Thanksgiving is a time when many of us stop to reflect on our blessings. The obvious blessing for many of us is that we weren't born a turkey. (Although, it may be safe to say that the biggest turkey in the house is not always the one resting on the serving platter.)

One sure thing that we can all count as a blessing is wine. However, as we all know, most blessings tend to be mixed ones and wine and food matches for Thanksgiving dinner would most likely fall into that "mixed blessing" category.

Guy du Vin is here to help, so the following are a few guidelines to help you match up your Thanksgiving tidbits with some great wine. And remember - a good host always takes the foil COMPLETELY OFF the TV dinner before serving!!

Rule #1 No matter which wine you pick, it will not work perfectly with everything you serve (unless you serve only one dish - in which case you may skip all of the following rules). The reason for this is that there are dozens of flavor combinations spread on the table. The turkey, the cranberry sauce, the potatoes - all probably call for a separate wine. Plus, the dinner at grandma's house is going to taste quite different from the dinner that your Aunt Betty serves, especially if Betty's idea of traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes White Castle Hamburgers and a Moon Pie. So serve an old favorite or just decide to match up a single dish or two.

Rule #2 No matter what anyone says, roast turkey is hard to pair with wine. Turkey often makes your wine taste a little metallic, especially wines that are tannic and astringent (like Cabernet Sauvignon). Wines that emphasize fruit and that are generally fuller bodied seem to work best in my experience.

Rule #3 Be careful not to serve your wine at too cool a temperature. Cooler temperatures tend to reduce a wine's fruity element, which is what blends so well with Thanksgiving flavors.

Rule #4 Due to the Homeland Security Act, rule #4 has been classified Secret. (All I can tell you is that your wine bottle better have a bar code on it or it's a one-way trip to Gitmo for you!)

Rule #5 In general, avoid wines with extremely high alcohol levels (above 13.5 %). Wines with high alcohol tend to taste a little unbalanced and overpowering with food.

Rule #6 If it fits your budget, open a number of wines and let your guests choose the one they prefer. This takes the pressure off of you and the wine (unless you are the type of person that tends to make "groups" of bad wine choices rather than "individual" bad wine choices).

In general, I think you are better off keeping your extra special wines for another occasion - like the day after Thanksgiving when all the guests are gone.

Following are some wine suggestions for a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.

Start with a sparkling wine - set a festive mood. I suggest an Italian Moscato d'Asti or Brachetto. These are lightly sweet and slightly fizzy wines that EVERYONE will enjoy (no matter how big a wine snob they might be). Plus they are very low in alcohol, 5% - 7%. Thanksgiving isn't really that serious a meal and these wines are just meant to be fun.

Fruity Reds! Oregon Pinot Noir is a good choice when it comes to red wine and turkey time. It works very well with the variety of foods and flavors. Make sure you choose one that shows lots of fruit from a ripe vintage like '98, '99 or '00.

One of the best choices for Thanksgiving is one of the Cru Beaujolais such as Morgon or Moulin a Vent. These are more serious wines than Beaujolais Villages. They remind one more of good Burgundy. NOTE: No matter what anyone tells you - Beaujolais Nouveau is only good for giving as gifts to people you don't like. Avoid this stuff like you would avoid grandma's Thanksgiving liver and oyster peanut spread.

Two other good choices are Côtes du Rhône - inexpensive, powerful and capable of a little aging and finally, Zinfandel can work as well. But avoid those over-extracted, alcoholic versions and look for examples in the 12.5% to 13.5% alcohol range.

White Wine - Pinot Gris is a natural choice. Oregon makes some good ones - look for a fuller bodied version that is rich and mouth filling. For Riesling (stay away from the New World versions) at Thanksgiving you need a good German example with that minerally apple or apricot taste. Look for a medium bodied Spätlase. Viognier from California or even one from Oregon or Washington would work. And Gewürztraminer from Germany (not from Alsace) with that spicy lychee nut quality works very well with turkey.

Pick a Rosé! I've said it before and I'll say it again - there are only two types of people who drink rosé - the terminally hip and the terminally unhip. Rosé is a perfect food wine and unfortunately is overlooked by many people that think all pink wine is white zinfandel. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rosé is a smart choice if it is a fresh young one that shows lively fruitiness. If you don't like wines that are too dry or too sweet, rosé bridges the gap between whites and reds.

Good Luck! Remember, there are about six things in the whole world that are perfect food and wine matches. None of them involve turkey, mashed potatoes, or candied yams. So relax, because sometimes close enough is all you need.