Christmas is all about indulgence and more wine is consumed at this time of year than any other. But rather than just glugging back whatever you can get your hands on, if you want to complement your Christmas dinner rather than drown it in a sea of cheap plonk, it pays to put a little thought into the wine you serve.
Having said that, there’s no place for snobbery at Christmas – this is the festive season and there’s no other time of year when wine lovers are free to drink what they want, when they want, with complete impunity.
There’s no better way to get the celebrations off to a flying start than with a glass of bubbly. If the budget is tight, skip the expensive branded Champagnes and ask the experts at your local wine store for good lesser-known brands. Alternatively, opt for a good Spanish Cava instead – these are often every bit as good as many Champagnes and typically cost a good deal less.
Serve the Champers with pre-meal nibbles or while guests are unwrapping their presents and the gathered throng will be feeling suitably festive in no time at all.
When it comes to the white wine you serve with the meal itself, you’ll want something that complements the traditional turkey. Luckily for hosts, turkey itself is a very versatile food that lends itself well to pairing with many different white wines. You’ll know your own tastes and presumably the tastes of your guests, so stick to white wines that you know will be appreciated and enjoyed. There’s no need to go overboard with the budget, it’s likely that guests will be more appreciative of a plentiful supply of decent quality wine rather than a couple of half glasses of some extremely pricey vintage.
Stick to tried and tested wine varieties that will have the guests happily sipping away. Pinot Gris is a wine that is growing in popularity each year and it goes very well with your turkey meal. Californian Pinot Gris are readily available in supermarkets and wine merchants, usually for a reasonable price tag.
For a safer option, go for the ever-dependable Chardonnay, or try a Sauvignon Blanc. Both are popular white wines that combine well with turkey.
If you want to carry on the sparkling wine theme after the Champers has been swigged, feel free to do so. Sparkling wines lend a festive spirit to the meal and you don’t have to spend a fortune – just stay away from sweet sparkling white wines as they will not work well with the main meal.
When it comes to dessert, however, you will have free rein to indulge your sweet tooth and that extends to the white wine that accompanies the indulgent puddings. Whether you’re serving mince pieces, traditional Christmas pudding, Christmas cake or even all three, you’ll want a wine that works well with such sweet treats. Open a bottle of sweet dessert wine and you’ll round off the meal nicely. There are lots of different pudding wines on the market and note the smaller size of most of the bottles. These are not wines to be glugged back, but sipped and savoured, the intense sweetness being rather too much if drunk in large quantities.
If you’re new to to the world of dessert wines, it pays to opt for a well-known bottle that has received some positive reviews. Muscat dessert wines are usually very good, with notable flavours of dried fruit that will nicely complement fruity mince pies and plum pudding. As dessert wines are stronger than regular white wines both in taste and in alcohol, this is one area that justifies spending a little more. A little dessert wine goes a long way, so you might want to spend a little more on a quality bottle, such as the legendary Consantia muscat wine from South Africa.
If this is all just a little bit too sweet for your tastes, you might want to try investing in a semi-sweet bottle of Reisling, which will go well with your dessert without going overboard on the sweetness. Fortified wines such as sherry are also popular ways to round off the meal and go very well with biscuits and cheese, should anybody have any room left after all that Christmas feasting.
One thing that it is important to remember when serving white wine at Christmas is that it should be all about enjoyment. This is one time of year when wine lovers are free to tear up the drinking rule book, so if you want to have a breakfast of Champagne and selection box chocolates, go for it.
