1999 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia, S.A., Vina Cubillo Crianza

This classic Rioja is from one of the oldest houses in Rioja, founded in 1877 and still owned by the Lopez de Heredia family. Their big bomber is the Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva. But for the Thanksgiving meal with all its competing flavors and chaotic family goings on, Vina Cubillo, their entry-level Rioja, is perfect.

The 1999 is supple and fresh, with plummy fruit and a lively spicy finish. Made with every one of the traditional Rioja grapes -- Tempranillo, Garnacha (Grenache), Viura, Mazuelo and Graciano -- and aged for three years in large oak casks, Vina Cubillo can hold its own course by course. In Haro, the center of the Rioja wine trade, it’s served in countless tapa bars to accompany just about everything. And that, in essence, is what it’s required to do at Thanksgiving.

-- S. Irene Virbila

*

Quick swirl

Region: Rioja, Spain

Price: About $20

Food it goes with: Not only turkey, but just about everything.

Where you find it: Beverages & More in Pasadena, West Hollywood, Thousand Oaks, Van Nuys, Huntington Beach, Orange, Irvine and Encinas; Silverlake Wine in Los Angeles, (323) 662-9024; Wine Exchange in Orange, (714) 974-1454; (800) 76WINEX; Wine House in West Los Angeles, (310) 479-3731; and Woodland Hills Wine Company in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111.