What wine goes best with turkey?

A lighter-bodied red like Pinot Noir is the classic answer — it has enough structure to stand up to the meat without overwhelming it, and its acidity plays well with both savory gravy and sweet cranberry sauce on the same plate.

How many bottles of wine do I need for Thanksgiving?

Plan on half a bottle per adult guest, then add two extra bottles for the table. For eight adults, that's about six bottles total, split between red and white.

Should Thanksgiving wine be served chilled?

White wine, yes, at normal fridge temperature. Red wine benefits from a brief chill too — 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge keeps it from tasting flat and alcohol-forward in a warm dining room.

What if my family doesn't drink red wine?

Bring a Chardonnay with real acidity instead of a heavily oaked, buttery style — it has the weight to handle turkey and stuffing without needing tannin to do the work.

← Field Notes

Wine Education

Chardonnay for People Who Think They Don't Like Chardonnay

If you swore off Chardonnay, you were probably reacting to heavy oak, not the grape. Here's what lightly oaked actually means.

Bearboat Chardonnay bottle and glass outdoors on a rock, Willamette Valley.

Somewhere in the 2010s, “ABC — Anything But Chardonnay” became an actual thing people said out loud at wine bars. If that’s you, you’re not wrong about what you tasted. You’re just describing one style of Chardonnay, not the grape itself.

What You Probably Didn’t Like

The Chardonnay that earned the grape its bad reputation is usually heavily oaked and put through full malolactic fermentation — two winemaking choices, not properties of the grape. Oak aging (especially new oak, and a lot of it) adds vanilla, butter, and baking-spice notes that can bury the fruit entirely. Malolactic fermentation converts sharp malic acid into softer lactic acid, which is where that thick, almost creamy “buttered popcorn” character comes from. Stack both techniques on top of each other and you get a wine that tastes more like a barrel than a grape.

What “Lightly Oaked” Actually Means

Oak isn’t an on-off switch. At one end is unoaked Chardonnay, which skips the barrel entirely for stainless steel. At the other is the heavy style: lots of new oak, full malolactic, buttered popcorn in a glass. Lightly oaked sits in between. The wine still meets a barrel, but mostly older ones with only a small share of new wood, so oak adds texture and a little toast instead of vanilla and butter. It’s a completely different drinking experience from the same grape.

Ours Specifically

Bearboat’s Chardonnay is dry-farmed, hand-picked fruit sourced from Willamette Valley vineyards, made in a style that keeps the fruit and the valley’s natural acidity front and center. It’s lightly oaked: fermented in French oak barrels, only 15% of them new, and it skips malolactic fermentation entirely, so there’s no buttered-popcorn note to get past. Expect juicy peach and nectarine and a light touch of toast with real acid to back it up — built to go with food, not to be a dessert on its own.

When to Reach for It

This is the Chardonnay for the moments you’d otherwise default to a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Grigio: roast chicken, a cheese board, the two hours everyone stands around the kitchen before anyone sits down to eat. It has more body than those lighter whites without picking up the weight and sweetness that made you avoid Chardonnay in the first place.

Give It Another Shot

If your last bad Chardonnay experience is still holding a grudge, that’s a winemaking choice you were reacting to, not the grape. See the Chardonnay or find a bottle near you and taste the difference for yourself.

Questions people ask

Is all Chardonnay buttery?

No — the buttery, heavily oaked style is one winemaking choice among several, driven by lots of new oak and malolactic fermentation. Unoaked and lightly oaked Chardonnay taste cleaner and fruit-forward instead.

What is lightly oaked Chardonnay?

Chardonnay that meets oak in moderation — mostly older barrels, with only a small share of new wood. The barrel adds texture and a little toast without the vanilla, butter, and baking-spice notes heavy oak imparts, so the grape’s natural fruit and acidity still come through.

Does Bearboat’s Chardonnay taste oaky?

Lightly. It’s fermented in French oak barrels, but only 15% of them are new, and it’s made to let the fruit and the Willamette Valley’s natural acidity lead — peach, nectarine and a light touch of toast rather than vanilla or butter.

What food pairs with lightly oaked Chardonnay?

Roast chicken, seafood, a cheese board, or anything with butter in the dish itself — the wine’s acidity cuts through richer food instead of adding to it, unlike a heavier oaked style.