Seriously, it’s Thanksgiving already? Yes, here in Canada, Thanksgiving is already next Monday! There have been telltale seasonal warning signs though – the nights are coming quicker than ever, the sun is still down when the alarm goes off in the morning, and the leaves are showing off their fall colours. I’m also starting to notice that more reds are filling my cart at the liquor store, rather than the whites and rosés I crave in summer.
In keeping with this changing of the seasons, it’s the perfect time for some Thanksgiving wine suggestions!
Bubbly: Introducing Fracette!
Call me a traditionalist, but I love starting any festivity by popping a bottle of bubbly.
This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to try an Ontario Fracette.
This is a brand-new offering that showcases everything that makes Ontario winemaking unique. As you may know, there are several different types of sparkling wine, often bound by geographical standards. France has Champagne, Spain has cava, Italy has prosecco, and now Canada has Fracette.
When people around the world think about Canadian wine, what’s the first thing that they think of?
For many, it’s Icewine*. And that’s exactly what goes into Ontario’s very own sparkling wine, without making it sweet!
Here are Fracette’s defining characteristics:
- It must be made from vitis vinifera (non-hybrid) grapes
- It can be made using any sparkling winemaking method (e.g. traditional method or charmat method)
- It must contain less than 15 g/L of residual sugar (brut or brut nature)
- Vidal Icewine must be used as the liqueur de tirage, providing the sugar that triggers the secondary fermentation and creates the wine’s bubbles
Why is it called “Fracette”?
The word “Fracette*” combines two words:
- “frozen” (because ice wine is made from grapes frozen on the vine)
- “facet” (referring to the many different sides of this new Canadian sparkling wine), spelled facette in French, a nod to our bilingual country
Pairings
When you hear Icewine, you immediately think “sweet”, but Fracette is generally dry (aka “brut”, when speaking of sparkling wine). For food pairing, this would be a great match for oysters (fancy!), salads, fish dishes (think local trout), or even plain ol’ potato chips (a classic sparkling wine pairing).
Or you can drink it on its own as you cook your Thanksgiving meal, or with a local cheese and charcuterie board as a pre-meal warm-up.
Where to buy
Fracette is now available at your local wine shop or LCBO, with white and rosé sparkling wines by Inniskillin, Saintly, Henry of Pelham, Peller Estates, Thirty Bench and Kew. And I’m sure this list is just the beginning.
Cocktail anyone?
I’m veering slightly off wine for a moment to share this canned cocktail I discovered this summer. I am always on the lookout for ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails to bring to outdoor gatherings, camping or boating, and this is the one I consistently look for when stocking up.
May I introduce the Pelican Club Cherry Amaretto Sour! The amaretto gives a subtle almond flavour with a hint of bitterness that nicely offsets its 13 g/L of sugar, so it doesn’t taste too sweet. It’s great on its own or in a fancy tumbler on ice. Proudly made in Ontario. $3.75 a can.
Thanksgiving reds for the main event
Montes Alpha Limited Selection Pinot Noir
I have selfishly not told anyone about this amazingly priced Chilean pinot noir in Vintages because I want to be able to buy it all year long. I must must must remember to buy a case so this can be the house red this fall.
The gorgeous pinot noir is medium-bodied and lightly oaked, giving it amazing aromas of baking spice and a hint of chocolate on the palate, in addition to red and black fruit (think cherries, raspberries and blackberries), an herbal side and a hint of forest. It is amazingly complex yet so easy to drink. And the best part is that it’s only $16.95…if you can find it (only 100 bottles left across Ontario)!
Mommessin Mary & Thomas Bachelder Beaujolais-Lantignié 2023
Here’s a wine that’s been getting a lot of attention from the wine world since its release at the end of August. Thomas Bachelder (winemaker of Le Clos Jordanne and Bachelder in Niagara) and Mary Bachelder have teamed up with famed Beaujolais producer Mommessin to collaborate on a gamay and a chardonnay.
I learned when travelling to the Beaujolais that all wines are made either from gamay or chardonnay, but somehow each one is strikingly different, depending on the site where it was grown. Some are light and easy-drinking while others are amazingly complex. Knowing Thomas’s winemaking style, I suspect this one is the latter.
I have not yet had the pleasure of trying either of these wines (I am trying this new thing where I only drink on weekends, which means I taste significantly less wine) but I am confident both would be excellent choices for a Thanksgiving wine.
If you want to try the red, don’t delay. It’s practically sold out in Quebec, and there are only 140 bottles left at the LCBO across Ontario. Get it this week and see how it pairs with your turkey dinner! (Vintages, $24.95).
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and happy wining!
*For all you grammar nerds, yes, Icewine is capitalized. It’s actually been trademarked by the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA)! The name is recognized and protected in Canada as a geographical indication for wine in the Vintners Quality Alliance Act. And as of November 2025, Fracette is also a protected name, so it must also be capitalized, just like Champagne. For more on whether to capitalize wine names, check out this post.