own across the full range of dishes. We suggest an Etna Bianco like this one from Graci. The blend of Carricante and Catarratto has bright aromas of green apples, lemon zest, orange blossoms, and flint. On the palate it’s medium-bodied with citrus and tropical fruit notes. The balance between its concentration of fruit and racy acidity make this bottle wonderfully versatile for food pairings.
Graci Etna Bianco 2023
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Price: $65
Perfect For:
Chardonnay enthusiasts or Hanukkah dinner pairings.
Tasting Notes:
Pear, lemon, vanilla
This bottle comes from the high-elevation vineyards of the Mayacamas Mountains of Napa Valley. Though it does offer some of the classic characteristics of a Napa Chard, the altitude of the sites gives the wine a shining acidity, making it a fresh, balanced example rather than an overwhelming oak bomb. It opens with notes of green apples, pears, lemon, and marzipan on the nose, and the palate brings more citrus and orchard fruit with hints of vanilla and baking spices. There’s a great balance between energetic acidity and a comforting, rounded mouthfeel.
Mayacamas also offers a kosher certified version of this bottling (as well as the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc) on its website, making this wine a great option for any Hanukkah get-togethers. The acidity in this Chardonnay is perfect to lift up the heft of a potato latke or noodle kugel.
Mayacamas Chardonnay 2022
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Price: $42
Perfect For:
Matching those slightly sweet, difficult-to-pair Thanksgiving dishes.
Tasting Notes:
Peach, white flower, green apple
One thing every holiday dinner needs is a slightly off-dry wine. Though some drinkers might wince at the mention of sweetness, a touch of residual sugar in a wine can really help with the tough-to-pair foods on the Thanksgiving table like cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes smothered in brown sugar (or even marshmallows).
This classic Kabinett from the historic Schloss Johannisberg estate in Germany’s Rheingau region is up to the Thanksgiving pairing challenge. It has bright aromas of juicy peach, white flowers, citrus, and green apple. The palate brings blazing acidity with just a kiss of sweetness on the finish to balance it out.
Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Rotlack Kabinett 2022
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Price: $24
Perfect For:
Pairing with a creamy seafood pasta or a herb-covered roast chicken.
Tasting Notes:
Green apple, orange zest, almonds
In the hilly region of Abruzzo, just 23 miles from the sea, the Trebbiano Abruzzese grape — not to be confused with Trebbiano Toscano found in Tuscany — thrives, making white wines with great character. Tiberio coaxes out a beautiful expression of this grape, with an aromatic nose of herbs, jasmine flowers, and citrus. On the palate it’s medium-bodied, with ripe apples, grapefruit pith, and a nutty, almond note. This wine finds a middle ground between light, crisp wine like a Muscadet and a heavier, oaky Chardonnay, providing the ideal level of richness to stand up to heftier, flavorful dishes, or help keep you warm on a cold winter night, without being overpowering.
Tiberio Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2023
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Price: $27
Perfect For:
Spanning an entire meal from aperitivo hour and salads to sides and mains.
Tasting Notes:
Grapefruit, strawberry, tarragon
Bedrock’s Ode to Lulu Rosé is a California tribute to the Mourvèdre-based rosés of Bandol in the south of France. It’s a blend of 76 percent Mourvèdre, 16 percent Syrah, and 8 percent Grenache, sourced mostly from centenarian vineyards in Contra Costa and Sonoma County. The vine age comes across in the wine’s concentration of flavor. There’s juicy grapefruit, tart strawberries, and white peach aromas with hints of tarragon. The palate offers wonderful structure, making it the perfect rosé to hold up to food pairings — while also being a joy to drink on its own.
Bedrock Wine Co. Ode to Lulu Rosé 2023
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Price: $34
Perfect For:
Embracing the French rosé aesthetic all year round.
Tasting Notes:
Watermelon, cherry, dried herbs
When it comes to fuller-bodied rosés, Bandol is king. The small appellation in Provence is renowned for its hearty, meaty reds, and equally savory and complex rosés made from the Mourvèdre grape. This bottle from the historic Château Pradeaux estate is a blend of Mourvèdre and the lighter-bodied Cinsault. With its deep pink color, it could easily be mistaken for a juicy chillable red. It’s bursting with notes of watermelon, cherry, and overripe raspberries but with hints of black pepper and herbs.
Château Pradeaux Bandol Rosé 2023
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Price: $25
Perfect For:
Pairing with autumnal dishes like butternut squash soup, herb-roasted chicken or turkey, or rosemary scalloped potatoes.
Tasting Notes:
Raspberry, orange zest, fresh thyme or rosemary
Rosé is often overlooked when it comes to holiday meals, but sometimes these bottles can provide the perfect middle ground when you’re overwhelmed with a monstrous Thanksgiving buffet. This 100 percent Cabernet Franc rosé from Saumur is a great example. It has fresh red fruit and citrus notes as well as more savory characteristics of rosemary and thyme that really complement the classic autumnal seasonings. This rosé also has a shimmering acidity that provides some much needed lift to heavier foods like potatoes loaded with butter and gravy.
Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Rosé 2023
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Price: $20
Perfect For:
Proving rosé is just as delicious in the colder months.
Tasting Notes:
Raspberry, pomegranate, white pepper
Beyond the ultra quaffable Provençal style, some rosés actually offer deep and savory flavors that make them better suited for colder months. Rosés from Austria often fit the bill, offering ripe red fruit with savory, herbaceous accents. This bottle from Umathum — made with Austria’s three native red grapes, Blaufränkisch, Sankt Laurent, and Zweigelt — is no exception. It’s full of raspberry and tart pomegranate notes with flecks of white pepper. Juicy and easy-drinking, bring this to your Friendsgiving to fuel a long night of fun.
Umathum Rosa Rosé 2022
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Price: $32
Perfect For:
Serving with a charcuterie board with funky cheeses and fig jam or with a strawberry, arugula salad to start the meal.
Tasting Notes:
Guava, strawberries, tangerine
This skin-contact Pinot Gris from Slovenia pours a shockingly deep magenta hue. The stunning wine isn’t all about looks though — it offers beautiful layers of strawberries, guava, apricot, tangerine, and earth across the nose and palate. Though the wine is medium-bodied with some weight on the palate, it still brings a refreshing acidity that helps it stand up to food.
Kabaj "Sivi" Pinot Gris 2019
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Price: $23
Perfect For:
A nontraditional Friendsgiving dinner or gifting your friend who just got into orange wine.
Tasting Notes:
Peach, orange blossom, pineapple
Pioneering winemaker Roberto Henriquez works with old vines in Chile’s Bío Bío valley to craft wildly expressive, aromatic wines like this skin-contact blend of Sémillon, Cortino, and Moscatel. The wine pops out of the glass with bright notes of orange blossom and apricot, with slight hints of smoke and pepper. The palate is full of tart and juicy peach and tropical fruits. If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box wine for your Friendsgiving that will spark conversation, this is a great place to start.
Roberto Henriquez Rivera Del Notro Orange 2022
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Price: $25
Perfect For:
Stocking up for the full season of holiday meals.
Tasting Notes:
Blackberry, green bell pepper, earth
This Cabernet Franc comes from Brézé, a distinct hill within the village of Saumur that’s renowned for making elegant, savory, and acid-driven wines. And this bottle from Arnaud Lambert is a stunning example.
Raspberry, green bell pepper, tobacco, and smoke waft up the nose. The palate is lifted and high-toned, with notes of brambly blackberries, leather, dried herbs, and earth. With its distinct herbaceous profile, ripping acidity, and subtle earthiness, it’s hard to think of something that would be a better fit for Thanksgiving dinner — especially at the $25 price point.
Arnaud Lambert Saumur Rouge Clos Mazurique 2022
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Price: $140
Perfect For:
Your big holiday dinner splurge or gifting a nerdy Napa Cab fan.
Tasting Notes:
Plum, cassis, thyme
Since 1987, winemaker Cathy Corison has been crafting elegant, terroir-driven Cabs in California’s Napa Valley. This bottle is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from three vineyards in St. Helena aged for 20 months in 50 percent new French oak. It opens with aromas of cassis, plum, and blackberry, followed by cedar, vanilla, thyme, sage, and green pepper. This incredibly fresh, balanced wine is a stunner to enjoy over the holidays, and is a great bottle to save for a special celebratory moment.
Corison Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2020
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Price: $75
Perfect For:
Soaking in the season, savoring over a relaxing evening.
Tasting Notes:
Strawberries, clove, mushroom
The fragrant red fruit and spices of a great red Burgundy evoke the holiday seasonings that fill the air come December. Embrace the season with a special bottle like this one from Domaine Joseph Roty. Designated under the Côte de Nuits Villages, it’s sourced from select vineyards across five communes in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, producing a high-quality expression of Pinot Noir without the premier cru or grand cru price tag. Take in the nuances of this bottle — bright red fruit, earthy forest floor, mushroom, and sweet spices — over a relaxing date night when you can snag a moment away from the crowds and chaos.
Domaine Joseph Roty Côte de Nuits Villages 2021
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Price: $33
Perfect For:
Pleasing a Thanksgiving crowd through the whole meal, or enjoying on its own.
Tasting Notes:
Strawberry, raspberry, clove
Beaujolais is a sure-fire win for any holiday scenario, from passing around the Thanksgiving table to sipping wine solo while decorating the tree. Choosing a wine from one of Beaujolais’ 10 crus will provide the Gamay grape’s classic red fruit flavors but with some added structure and complexity.
This bottle from Brouilly, the southernmost of the Beaujolais crus, brings those juicy cherry, raspberry, and strawberry notes with added touches of earth, minerals, and warming fall spices. With its fresh acidity and barely-there tannins, this is a wildly approachable wine to enjoy on its own, or a food-friendly option with great versatility.
Jean-Claude Lapalu Brouilly Vieilles Vignes 2022
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Price: $67
Perfect For:
Heartier meat pairings like a standing rib roast or a tender brisket.
Tasting Notes:
Blackberry, black pepper, black olives
Although the world’s most esteemed bottles of Syrah come from the small appellations of France’s Northern Rhône Valley, those wines can fetch a seriously hefty price tag. This Syrah from the Pax winery is equally elegant at a fraction of the cost. Inspired by producers in the Northern Rhône, this Syrah is sourced from a series of cool-climate hillside slopes across Sonoma.
The wine is brimming with dark fruit and the distinct meaty, savory character that makes Syrah lovers swoon: smoked meat, tapenade, crushed black pepper, blackberry, and violets. Aged in concrete tanks instead of oak, it has an impressive body and structure, but still feels lively and energetic on the palate with great acidity. Save this bottle for your more meat-forward holiday meals.
Pax Sonoma Hillsides Syrah 2022
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Price: $65
Perfect For:
Sipping with pecan pie or chocolate chip cookies.
Tasting Notes:
Caramel, espresso beans, roasted hazelnuts
It’s a strange holiday phenomenon, but no matter how much we gorge on a seasonal feast, there’s always room for a special treat after dinner. Whether you’re indulging in pecan pie, a cookie spread, or a decadent chocolate mousse cake, pair your richest desserts with a Tawny Port. This bottle from the historic Quinta do Vallado estate offers notes of dried figs, caramel, toffee, candied orange peels, and roasted hazelnuts. The ultimate warming nightcap.
Quinta do Vallado 20 Year Old Tawny Port
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Price: $30
Perfect For:
Cuddling up for a holiday movie night.
Tasting Notes:
Black cherry, leather, smoked meats
Some wines are just incredibly warm and comforting and this Sergio Drago Rosso is one of those wines. It’s a slightly unusual blend of Nero d’Avola and Syrah from Sicily that works exceptionally well. The Syrah characteristics pop on the nose with compelling notes of bacon fat, black pepper, and earth that draw you in. The palate brings concentrated fruit character of black cherry and raspberry, with more savory notes of smoke and spice. It’s big and round enough to cozy up with on a cold night without being overly jammy or cloying.
Sergio Drago Rosso 2021
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Price: $55
Perfect For:
Pleasing all of the Pinot-lovers at the table.
Tasting Notes:
Raspberry, vanilla, baking spices
For many, Pinot Noir is a Thanksgiving non-negotiable. And we get it. If you’re committed to Pinot this year, we suggest seeking out the single-vineyard, terroir-driven wines from St. Innocent in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. This bottling is from the Freedom Hill Vineyard in the foothills of the Coast Range, which benefits from warm air during the day and cool ocean breezes at night. The wine brings notes of cherry and raspberry with layers of vanilla and baking spices from time aging in French oak. It’s well-structured with a great balance between fruit depth, silky tannins, and bright acidity.
St. Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Noir 2019
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Price: $28
Perfect For:
Introducing guests to something new and delicious.
Tasting Notes:
Cherry, blueberry, earth
Winemaker Marcelo Araujo started Textura in 2018, producing terroir-driven wines on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela mountain range in the Dão region of Portugal. This particular bottling is a blend of Portuguese red grapes Jaen, Touriga Nacional, and Alfrocheiro. The result is a medium-bodied red bursting with ripe cherry, raspberry, and blueberry notes. The wine also has a mineral, earthy character with hints of fresh pepper and herbs. Its flavor profile is similar to other great wines we’ve suggested here like Cabernet Franc and Beaujolais, but provides an opportunity to try something new with friends and family.
Textura da Estrela Tinto 2020
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Price: $27
Perfect For:
Supplementing a festive evening of luxurious truffle pasta.
Tasting Notes:
Cherry, strawberry, leather
If you’re indulging in some creamy, truffle-topped pasta or risotto this holiday season, we recommend seeking out a bottle of Nebbiolo to accompany the extravagant meal.
This Langhe Nebbiolo from rising star producer Trediberri shows the fresh, young side of the grape that you don’t need to wait years to enjoy — which is helpful when you’re planning a last-minute dinner for 10. It pops out of the glass with tart cherry, strawberry, and cranberry notes. But the juicy red fruit is complemented by hints of leather, earth, licorice, and tar. With bright acidity and grippy tannins, it delivers Nebbiolo’s signature structure without overwhelming the palate.
Trediberri Langhe Nebbiolo 2023
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Price: $32
Perfect For:
Setting up a specialty vermouth service for welcome drinks.
Tasting Notes:
Sweet cherries, dried cranberries, herbs
For a different kind of cocktail hour, try setting up a specialty vermouth service. Grab a bottle of aromatic vermouth like this expression from Spain’s Priorat region made with 40 botanicals and give your guests an option of serving it with ice, olives, a lemon or orange twist, or even a splash of soda water. And feel free to get creative with the presentation.
Dos Deus Red Vermouth
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Price: $49
Perfect For:
Sipping as a digestivo when the marathon of eating is finally over.
Tasting Notes:
Eucalyptus, cinnamon, orange zest
After consuming copious amounts of rich holiday foods, it’s important to have a good digestivo to sip on afterwards. This amaro from Forthave Spirits in Brooklyn is the perfect pour for when the eating marathon finally ceases. Made with a secret 36-ingredient botanical recipe from plague-era France and sweetened with three types of raw honey from an apiary in Ithaca, N.Y., this amaro offers invigorating notes of eucalyptus, alpine herbs, orange zest, chamomile, and cinnamon.
Forthave Spirits Marseille Amaro
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Price: $30
Perfect For:
Serving as an aperitivo with olives, nuts, and cheese.
Tasting Notes:
Almonds, green apple, saline
Starting your night with an aperitivo hour? Complement your well-curated spread of olives, hard cheeses, and salted nuts with a glass of dry sherry. This Manzanilla’s natural notes of saline, roasted almonds, and green apple perfectly accentuate the flavors of the snacks — plus, serving sherry gives you an excuse to break out your dainty antique glassware.
Hidalgo, Manzanilla
"La Gitana" Sherry
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Price: $55
Perfect For:
Serving after dinner with apple pie, fruit cake, or a cheese platter
Tasting Notes:
Dried apricot, lemon meringue pie, honey
Mullineux produces some incredible wines worth seeking out from South Africa’s Swartland region — like this indulgent 100 percent Chenin Blanc dessert wine. After hand-harvesting the grapes, they are left to dry outdoors for two to four weeks, allowing the moisture to evaporate, and concentrating the sugars, acids, and depth of flavor in the resulting wine. It’s beautifully expressive with notes of dried apricot, grapefruit pith, lemon meringue pie, honey, and ginger. Its natural viscosity is lifted by racy acidity, making a well-balanced wine to enjoy with — or in lieu of — dessert.
Mullineux Family Wines Straw Wine 2023
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Sparkling
White
Rosé
Orange
Red
Aperitifs & Digestifs
Illustrations:
Sara Pinsonault
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Price: $38
Perfect For:
Finding great value in French bubbly.
Tasting Notes:
Brioche, green apples, hazelnuts
If you’re looking for a bottle of French bubbles for a good value, look to the country’s Crémant wines. These are made in the traditional method, but in other regions across France.
This one comes from the Jura, an alpine region to the east of Burgundy bordering Switzerland and is made with a blend of local grapes including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pulsard, and Trousseau. It’s aged on the lees for 18 months, giving it a profile of bready, creamy notes like brioche, vanilla, roasted hazelnuts, and salted butter. It’s still wonderfully fresh on the palate, with citrus and green apple notes lifted up by lively bubbles.
Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot Crémant du Jura NV
Sparkling
White
Rosé
Orange
Red
Aperitifs & Digestifs
Looking for a specific type?