What are the best holiday wines?

Many people search this question around this time of year wondering which wines will be perfect for their holiday cuisines. What wines pair the best with ham, turkey, roasted pork loin, sweet potato pie and all your other holiday favorites?

Well, for the items just mentioned I think theirs really only a couple options that work well with almost all of those items.....Riesling and Pinot Noir

First, Riesling is such a great and versatile food wine because of it's high acidity and lack of natural tannin. It's also great because many non-wine drinkers will still enjoy it because of it's often high sugar content (depending on the sweetness level you choose...Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, ect).

Next, Pinot Noir is the ultimate food red wine because it too has a generous amount of natural acidity and is lighter in texture than most other red varietal wines. Pinot pairs excellently with pork cooked in almost every style imaginable and for entry level wine drinkers it can be more easily consumed than some of the more hearty and tannic reds like Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.

Below are a few suggestions for great Riesling's and Pinot Noir's:


Riesling:
Markus Molitor 2007 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett - White Wine
J.J. Prum 2008 Riesling Kabinett - White Wine
Maximin Grunhauser 2006 Herrenberg Riesling Auslese - White Wine

Pinot Noir:
Adelsheim 2008 Elizabeth's Reserve Pinot Noir - Red Wine
Au Bon Climat 2008 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir - Red Wine
Domaine Drouhin Oregon 2008 Pinot Noir - Red Wine