By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When it comes to good health, Dr. Thomas Fogarty recommends a glass of wine.

"Wine, by all scientific research criteria, should not be viewed so much as an alcoholic beverage, but as a health food," says the cardiovascular surgeon. Fogarty, a Cincinnati native who holds scores of patents on medical instruments, says moderate wine consumption is good for the heart because it can help lower both cholesterol and blood pressure.

But Fogarty, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, is more than just a wine advocate. In 1981, he founded a winery on 325 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.

So if you plan to lift a glass to the health of everyone gathered at the table on Thanksgiving, I recommend the Thomas Fogarty 2001 "Monterey" Gew¸rztraminer ($15.99).

Made from grapes grown in the Salinas Valley, this gew¸rztraminer has the perfumed aroma of honeysuckle. The taste of the medium-bodied white is sweet - like the syrup in fruit cocktail - with notes of apple and pear, and an undertone of grapefruit.

A fine accompaniment to turkey, this white also provides a counterbalance to spicy food. The sweet, crisp Fogarty Gew¸rztraminer goes great with hot mustard, onion and pickles on a kaiser roll with leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving, too.

E-mail sips@enquirer.com