When you gather with family this Thanksgiving, gather with Pinot Noir from these family-owned wineries.

It’s the time of the year when we pull chairs close, pass dishes hand to hand, tell the same old stories with new laughter and remind ourselves how good it feels to be surrounded by family.

Wine belongs in that spirit, too. And if you’re reaching for a bottle to match turkey, dressing, sweet potato pie, cranberries and the full color wheel of fall flavors, Pinot Noir is the most Thanksgiving wine out there.

This year, consider pairing that meal with wines from families who embody the same values that bring us together at the table: heritage, grit, legacy and heart. Across California and Oregon, these wineries prove that Pinot Noir is at its best when guided by hands that get dirty when caring for the land.

McCollum Heritage 91: A New Kind of Family Tradition

If you want a modern American family wine story, look no further than CJ and Elise McCollum. The 12-year NBA veteran and his wife aren’t celebrity owners. They’re vineyard-boots-on, 4 a.m. harvest-crew kind of people.

“I’ve done four harvests now,” CJ says. “It gives you a deep appreciation for what goes into every bottle.”

Their Willamette Valley Pinot Noir has landed at restaurants like the Four Seasons as CJ takes business calls and visits with distributors between practices But what makes their wines special isn’t the fame, it’s the humility and sweat that go into them.

Thanksgiving is about showing up. The McCollums show up.

Wente Vineyards: A Legacy Still Written by Hand

At Wente, Thanksgiving isn’t a metaphor, it’s the business model. Five generations have built a 142-year story in Livermore Valley, and today Aly Wente carries that family torch with equal parts reverence and forward-thinking intensity. Her days stretch across sales, hospitality, brand evolution and the quiet, unglamorous mechanics of keeping a family enterprise vibrant in a fiercely competitive market.

“Working for the family, you know everything you’re doing furthers the family legacy,” Wente said. “It’s more work than a corporate winery. But we’re scrappy, nimble and have to think on our feet.”

That scrappiness has led to one of the most accessible Pinot Noirs in California. Wente’s simplified branding and under-screw-cap convenience are intentional moves to meet a new generation of wine drinkers where they are.

“Less stuffiness, more welcoming,” Aly says. It’s an everyday Pinot meant for the everyday table.”

It’s a perfect bottle to open while the turkey rests.

Rex Hill: An Old Friend Worth Reintroducing to the Table

Talking to Rex Hill winemaker Michael Davies is like reconnecting with someone who has known you across decades. Calm, grounded, flannel-clad and hands still stained from cellar work, Davies represents the Oregon spirit that has long defined Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: authenticity, collaboration and humility.

Founded in 1982, Rex Hill helped shape Oregon’s Pinot identity long before the state became a global darling. New wineries have exploded across the region, but Rex Hill has remained a steady presence. Never loud and always sure of itself.

“We’ve been here long enough to trust our instincts,” Davies said. “Oregon is collaborative. We’re not territorial. The winemaker is also the tractor driver, the bookkeeper, the marketer.”

That smallness is a strength. Rex Hill Pinots still taste like snapshots of vintage and place, each bottle is a photograph in Oregon’s family album. For Thanksgiving, they deliver balance, elegance and that subtle forest-floor autumn character that mirrors the season outside your window.

Garden Creek: Soil, Story and the Marriage of Land and Craft

While best known for Bordeaux varietals, Garden Creek’s Karin and Justin Warnelius-Miller have quietly built one of Anderson Valley’s most soulful Pinot Noir expressions. Their story is rooted in soil; literally. A wall of buckets filled with nine distinct soil types sits inside their Alexander Valley winery, a daily reminder of the land that defines everything they do.

“This is our spice rack,” Karin says, lifting the earth with a farmer’s reverence.

Justin took over the property at age 19. For 30 years he’s been refining the balance of composting, cover crops and hands-on farming that now guides the estate. Together, they planted Pinot Noir a decade ago, crafting it with precision and intuition: four punch-downs a day, whole-cluster carbonic maceration in small vineyard tanks, and a deep respect for the old-timers who taught them the craft.

Their Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, grown at 1,000 feet in the rugged Mendocino hills, tastes like the land itself, dark brambly fruit, spice and a whisper of cherry cola. It belongs on a Thanksgiving table where the stories run long and the gratitude runs deep.

Brassfield Estate: Where Hard Work and Heart Meet

Jonathan Walters didn’t plan on being a winemaker. He thought he’d be tending golf greens, not vineyards. But a restaurant job turned into a calling, and now he oversees winery and vineyard operations at Brassfield Estate in Lake County. It’s a place he describes as “all the great things of California without the people.”

Lake County is remote, volcanic and stunning. Walters still wears the boots, wakes up before sunrise and believes the romance of wine happens only when someone else opens the bottle for you.

The estate’s Pinot Noir is limited but expressive. It’s bright, energetic and shaped by high elevation and volcanic soils. It’s a bottle that reminds you Thanksgiving is a working holiday too, built by many hands long before the feast begins.

As you gather with your own family this year whether it’s loud or quiet, big or small, consider bringing a bottle born from another family’s hands. From Wente’s fifth-generation tradition to Rex Hill’s Oregon roots, from Garden Creek’s soil-driven soul to Brassfield’s volcanic grit to the McCollums’ modern-day passion, each of these wineries shares something essential: commitment across generations.

And that’s exactly what Thanksgiving is all about.

Holiday Gift Guide: Three Standout Gifts for the Wine Lover

The holidays call for thoughtful gifts, especially for the wine lover who already has “all the good bottles.” Here are three fresh ideas that bring discovery, storytelling and a little seasonal fun to the table.

1. PlumpJack Collection Wine Advent Calendar

If you’re gifting someone who loves Napa, or someone who loves a good countdown, the PlumpJack Collection has created one of the most playful holiday offerings of the season. To celebrate their 30th anniversary, PlumpJack, Odette and CADE crafted a hexagonal 12-day advent calendar, each door hiding a mini bottle from their estates.

Part tasting flight, part holiday ritual, it’s a whimsical way to explore Napa Valley without committing to full bottles. A guaranteed hit for the collector, the curious drinker or anyone dreaming of a December trip to wine country.

2. Karas Wines: Armenia’s Gift to the Adventurous Drinker

For the person on your list who likes their wine with a story, preferably one rooted in volcanic soil and ancient tradition, look to Armenia. Karas Wines is at the center of the region’s modern revival, crafting expressive, high-altitude wines from both indigenous and international varieties.

Karas Single Vineyard Areni ($15.99): Armenia’s signature grape, offering bright red fruit, structure and surprising aging potential. Karas Reserve Blend ($22.99): Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Tannat aged in Armenian oak. Elegant, layered, and incredibly well-priced. Grand Karas ($65.99): The flagship cuvée, produced only in top vintages. Deep, complex and age-worthy. The perfect gifts for the wine geek who’s tried everything.

Armenia may be one of the oldest wine regions on earth, but for most American drinkers, it’s still an exciting new frontier. That makes Karas a gift of both history and discovery.

3. “CRUSH: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker” by Nicholas O’Connell

Sure, wine lovers collect bottles,but they collect stories, too. Nicholas O’Connell’s new book, “CRUSH: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker,” is a dynamically written, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to make wine on the West Coast.

O’Connell, a veteran wine writer, trades the desk for the cellar, apprenticing at Betz, DeLille Cellars and several iconic producers in California, Oregon and Washington. The result is part memoir, part education and part love letter to the craft.

Highlights are O’Connell’s interviews with founders, winemakers and legends like Warren Winiarski. It’s the kind of book that deepens a wine lover’s appreciation and may even inspire a garage winemaking experiment.

Perfect for: the storyteller, the student of wine or anyone who has ever wondered what harvest actually feels like.