More Winemaker Recommendations for North Fork Thanksgiving Wines

The question is never "Should we have wine with Thanksgiving dinner?" It's always "What wine should we have at Thanksgiving dinner?" Looking back to the pilgrims provides no answers. Many were teetotalers, and the best thing they had to ferment would have been grain that resulted in some pretty weak beer. Luckily, we live in wine country, so even last-minute pairings are possible.

Yesterday, we told you what plan to serve with their Thanksgiving meals. Today, we give you three more:

Sal Diliberto, owner of in Jamesport

Diliberto said he plans to raid the tanks holding his 2010 merlot to give his extended family something to drink for the holiday. He likes to have a young, fresh and fruity wine to pair with turkey.

"It's like the Beaujolais nouveau that comes out around each Thanksgiving," he said "They kind of go together."

Diliberto's merlot from this year's vintage has finished fermenting and is sitting in tanks in the winery next to his home on Manor Lane. He has racked the wine (separated it from sediment) once already and, he said  if he draws from the top of the tank he will have some "nice and clear wine." The rest of it will go into oak barells next month.

Kelly Urbanik, the winemaker at in Mattituck

Urbanik said she expects to be drinking the winery's Early Wine for the holiday. Much like Diliberto's plan, but on a larger scale, the Early Wine, which is 100 percent chardonnay, is from the 2010 vintage and was bottled on Oct. 12. It's young and fresh and, as Urbanik points out, from an excellent vintage.

"Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday," she said. "Harvest is finally over, and you get a chance to sit back and relax."

Plus, she said, she loves turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The Early Wine is available in the Macari tasting room for $17 a bottle.

Juan Micieli-Martinez, winemaker at in Riverhead

Beer, as well as wine, will be on Micieli-Martinez's table. The winemaker has been brewing his own beer and will be pouring an Imperial ESB, or extra special bitter.

That won't take him through the night though. He and his wife, Bridget Quinn, tasting room manager for Palmer Vineyards, will be pulling the cork on Martha Clara's 2009 chardonnay.

"The wine speaks for itself," Micieli-Martinez said. "It's showing beautifully right now."

Fermented in stainless steel tanks, so it saw no wood, the chardonnay also spent time on the lees — the dead yeast cells that are a by-product of fermentation. This lends a creaminess without overwhelming the acidity, which makes wine food friendly. The chardonnay is for sale in the Martha Clara tasting room for $14.99 a bottle.

The couple is really keeping it local with a bird from Miloski's farm in Baiting Hollow in the oven. Quinn's family will be in from New Orleans, and to make them feel at home, Micieli-Martinez is brining the bird in a New Orleans crab boil.

"It'll give it that Cajun flair," he says.

All three winemakers agree sparkling wine has a place at the start of the evening.

"It goes with everything," Urbanik said. "Even the pumpkin pie."