Wine Focus - November: Fowl Play

[David M. Bueker]

So this month is a riff on the usual November question of what to have with that massive turkey dinner. Thought it made sense to broaden things a bit to see what folks do with any kind of poultry/fowl.

Chicken, despite its ability to be insanely boring, is a versatile base for wine pairings, just because it’s amenable to so many different preparations and/or seasonings. Then there’s the whole category of waterfowl and the different potential matches for duck or goose. Of course there’s the melange of Thanksgiving dinner as well.

I don’t eat as much chicken as I used to (don’t eat much meat period anymore), but I do love all the things that can go with a properly roasted bird or marinated and grilled parts.

Good subject, should be fun.

We eat quite a bit of fowl (chicken, duck, quail and the very occasional goose) but less so now that our carnivorous son no longer lives in the house. But since we eat almost no red meat, birds are the principal foil for red wine chez nous. Pinot Noir and Gamay are our go-tos with birds, though a lighter Cab Franc can also work, which makes me wonder how we're ever going to work through all the Syrah and Nebbiolo in the cellar. First world problems indeed.

[David M. Bueker]

It’s less about the “meat” and more about the prep/saucing.

It’s less about the “meat” and more about the prep/saucing.

My wife is not a big fan of most sauces (pan sauces and pasta sauces being the prominent exceptions), so most of our food preparation is on the plain side. We do eat the occasional lamb or venison as a special treat so I was being a bit hyperbolic.