Turkey Day Pairings: What to Drink with the Big Meal

Thanksgiving can be a tricky meal to coordinate drink pairings. Guests often mingle over appetizers before the meal, which might call for a signature cocktail, yet wine is typically the drink of choice for the meal itself. So Patch quizzed Massimiliano Gargiulo, owner of , the Babylon wine shop, on how to choose what goes with what.

For appetizers:

Calling a wine a girly wine can be a compliment, especially when it comes to a choice for the beginning of a long meal. A light rose can be a nice introduction to the heavier wines that will come later, and accompany appetizers, according to Gargiulo.

"The Chiaretto Rose from Lake Garda is made from four different red wine grapes. It's also known as 'the wine of one night' because the grape skins only ferment for one night and then are taken away so that it becomes a rose and not a red."

This particular variety of rose boasts "a very delicate fragrance of wild roses, strawberrys and red cherry with an extra long finish," making it a good accompanient to light appetizers and pleasing both red wine and white wine diehards.

Dinner pairings:

Gargiulo recommends a robust wine to pair with the savory meal, and suggests a Don Paolo Pompeiano Aglianico, a full-bodied, slightly tannic wine that like Cabernet pairs well with roasted meats.

"This wine is robust, and richly layered with dark chocolate, prune and blackberry. It's yummy," Gargiulo says.

Finishing touches:

A fruity, sparkling wine is always a safe bet to match the array of Thanksgiving fruit pies.

"My must-have dessert wine is a sparkling peach-infused Moscato d'Asti. It's sweet and refreshing and it tastes like nothing you've ever tasted before."

You can stop by and test taste the choices yourself: the Moscato will be available for tasting all day Wednesday and tomorrow until noon at Solo Vino.