Everyone in the advice-giving trade – from priests and psychiatrists to wine writers – knows that there are really only a handful of profound truths.The trick is to recycle them in ways that illuminate them or at least make them seem fresh.

So it is with Thanksgiving wine advice.The profound truth of Thanksgiving wine advice is simply this: It’s no time to exhume your cherished bottles. Unless your family is enthusiastically and universally devoted to fine wine – and I have yet to meet such an American family – my role as caregiver to your wine wellbeing requires me to warn you against your best instincts of generosity.

The corollary to this is yet another truth: You don’t want to serve something lousy, either. After all, your palate is involved, never mind your reputation. (Many families now seem to have a designated wine supplier. I’m assuming that you’re it.) So the trick is to choose wines that will please everyone, including, of course, you.

“Smooth” is the operative word in choosing wines, as most Thanksgiving tables typically encompass a range of wine interests, from meek to geek. Turkey is an accommodating bird, so both red and white are equally in order.

HERE’S THE DEAL

ARGYLE BRUT 2000 When it comes to choosing wine -for either critic or consumer – one of the most bewildering is sparkling wine. The reason extends beyond the sheer abundance of offerings. Instead, like perfumes, there’s a lot of packaging and posturing involved. Is this (beautiful) bottle really worth $140? Is that (not quite as lovely) bubbly just as good at $40?

The reality is that sparkling wine, whether from France’s Champagne region or anywhere else, is a world made rather than a world born (with apologies to e.e. cummings). All sparkling wines are compositions, usually of two or more grape varieties – chardonnay and pinot noir – and numerous vineyard sites. The winemaker at the end of process always determines dryness or sweetness by adding a measured dosage of sweetener.

So does place make no difference at all in bubbly? Oh, it does. But not to the same penetrating degree as for a single-vineyard “pure play” chardonnay or pinot noir. Cool climate matters mightily. Champagne’s chalk soil can indeed make itself known in the best French bottlings (although it’s often lost in the lesser versions, where yields are excessive). Assuming that the best sparkling wine is automatically a French Champagne is an expensive mistake.

Proof is found in this exceptional sparkling wine from Argyle, located in the cool greenness of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. This really is exceptional bubbly, good enough to take on (and beat) many far more famous names, never mind its bargain price.

A blend of chardonnay (55%) and pinot noir (45%) grown in a supremely cool climate, what sets this sparkling wine apart from others is not just the delicacy of its wine, but also the unusually long amount of aging lavished upon it.

Argyle Brut 2000 has been aged on its flavor-enhancing lees or sediment in the bottle (which gets disgorged only upon release) for four years. Most French Champagnes, in comparison, see only half that amount of time of aging. Longer aging creates a more resonant, dimensional flavor and a richer, more “layered” scent.

This is an absolutely dry yet rich sparkling wine, the sort that you can drink through an entire meal. And you simply can’t beat the price: $19.95.

MOUNT EDEN VINEYARDS “SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS” CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2002 In a world of ludicrously overpriced California cabernets, there’s still the almost too-good-to-be-true Mount Eden Vineyards. This spectacularly sited vineyard, which lies 2,000 feet above Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is textbook perfect.

Mount Eden’s vines are old; its yields are fabulously low (between 1 and 2 tons an acre; Napa Valley crops two or three times that). The soil creates wines that deliver a noticeable mineral character. And the high elevation installs finesse through beautiful acidity.

Not least, co-owner and winemaker Jeffrey Patterson has a deft touch. His wines, red and white, are never too oaky, too tannic or too much of anything. Too good to be true? You can agree for yourself with this just-released 2002 estate-bottled cabernet sauvignon. A blend of cabernet sauvignon (75%), merlot (22%); and cabernet franc (3%), this is a succulent, mineral-inflected red wine of uncommon character and seductive smoothness. You can smell the minerals and taste a berryish (loganberry, raspberry) fruit intensity with very supple, fine-grained tannins.

If this wine hailed from Napa Valley, it would command $100 a bottle. But Mount Eden Vineyards doesn’t have that privilege. Their loss, our gain. This wine asks just $34.95 a bottle. At that price, it’s simply a steal for a great cabernet sauvignon. If you buy just one cabernet this year, get this.

OREMUS TOKAJI DRY “MANDOLAS” 2003 It’s difficult to come upon a completely new wine type. Usually it’s a matter of an ancient grape being transferred to a new locale, such as pinot noir in New Zealand’s South Island.

But Hungary’s ancient wine district Tokaj (pronounced toe-koy), which grows its indigenous grape, furmint, to create is famous sweet wine, has no tradition of creating a dry wine from furmint. Only now, in response to a modern world, has it done so.

The results are mixed so far. Most of Tokaj’s dry furmint bottlings are nothing special. But one stands out: the dry furmint from the Oremus winery (which is owned by Spain’s most famous winery, Vega-Sicilia).

This is exceptional dry white wine. A medium-deep yellow gold in hue, it’s a lush, thick-textured, utterly dry white wine with a prominent scent of almonds or marzipan, which follows through in taste, allied with a touch of honey and wildflowers. This is a rich, dry white wine that goes better with turkey than almost any chardonnay. It’s terrifically inviting, as is the bargain price: $14.95. This is worth seeking out.