For absolute traditionalists, thoughts of wine probably don’t have much to do with thoughts of Thanksgiving. More than likely, our forebears—either Pilgrim or Native American—enjoyed ale, cider, or beer along with the turkey, “pompions,” and maize served at the first Anglo-American harvest home. Over the succeeding generations, however, wine has become a feature at many Thanksgiving tables. It is one of the two or three times a year when even the most abstemious of us may indulge in the bounty of the vine.

The release of Beaujolais Nouveau at this time of year provides holiday feasters with a sprightly libation to accompany turkey and the trimmings. Turkeys were very much game fowl before Swift “Partonized” the butterball, so Rieslings—wines favored by Germans as partners for game—are a natural choice for a meal in which turkey is the central feature. Another selection from the white spectrum is Gewürtztraminer, a wine that, in its classic Alsatian form, combines the slight sweetness of the traminer grape with a floral bouquet and a spicy palate. Other standard Thanksgiving wines are the pinot noirs, wines that can be made bold and big enough to stand up to anything that’s thrown against them; they can also be made in a light, fruity style that combines amiably with all kinds of lighter foods.

Our wine panel visited five local merchants with the request that they give us their best shots at a white and a red for the Thanksgiving feast. We purchased the predictable choices, as well as some unusual offerings. We peeled, chopped, sliced, diced, and roasted up a feast of turkey and sage dressing, scalloped oysters, green peas, cranberry orange relish, spiced peaches, wilted lettuce salad, and rolls and butter. For dessert we treated ourselves to a spicy pumpkin pie and a splendid pumpkin cheesecake. We sat, we ate, we sipped, and we gave thanks—not least for the skill of the wine makers and the suggestions of the merchants. Here’s what we thought:

As it turned out, most of us were very happy that our feast was a bit early for the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau. Most of us found it a bit raw and bumptious for a proper feast. We did, however, taste two older Beaujolais. Neither wine was anybody’s choice for a traditional Thanksgiving feast, but no one voted to dump them down the drain either. At $19 a bottle, the Morgon “Cote du Py” 1994 was overpriced and underpowered. It had a deep ruby color with a moderately fruity bouquet, reminiscent of strawberries. It was, however, very tart—even bitter. For some of our panel members, that bitterness made the Cote du Py particularly companionable with the scalloped oysters. It brought out the cheesiness of the cream and butter in the oysters, suggesting that it might pair well with milder cheeses. It also formed an interesting taste continuum with the cranberries. Because they were so tart, the wine revealed their sweetness, and the cranberries highlighted the strawberry notes in the wine’s finish.

At $10 a bottle, we thought the Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 1995 was a better value, if a slightly less characterful wine. It too was marked by a strawberry bouquet, but it was somewhat less tart than the Morgon. It also had somewhat less substance in the finish. In neither case did our tasters feel that a Beaujolais was the best accompaniment for turkey and dressing.

The pinots were also something of a turkey shoot. The 1993 Bouchaine Carneros Napa Valley Pinot Noir ($16) received very mixed reviews. Some of our group found that the bouquet was reminiscent of buttered toast—one person noted a cheesy aroma—while others were more forthright. “They should call this ‘Old Sweatsocks,’ ” one panelist observed. Almost everyone noted this wine’s aftertaste, likening it to scorched fruit or coffee. Even worse, it overpowered everything we put in its path—even the ultra-spicy pumpkin pie.

The 1994 La Crema 1994 Sonoma County Pinot Noir ($16) fared much better with our tasters. None of us thought that it was a great example of a pinot, but it had an attractive bouquet—watermelon was the consensus— and most of us thought it was a good companion to the turkey and dressing. Our most educated palates suggested that the grapes used in this wine had been picked too young. The result was a weak finish and thin palate feel, although one taster demurred, saying she enjoyed the wine’s velvety feel on the palate.

Both of the two nontraditional reds, a Barbera and a Sangiovese, were big favorites with everyone. The 1994 Flora Springs Sangiovese from the Napa Valley ($15) had a vigorous, fruity, spicy bouquet and a deep-red color. While tart, even sharp some thought, a few moments of exposure to the air softened it to an agreeable smoothness. This Sangiovese also had the power to match the strong bacon and onion flavors of the wilted lettuce salad and the extreme tartness of the cranberries. It also displayed what one panelist described as “chewiness,” a mouth-filling feel that indicates a wine more suitable for red meats.

Our approval of the Flora Springs would have been somewhat more enthusiastic if we hadn’t begun our tasting with the wine that all six of us wanted to down with the turkey, a 1991 Rabbit Ridge Barbera Grande Riserva ($20). “Supple” is a word often bandied about by oeneophiles. It ought to suggest a wine that exhibits powerful scents and tastes balanced with enough refinement to keep the wine from mowing down everything in its path. Most of the time, however, “suppleness” is a code word for a California wine with the integrity of Kool-Aid. This Barbera, on the other hand, was truly supple. It had everything that a fine red should have, with some added finesse thrown into the bargain. It had a splendid, wonderful perfume with hints of cherries, black currant, velvet, oak, yeast, and a few spicy hints that none of us could pin down. Powerful but not overpowering, the fruit stayed with the taste all the way down. “It was like liquid warmth trickling down my throat,” wrote one of the panelists.

All of the focus on red wines is not to dismiss the fact that white wines, especially the aforementioned Gewürtztraminers, are the most frequently encountered potables on the holiday table. We tried three Gewürtzes, examples of the varied uses that can be made of the traminer grape. The 1994 Lucien Albrecht Alsace Gewürtztraminer($15) and the 1992 Hugel Alsace Gewürtztraminer ($17) both had enormously florid bouquets with the overwhelming scent of roses predominant. All our panelists, however, were totally turned off by the Hugel’s mineralish taste, and everyone felt that even the blandness of white-meat turkey was too much for this wine’s nonexistent body. The Lucien Albrecht fared somewhat better. The wine’s characteristic spiciness was pronounced, and there was a superb balance between sweet and tart. Still, two tasters complained there was a metallic aspect to the wine’s finish. To be frank, we thought this was a wine best enjoyed by itself, although it was a reasonable pairing for most of our foods, pumpkin pie and salad excepted.

The Gewürtz that went best with food, and was a great value to boot, was the 1993 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Gewürtztraminer ($7). Vinified more in the style of a Riesling than a true Gewürtz, the Ste. Michelle lacked the intense floral perfume of the Alsatian wines. It was a winner for us because of its bargain price and because of its companionability with almost everything on the table. Its yeastiness perked up the flavor of the turkey and dressing, and it wasn’t much overwhelmed by the cranberry sauce. It was a nice accompaniment to both of our desserts.

Our choice for a Thanksgiving white, however, surprised all of us. It was a 1994 King Estate Oregon Pinot Gris.The pinot gris or grigio grape is usually encountered in wines that are apt partners for the lightest of poultry and seafood dishes, but the Oregonians seem to have a way with this grape that produces a wine of much more substance. One panelist described the King Estate as “pretty blah stuff,” but the rest of us thought that it improved almost every dish that was part of our feast. It made the turkey and dressing seem richer, but it wasn’t overpowered by the richness of the scalloped oysters and the pumpkin pie. It even made the cranberry sauce taste more like berries, while, at the same time, the sauce pulled out the grapeyness of the wine.

We let other wines go untasted this time around. Rieslings, a logical Thanksgiving option, were the subject of one of our most recent surveys, and a Vigonier of substance would probably be a good choice if your taste runs on the white side. Try a fruity Zinfandel if your taste runs to reds. Drink a toast to all your blessings—one of the greatest of which, remember, can be sobriety.