The best wine pairings with cheese fondue, raclette and tartiflette

Even if you’re not currently on the slopes you might want to take your chance to make one of the great ski-food classics, fondue, raclette or tartiflette. 

This post dives into my choice wine pairings - and favourite recipes - for these indulgent Alpine dishes. 

All, of course, involve melted cheese which isn’t the easiest thing to pair with wine, especially reds. In general (but not always) I’d go for crisp or aromatic white wines of the kind that are popular in the regions from which these dishes originate and avoid full-bodied, tannic reds.

Here are a few wine suggestions that I think work best with fondue, raclette and tartiflette:

Cheese fondue

The best wine I’ve found for fondue is a crisp dry white such as Swiss Chasselas or a Chignin or Roussette from Savoie. These wines are relatively hard to come by, however, but other crisp dry whites can work.

Muscadet, Chablis, dry Alsace or Austrian riesling or a young grüner veltliner would all be fine. If you fancy a red make it a fresh, light-bodied one like a young red burgundy, gamay or Dole. Or a poulsard from the Jura.

And here’s my favourite fondue recipe!

Raclette

Here potatoes and sometimes cold meats are involved which mitigates the intense cheesiness. I’d still go for a similar crisp white as the above but it could take a slightly more robust red like a gamay from the Auvergne or even an inexpensive Côtes du Rhône.

Tartiflette

Image by AS Foodstudio at shutterstock.com

Tartiflette is like a super-charged gratin dauphinoise, with added bacon and Reblochon cheese. It originally comes from Savoie so again those wines I recommend with cheese fondue will work well. You could also try a savagnin or a Coteaux du Jura. (There’s a good recipe here in Felicity Cloake’s excellent ‘The Perfect’ series for the Guardian. Or try my slightly less time consuming après-work tartiflette. 

Top image © stockcreations at shutterstock.com

The best wine pairings for turbot (updated)

Turbot is a luxurious fish you might well be serving over the holiday period, most probably roast or seared. But what sort of wine should you pair with it?

Personally I prefer a white to a red - a serious white burgundy or other equally lush full-bodied white.

It’s often served with a deeply savoury sauce, sometimes with mushrooms that suits a white with some bottle age.

Here are some whites to choose from

*oaked white Rioja - consistently undervalued, rich savoury fish dishes like this are where white rioja comes into its own.

*top quality Douro whites

*white Hermitage or white Saint Joseph - depending on your budget (in other words a Roussanne or Marsanne or blend of the two). And, by similar logic, a white Chateauneuf-du-Pape which is what we drank for my last big birthday as you can see here. 

*white Roussillon wines based on Grenache Gris and/or Grenache Blanc - or white Minervois as in this post

*white burgundy or other serious chardonnay - particularly if you’re serving your turbot with a buttery sauce such as beurre blanc. That includes aged Grand Cru Chablis

*aged dry white Bordeaux

*good quality Soave

*top quality vintage champagne is always a winner with rich fish. Here are 3 pairings from a Leclerc Briant lunch that made my Match of the Week slot.

*sake (I haven’t tried this I must confess but it strikes me it would work really well)

If you do want to drink red I’d suggest a mature red burgundy or other good quality pinot noir though there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink a more robust red like a Bordeaux if the sauce includes red wine.

Image ©Jacek Chabraszewski at shutterstock.com

What to drink with the turkey leftovers

The answer to the question of what to drink with the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey leftovers might well be ‘whatever wine’s left over’ - if there is any, of course - but if you’re looking for a wine or other drink to match specific dishes here are a few ideas.

It depends of course on whether you’re eating the turkey cold or reheated - in a creamy sauce like a turkey pot pie or tetrazzini for example or a turkey curry or stir-fry.

Turkey, like chicken, is a relatively bland meat, especially when it’s cold so it’s much more about the other ingredients or sides you serve with it.

The classic Boxing Day - or Black Friday - spread - cold turkey, ham, chips and pickles - or turkey sandwiches

Although they’re mainly cold the Boxing Day leftovers have enough in the way of Christmas flavours to call for a bright, fruity red.

My ideal pairings would be Beaujolais, Mencia, young Cabernet Franc from the Loire or a vividly fruity young Pinot Noir or Syrah but a fruity rosé would work equally well if you’re in the mood.

A sparkling cider, often overlooked at Christmas, would also be delicious - or a pale ale.

Turkey pot pie

Depends a little bit on the sauce but if you’re going for the classic béchamel I’d pick a creamy Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc. You could also go for a Viognier or a blonde ale.

Turkey Tetrazzini

An American-style pasta bake made with turkey, mushrooms, cheese - and sometimes a dash of sherry makes this a richer dish than the pie above. I’d go for an aromatic wine like a pinot gris myself. You could serve an traditional oaked white Rioja or - a bit of an off-the-wall choice - a crisp Savagnin from the Arbois region of France which works really well with hot cheesy dishes.

Turkey curry

The ideal wine pairing will depend on the sauce and how hot it is. Assuming you’re not blowing your guests’ heads off and it’s a relatively mild one I’d go for a strong fruity rosé or a Viognier. If you’re giving your turkey the Thai green curry treatment try an Alsace, New Zealand or Oregon pinot gris.

Asian-style turkey salad

If you’re adding some fresh south-east Asian flavours to your leftovers as in this fresh-tasting salad try an Australian Riesling or Austrian Gruner Veltliner. A zippy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would work well too.

Image © stevem - Fotolia.com

Six of the best wines with a nut roast

You might be surprised that a nut roast isn’t that different from a conventional roast when it comes to finding a wine pairing.

The savoury flavours are designed to act as a satisfying substitute for meat and so work best with similarly full-bodied red wines.

Especially at Christmas you’re likely to be having them with the same kind of vegetables to the turkey - and possibly even the same gravy (so long as it’s not turkey stock-based, obviously).

There is one wild card though I probably wouldn’t serve with a turkey but would be terrific with a nut roast ....

Go on - be bold. I dare you!

Robust rhone or Languedoc red

Based on local grapes like grenache, mourvedre, cinsault and syrah the robust flavours of southern French reds work really well with the intensely savoury flavours of a nut roast. Other GSM (grenache/syrah/mourvèdre) blends should work too as would a northern Rhône syrah such as Crozes Hermitage

Cabernet sauvignon

Lots of nut roasts contain cheese and so pair well with cabernet, especially a cab with a couple of years’ bottle age

Pinot noir

If your nut roast contains mushrooms you’ll probably find a pinot goes well with it but I’d make it a medium to full-bodied one as opposed to a light youthful red burgundy

Chardonnay

Also a good match for a mushroom-rich nut roast, especially with a wild mushroom gravy. Though if there are chestnuts and a red wine gravy involved as in this recipe I’d again go for a red like a merlot or malbec.

Oaked white rioja

I’m sure the Spanish wouldn’t dream of it (I doubt they eat nut roasts anyway) but why not? One of the world’s most underrated whites

Amontillado sherry

Now this is a wild card and I wouldn’t serve it to a tableful of guests but if there’s just a couple of you and you’re sherry fans a medium dry amontillado sherry would be great.

Whatever wine you choose if you’re a veggie, or serving a nut roast to one, you need to check whether the wine is suitable for vegetarians - in other words that it’s not fined with any animal-derived products.

Photo © Monica Shaw