Inexpensive, light-bodied holiday wines

Choosing the right wine for Thanksgiving can be “an exercise in agony,” said Eric Asimov in The New York Times. Many people are filled with “an extra dimension of dread” at the prospect of serving a wine that won’t hold up against a delicious turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Yet choosing a good wine “couldn’t be simpler.”

A rule of thumb is to select wines, both red and white, that are “light-bodied, limber, and above all refreshing.” The five members of our Times panel each selected one red wine and one white. A few brought only American wines, insisting that nothing else should be served on Thanksgiving. After much good-natured bantering and tasting, we voted these half-dozen the best.

Whites

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BV Coastal Estates California Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($9)

A real crowd-pleaser. “Surprisingly delicious.”

Domaine du Closel Savennières La Jalousie 2006 ($23)

Lovely texture, and just “a touch of honeysuckle.”

Marc Ollivier Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Clos des Briords 2007 ($17)

A tangy, minerally wine; not too fruity.

Reds

Terre des Chardons Costières de Nîmes Marginal 2006 ($23) Restaurant critic Frank Bruni’s first choice. “Idiosyn­cratic and distinctive with smoky, meaty flavors.”

Daniel Bouland Morgon Vieilles Vignes 2007 ($20)

My first choice; an elegant, aromatic wine.

Liberty School Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($16) Earthy and fruit-flavored.