Senders Wine Blog

Should you drink white or red wine with Turkey?

Traditionally many drink white wine. A nice California Chardonnay, that has some oakiness and has gone through secondary ML (malolactic) fermentation, would be great before dinner. During dinner a more acidic chardonnay that has not gone through ML and has seen less oak would be better. More acidic wines tend to go better with food and Turkey if often served with a cranberry relish which has sugar and bitterness. No wine will taste great just after a large bite of cranberry relish, but a more acidic wine will have the best chance.

Many people are trying red wines with Thanksgiving dinner and loving them. The Nouveau Beaujolais were released about 10 days ago. They have a beautiful flowery nose and enough acid to match the dinner. They are not too heavy and will not compete with the meal. If you have not tried this combination, you should.

At our house our favorite white on the Day of the Bird is Pinot Noir. Pinot has that great classic pinot nose that always builds my anticipation of the flavors to follow. Pinot is light not heavy, so it does not compete with the meal. It also has enough acid to get through the cranberry relish gauntlet. In fact the light not heavy character of pinot noir is why it is such a great food wine. It goes great with fish, pasta, chicken, pork, duck and even beef. If I had to choose one wine for all meals it would be a Pinot Noir.

This Thanksgiving break with tradition a go with a red.

Q: I’m allergic to sulfa and I seem to have an allergic reaction to some wines as well. Are sulfa and sulfites related?

A: This is a great question, because it is source of confusion for many people. Therefore, I thought I should imbibe before answering.

Allergies to sulfa and reactions to consuming wine are unrelated. You will not encounter Sulfa in wine as it refers to a group of antibiotics used in medicine, not wine making.  Wine does contain sulfites which I will talk more about below.

An ‘allergic reaction to some wines’ has three general causes, one allergic and two non-allergic. Sulfites, a common preservative, are added to almost all wines and many foods requiring the label “Contains Sulfites”. Alarmingly, according to the FDA, as many as 1in100 people have a true Sulfite Allergy. Sulfites can trigger an asthmatic reaction, making it difficult to breathe. Truly, severe reactions are restricted to people who take daily asthma medication. If you have not experienced problems eating a dried apricot or drinking clear grape juice, you do not have a true sulfite allergy.

The two non-allergic causes are Flushing and Red Wine Headache. Many people have facial flushing, occasionally associated with nausea and lightheadedness. This is sometimes related to histamines contained in wine and may be helped by taking an antihistamine prior to consumption. In others, it is related to a lack of alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme which breaks down alcohol. The lack of this enzyme occurs more commonly in people of Asian ancestry. Red Wine Headache likely has multiple causes, occurs within one hour of consumption and is not related to sulfites. In my personal experience, a Hangover begins three to six hours after consumption, is related to total alcohol consumed and is related to dehydration. Many sufferers of Red Wine Headache are helped by taking an aspirin one hour before consumption and drinking one glass of water for each glass of wine consumed. Let us know if either suggestion helps you!

Craig W. Senders MD

Professor of Otolaryngology (Ear Nose and Throat)

UC Davis

Owner and Winemaker Senders Wines

Napa California

www. SendersWines.com