California penoit noir ideal for Thanksgiving

Every year I am faced with the daunting decision of what to serve for Thanksgiving. I don't mean the meal; like most people my family follows a tradition menu.

I'm referring to what wine to serve with the varied Thanksgiving menu. Think of it - there is the meat, usually turkey, chicken or game birds; then there are the sides and sauces - soup, potatoes, mushrooms, beans, yams, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.

I have successfully tried a variety of wines over the years. I have been known to start with whites like sauvignon blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and pinot gris; then move on to reds like zinfandel and syrah. But I have decided that this year pinot noir is the wine for the meal.

The dining in California wine country mellows out

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Wine-country visitors checking out the harvest will discover that the most inviting new restaurants among the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties are small, casual gems that are more analogous to quaffable Zinfandels than blockbuster Cabs.

Not that there's anything wrong with the famous anchors of the dining scene — in Michelin's just-published 2009 San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country Guide, The French Laundry in Yountville retains its three-star rating, Cyrus in Healdsburg and The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena keep their two-star ratings, and eight other places hold onto their lone stars.

But in this tanking economy, wine country can sustain only so much grandeur, and so the best of the newcomers (with a few exceptions) offer a simpler, scaled-down approach that invites grazing on the region's world-class bounty. Think small plates, wine bars, local cheeses and house-cured meats. All of the above can be found under one roof at the new Oxbow Public Market complex (oxbowpublicmarket.com) in the town of Napa, or scattered among the menus at these recently opened places: