Thanksgiving is the traditional day each year set aside for us to count our blessings; eat turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie; enjoy our family and friends; and maybe watch a little football on TV. Right? Thanksgiving is a celebration, and what goes better with a celebration than wine?

People have been using wine in celebrations of all kinds for centuries — probably since the cavemen put down their clubs and put on shoes.

Certain wines are traditionally served based upon the main dinner course. That is, if red meat in any form is the main course, red wine is served. If poultry is the main course, white wine is served. But that’s tradition. Thanksgiving meals are a mixture of tastes and textures. Many dishes are very spicy. Any wine is appropriate to serve with a Thanksgiving dinner.

You need to be careful if you are choosing a red wine, however. You don’t want the wine to trump the food. The entire idea of wine with a meal is for the wine to compliment the food. The food is dominant; the wine is secondary.

A word of caution: if you have been invited to a Thanksgiving Day feast and are considering taking a bottle of wine as a gift, first be CERTAIN that your host and hostess are NOT teetotalers. It won’t make much difference how “correct” the wine you choose is, if the host and hostess do not allow alcohol in their home, your gift isn’t going to be appreciated — or even accepted. Some people do have very strong opinions about alcohol consumption, so just check first to be sure.

If a gift of wine would be appreciated, the next step is to choose the wine that you will take. As I’ve said before, you can toss “tradition” right out the window. You can simply choose a wine that you personally like, or you can go with the “bubbly.” Champagne is NEVER wrong!