Christmas is the time of eating and drinking what you want, whenever you want. Every reason for treating yourself to good food around this time of year is “it’s Christmas!”. If you want to get the most out of celebrating the festive season, we’ve got you covered with our wines to drink at Christmas blog which looks at the different wines you need to compliment seasonal staples.
A usual Christmas day at your house may begin with something bubbly. If you’re not one for a standard bucks fizz with champagne or prosecco and orange juice, a sparkling wine is a great alternative. A sparkling white wine which produces a beautifully rounded easy to drink sparkling wine with white blossom & biscuit overtones is great for toasting with or pairing with a starter such as smoked salmon. It’s best to begin your meal with lighter wines when you have a fish or vegetable based dish to start with so that the wine doesn’t overpower the subtle flavours.
Before your main meal however, many opt for panettone, a festive favourite! Prosecco and panettone are known to be the ultimate Christmas pairing. The moist, rum soaked panettone alongside a fresh and light prosecco mix well together so the drier the prosecco the better.
If you are having a Christmas dinner with a traditional turkey, you’ll want a fruity red like a pinot noir, a smooth merlot or a full bodied shiraz to compliment the meat, stuffing, vegetables and cranberry sauce. This makes the Eleanor red wine a perfect match to serve with white meat. With a black cherry flavour, low tannins, mellow acidity and a long finish it is the ideal wine to drink while enjoying your roast turkey on Christmas day.
For a vegetarian option like a nut roast, we’d recommend a cabernet sauvignon or an oaked chardonnay. This is because the dark fruit flavours and spicy notes of the wine balances out the dark fruit flavours of the nut roast. A dry rosé is also a good partner for a vegetarian Christmas dinner as usually they include root vegetables so they are already sweet enough.
When it comes to the Christmas pudding, there is a rule that the chosen dessert wine should be sweeter than the pudding. Due to a Christmas pudding being very sweet due to being full of dried fruit and brandy which has overpowering flavours, it needs something full bodied like a ruby or tawny port.
If you are going against traditions and having a chocolate dessert after your big Christmas dinner, you don’t want a red wine as most red wines have tannins in them which can clash with the chocolate and create a bitter taste. For your wine pairing, you’ll need a light wine such as a sparkling white wine, or even a sparkling rosé. This will reduce the clash of richness and allow you to indulge and enjoy the full meal.
Christmas isn’t complete without a cheeseboard at some point. With soft cheese such as brie or camembert a pinot noir or an oaked chardonnay is a fantastic partner. Whereas cheese like stilton and cheddar need a tawny or ruby port depending on whether you prefer a nutty or fruity flavour.
After all of that, there is always room for a mince pie right? For the dried fruits and nuts of the mince pie, you’ll want a nutty tawny port. The acidity of the port evens out the richness of the mincemeat.
With only a few weeks to go until the celebrations begin you now have our best wines to drink at Christmas, it is best to be prepared with your wine for Christmas. Have a look at the online Yorkshire Heart shop, and discover the wines we have available to compliment your festive food.