By Mike Traynor, with our winemaker Richard.
Canadian Thanksgiving lands on Monday, October 12 this year, which means somewhere around the first week of October a lot of people will stand in a wine aisle holding a bottle and wondering if it goes with turkey. This is our answer. It is short, it is honest, and every wine in it is one we make in Hillier, Prince Edward County, so you can buy it from us, order it online, or find it at the LCBO with the SKU numbers below.
The one rule that matters
Thanksgiving dinner is not one dish. It is turkey, ham, stuffing, squash, cranberry, gravy, and something sweet, all at once. No single wine matches all of that, so stop looking for one. Put two or three bottles on the table that cover the range: something white and crisp, something red and light, and something red and full. Then let people pour what they like. That is the whole guide. The rest is which bottles.
The white: Sauvignon Blanc
Our Sauvignon Blanc is the bottle to open while the turkey is still in the oven and to keep on the table through dinner. It is bright and dry, with white peach, lemongrass, and a little pineapple on the nose and crisp green pear and lemon on the palate. That acidity is what you want beside turkey, stuffing, and anything with butter in it. It also handles the ham, which is harder to pair than people think.
Fermented and aged at the winery, 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc, VQA, vegan, and $19.95. At the LCBO it is SKU 44061.
If you prefer something a touch softer, our Pinot Gris ($19.95, LCBO SKU 44067) does the same job with baked pear and lemongrass and a rounder feel. Either one works. Both is a party.
The light red: Gamay Noir
Gamay is the turkey wine. It is light, it has fresh red fruit and real acidity, and it does not fight the bird. Ours is 100 percent Gamay Noir, wild fermented in eight separate tanks, aged eight months in stainless steel, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Black cherry, black pepper, orange blossom, clove, and a touch of smoke. Serve it slightly cool, straight from the fridge for twenty minutes, and it will disappear before the pie.
$19.95 from us, LCBO SKU 44556.
The dark red: Merlot
For the person at the table who wants a proper red, and for the ham, the stuffing, and the gravy, open the Merlot. It is deep, dry, and full bodied, from a warm Niagara Peninsula site, aged eight months in neutral French oak. The tasting note on the bottle reads like it was written for this exact meal: plum, sweet cherry, and dark chocolate on the nose, then cranberry sauce and Christmas dinner spices on the palate, with soft tannins. We did not plan that. It just works.
$19.95 from us, LCBO SKU 44062.
The bubbles: Bang Bang
Someone should open something sparkling when the guests arrive, and it should not be expensive champagne that nobody tastes over the noise. Bang Bang is our rosé pet-nat, made from Gamay Noir the old way, bottled before fermentation finished so the bubbles happen in the bottle. Strawberry and watermelon, dry, and fun. It is the bottle people photograph.
$29.95 from us, LCBO SKU 42990.
The dessert: PSL
Yes, we made a pumpkin spice wine. It is a fortified pumpkin wine, made with real pumpkins from our neighbours at Cheer Farms in Brighton, spiced like a pumpkin pie, 18 percent, and a little sweet. Pour two ounces over ice after dinner and it is pumpkin pie in a glass. It also goes into coffee. Mike wrote the whole story of it in our PSL post. It is a seasonal release, so if you want it for the table, do not wait until the 11th.
The shopping list
- Sauvignon Blanc, $19.95, LCBO 44061 (or Pinot Gris, $19.95, LCBO 44067)
- Gamay Noir, $19.95, LCBO 44556
- Merlot, $19.95, LCBO 44062
- Bang Bang rosé pet-nat, $29.95, LCBO 42990
- PSL pumpkin spice wine, winery and online only
For a table of eight, one bottle each of the first three, one Bang Bang for arrival, and one PSL for after. That is five bottles, and everything from the appetizers to the pie is covered.
Where to buy
At the winery in Hillier, open daily from 11, with a bottle shop where you can taste first and buy after. Online at traynorvineyard.com with shipping across Ontario. Or at the LCBO: search the SKU on the LCBO store locator to see which store near you has it, because selection changes by location.
And if you are in the County for the long weekend, come taste them. A $10 flight on the patio is the fastest way to settle the light red versus dark red question before you buy. The Thanksgiving weekend guide has the plan.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Traynor.
Good to know before you visit
Where: Traynor Family Vineyard, 1774 Danforth Road, Hillier, Prince Edward County, Ontario K0K 2J0. Five minutes from Wellington, 15 from North Beach, 25 from Sandbanks, about 2.5 hours from Toronto. Free on-site parking.
Hours and booking: Open daily from 11 am; Friday and Saturday the kitchen and bar run until 9 pm. Current hours are always shown at the top of traynorvineyard.com. Walk-ins welcome for groups of five or fewer; reservations recommended for six or more and required for ten or more. Call 1-877-403-4224 or email retail@traynorvineyard.com.
Food: Street food made fresh daily: gourmet all-beef hot dogs (kimchi dog, pocket dog), adobo pork and pulled chicken tacos, kofta sandwich, red lentil dal, roasted beet salad, street corn nachos, whipped feta, house-baked cookies, plus a kids’ plain hot dog. Four vegan and four vegetarian dishes on the fall menu, and every wine is vegan.
Drinks: $10 wine flights (three pours), $11 wine by the glass, $10 wine slushy, vermouth cocktails, $7 non-alcoholic peach slushy for kids and drivers. Bookable experiences include the Cellarmasters Barrel Tasting ($49.95) and Stemware Sensation ($39.95).
Family-friendly: Kids welcome. Designated play area visible from the Vineyard Patio, on-site ice cream trailer, juice slushies, kids’ menu, strollers welcome, all patios wheelchair accessible. Kids combo (slushy, popcorn, hot dog, cookie) at the counter. Free Friday Family Movie Nights run in spring and summer.
Dog-friendly: Leashed dogs welcome on all five outdoor patios, with pet beds provided. Dogs can’t come inside the Cellar Tasting Room.
What’s on by season: Summer: Friday Family Movie Nights, DJ sets on the Vineyard Patio, Happy Hour Après Beach Sunday to Thursday 4 to 6 pm. Fall: the WineLab Holiday Series (PSL pumpkin spice wine, Spiced Apple, Mulled Wine, Mulled White) launches; Family Movie Nights return in spring and summer 2027. Winter: mulled wines and Caribou, Cellar Tasting Room heated.
The wine: Small-batch natural wine, wild fermented and vegan, family owned since 2008. Estate vines in Hillier farmed without synthetic pesticides since 2018, plus fruit from partner growers in Prince Edward County and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Pet-nat, piquette, skin-contact whites, vermouth, and fortified wines. Ten wines are listed at the LCBO.
