For the holidays, don't pore over what to pour

The holidays create quandaries: Where will you seat everyone? How will you keep tipsy Aunt Tootsie from falling into the pie?

The holiday question I'm asked most often is: How can you pick a wine to match all those flavors on the holiday table? Food and wine pairings typically focus on a single wine with a single dish.

Ask a wine-fiend friend for a suggestion, and you'll probably hear pinot noir (fruity red) and Gewurztraminer (fruity, sweet white). Not bad ideas, if somewhat predictable.

Don't sweat the wine. Open one of everything. Any good wine will match something on the menu, and most likely will match the majority. Food-wine pairings don't have to be difficult and stressful.

You might experiment to find new and interesting food-wine combinations. Or pick a theme, such as only American wines. That's fine, but if you're Italian American, there's nothing wrong with celebrating your heritage with Italian wines. And if you drink French to the exclusion of all else, by all means stick with your Burgundies.

And maybe include a wine from the harvest just completed. Beaujolais Nouveau goes on sale each year, the third Thursday in November. Some U.S. wineries sell a nouveau as well. Sure, your wine-geek brother-in-law might turn up his nose at something so juicy and unpretentious, but so what? He can drink whatever he brings.

Local wines would be another good theme. You might even impress your out-of-town relatives with your stories about local wine country.

Whichever theme you choose (country, region, global), some pointers:

• Bubbles go with everything. Champagne, cava, prosecco, franciacorta and all sorts of sparkling wines and ciders are exceptionally food-friendly. More important, they cleanse your palate (that "scrubbing bubbles" commercial comes to mind), leaving you refreshed for the next bite. So begin the celebration with bubbly, and don't forget to take the bottle to the table when you sit down.

• Look for a fruity white wine. Riesling's acidity acts like sparkling wine's bubbles, and you can choose from bone-dry to slightly sweet Rieslings depending on your mood or audience. Viognier or a white blend based on petit manseng can play off any citrus notes on the menu (as well as the cranberries). If you're looking for more heft in a white, a good barrel-fermented chardonnay can match the strongest flavors on the menu, as long as the fruit and acidity aren't overwhelmed by oak flavors.

• Certain red wines are extremely versatile with food. These are generally lighter reds, such as pinot noir, barbera and gamay (the grape of Beaujolais). Moving up the spectrum toward heavier wines, syrah and nebbiolo are good choices. The heaviest reds, such as cabernet sauvignon and merlot, are often quite oaky; they may match the turkey but might not cozy up next to all the fixings.

• The dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert. A rich Vin Santo-style wine, a Pedro Ximenez sherry or a fortified dessert wine such as tawny Port or Madeira would be ideal with pumpkin pie.

Oh, and if Aunt Tootsie tends to refill her glass to the brim with your most expensive wines, be sure to offer her subsequent, and partial, glasses yourself. She'll appreciate the extra attention. Just keep an eye on the dessert spread.