Thanksgiving can be a high pressure event with all of the food prep, guest preferences, wine selections and seating arrangements, but it doesn't have to be!

We'll try to pare down the preparations by offering up a starting point for wine picks and pairings. You will also find that most of the wines fall right under the $20 price point, as a houseful of guests can clip the wine budget fairly quickly. Check out the 2009 Thanksgiving Wine Picks here.

Yes, it's here again - the third Thursday of November and the "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!' signs (The New Beaujolais has arrived) are out in full force at local wine shops. Beaujolais Nouveau is always the first vintage released, a mere six weeks post harvest, and just in time to be a festive partner at the Thanksgiving table (be sure to serve it slightly chilled). Beaujolais Nouveau is made from the thin-skinned Gamay grape and typically offers little to no tannins, a light-body and red fruit flavor along with a bit of banana in the profile (thanks to carbonic maceration). It is an easy-going, fun wine that doesn't take itself or it's role to seriously - and that is something to celebrate!

Being dubbed the most food-focused day of the year, doesn't stop Thanksgiving from taking a bit of work to match limitless beverage preferences from friends and family members gathered around the table.

If you've got a beer man, a coffee queen, a cocktail fan and a wine enthusiast all gathered around the bird this year and aren't sure what drinks to serve, don't fret the About.com Drinks Guides have got you covered. Check out the latest recommendations for Thanksgiving beverage pairings and drink inspirations here.

At a recent winemaker's dinner with Souverain's Ed Killian, I tried the '06 Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County's acclaimed Alexander Valley. This is a fantastic Cab with rich, ripe red fruit debuting on the nose and black cherry, plum and a generous dusting of cocoa making its way across the palate. A dense, chewy Cab with stunning structure and well-placed tannin integration, the Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon offers up a concentrated red wine brimming with dark, layered fruit, depth and intriguing complexity.

If you are looking for a stand-out Cab to have on hand for the upcoming holidays, this is it - extremely versatile, full-flavored and well-priced. Give it a go with prime rib, filet mignon or a myriad of smoked meats.

Reading a wine label can be as easy as reading the alphabet or as difficult as trying to decode a foreign language, it all depends on whose label it is and where it is from. New World labels tend to vere towards the straight-forward, "here's what it is" approach, with the varietal or blend clearly labeled, the producer, where the grapes were grown and the alcohol content right there in plain view. Old World wines have a reputation for "masking" key info., but this is not the case at all. If you know what to be looking for, you can easily decipher the pertinent label information with very little effort. Instead of the varietal being the primary piece of information on the Old World label, it is the location - where the wine is from. Old World wines are heavily invested in their individual terroir, not necessarily the specific grape, though if you know the region, then you will also have a pretty good handle on the possible grapes that made their way into the bottle.

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, there is no better time to start planning your Thanksgiving dinner menu and selecting wines to complement the feast. Historically, the week before Thanksgiving is also a great time to buy wine as many wine merchants run specials on preferred holiday wines.

While the turkey may claim center stage on most Thanksgiving Day tables, if you limit the scope of your Thanksgiving wine pairing to the bird you'll have missed ample opportunity to showcase exciting varietals against the flavor backdrop of an interesting array of tastes and textures, as presented by your favorite family side dishes.

Interested in learning which wines are most likely to bring out the best in your Thanksgiving day menu? Check out key varietals that promise easy Thanksgiving pairing potential with minimum risk and maximum flavor here.

ForeFront is a new project by Pine Ridge Winery that offers consumers a wine experience that lives up to the Pine Ridge reputation for stellar quality buoyed by the economy's call for lower prices. To that end ForeFront wines are offered at a suggested retail price range of $16-24, with many merchants staying at $20 and below. Intended to be approachable, everyday wines high on pairing versatility and light on the wallet, the three wines that I've sampled from this project are offering all that and more.

We just enjoyed an early Thanksgiving "preview" dinner to test out some wine candidates for the big meal when it officially arrives in a few weeks. The ForeFront Sauvignon Blanc was a unanimous favorite, especially with the turkey, stuffing and garlic mashed potato meal components. On the nose, you'll find a generous splash of citrus with the aromatics spotlight settling on grapefruit and lime, followed by a rich palate profile that melds into vibrant tropical fruits and flashes of minerality all overlaid by refreshing, well-honed acidity. This is an undeniably crisp, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc that maintains its energy from highly aromatic start to full-flavored, lengthy finish. A "fool-proof" wine to feature center stage with turkey and sides, the 2008 ForeFront Sauv Blanc won't leave you hanging this Thanksgiving.

Disclosure: A sample was provided for review. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

Yesterday I had the chance to run through a series of eight Chilean wines via an online wine tasting hosted by Wines of Chile. All of the wines were either 100% Carmenere or a blend with Cab or Carignan. The tasting featured eight Carmenere wines each introduced by eight young, dynamic winemakers, who took turns speaking to their spotlighted wine.

We began with an attention-grabbing $10 treasure and finished up with a delicious $44 dollar Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere blend, with the majority of the wines in the lineup falling under the $20 mark. This tasting offered further testimony to the critical role South America is playing in providing the current market with wines at stellar QPR (Quality to Price Ratio).

The wine samples were shipped out prior to the tasting and presented in ascending order by price point. As a side note the Carmenere grape originally came from France (surprise, surprise!), but has in large part been forsaken by the French and is alive and well, thriving in Chile. Check out the Carmenere tasting series here.

The 2006 Cambria Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir is a wine to keep in mind as you start your search for Thanksgiving day wines. This is a ripe, supple Pinot Noir with solid cherry, cranberry and strawberry flavors. A food-friendly red wine that would certainly support the herb-based flavors of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, due in large part to the wine's earthy character, elegant balance and fine finish wrapped in vanilla and warm cinnamon spice.

If you are interested in picking this wine up online, Wine.com has it at a decent price here.

Internet retailing giant, Amazon.com, is bagging its quest for selling wines online through the recently created AmazonWine outlet. The three tiered wine distribution is tricky to navigate on many levels, however, when you throw in the state specific legalities for wine shipping and distribution in all 50 states, the picture gets pretty bleak. For now, Amazon looks like they are going to let this deal fade, but you never know with ongoing grass roots efforts from organizations like Free the Grapes, legislative changes, while painstakingly slow, are taking place. Catch the details here. Have thoughts on wine distribution law or online wine buying? Pipe up at the Wine Forum.