True Confessions of the Thanksgiving Day Kind

My husband is the chef in our house. I do two things in the kitchen. One of them involves a corkscrew.

It’s my job to pick and serve the wines. This year I must confess, I am still undecided.

The truth is that while the short list I talked about in my last post is tried and true, there are other options to consider. Each year I like to try two or three that are a little different.

Following are some of the wines I am considering:

• Champagne: Not just for the celebratory heck of it, but because the best examples are loaded with bready, toasty flavors, minerals, and appetite-whetting acidity.

• Rosé: A nice, dry rose from just about anywhere will have subtle red fruit and bright acidity and will be versatile enough to go with the meal from start to finish.

• Rioja: Not the full bodied, modernist style of Rioja but the traditional, lighter style with a certain savory quality that I like to describe as a strawberry-scented leather glove.

• Viognier: In tribute to my neighbors from Melbourne, I have a certain Australian in mind that is lush and round with aromas and flavors of apricots, honey, and melon.

While my husband is applying an artful dollop of freshly whipped cream to each plate of his made-from-scratch pumpkin pie, I’ll be performing the other thing I do best in the kitchen. This too involves a liquid of a beautiful golden hue with notes of lemony, antibacterial freshness. You guessed it: I’ll be washing the dishes.

Tags: wine | Champagne | Rioja | Viognier