It’s not easy to recommend Thanksgiving wines because it’s such a wildly varied meal. So instead of specific picks, here are some guidelines I like to follow when choosing and serving wine for the holiday.

Many thanks to all of you for being a part of this fledgling STBNY community. You’re all invited to celebrate with me at a tasting this Saturday, November 14, from 5-7 pm at Heights Chateau …

I am a big fan of cooking meat with white wine. Its acidity and freshness nicely balances the richness of the meat, particularly in slow-cooked beef and lamb dishes, and opens up new pairing possibilities.

One of the best-known food and wine matching “rules” is white wine + fish, red wine + meat. While there are some exceptions on both sides (salmon + Pinot Noir and choucroute garnie + Alsatian Riesling are both winning combos), in general, it’s not a bad rule of thumb — especially on the fish side.

Well hello there! So glad you could stop by. Welcome to Spin the Bottle, my little corner of the Internet. Before you start wandering around, here’s a quick tour to help you get your bearings.

Sadly, my lifestyle and my wallet don’t lend themselves to as much Champagne consumption as I would like. Fortunately for me (and you), there are some much more accessible options that should come in very handy as we approach this Recession-challenged holiday season.

I’m picking out wines for my tasting, which has been a pretty fun enterprise. The latest contender is this Mouressipe Cuvée Càcous ($22), from the Languedoc, a huge wine-producing region in southern France.

Sugar is by far the most misunderstood component of wine. There’s a common belief that sweet wine is bad wine, but the truth is, sweetness in wine isn’t always a bad thing, and sometimes can be a very, very nice thing indeed.

My recent post on Madeira got me thinking about acidity, one of the most under-examined aspects of wine — at least from the point of view of the average wine consumer. Admittedly, I am a little bit obsessed with acidity and all things sour.

I always forget about half bottles of wine. They’re like that former colleague who was kind of soft-spoken but stealthily smart and funny, and now every time you run into her you make a tentative coffee date, but then lose her card (again) in the depths of your bag.