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20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart

20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart

One of the most popular posts I’ve ever written on this site was one called 20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart - an easy reference guide to commit to memory.

Here’s a special Christmas version to help you through the next few days along with links to longer posts on the site which will give you more options

1. Smoked salmon + champagne or sauvignon blanc

Champagne is the more festive pairing but Sauvignon is the better match IMO.

2. Oysters + Chablis

A French tradition so a French wine. Muscadet and Picpoul de Pinet, both from oyster producing areas are also good options.

3. Duck (or chicken) liver parfait + pinot gris

I've chosen this in preference to foie gras as I don't personally eat it but like foie gras it can also take a wine with a touch of sweetness. You could even go for Sauternes or a similar sweet Bordeaux.

4. Seafood cocktail + Riesling

An off-dry riesling from, say, Washington State or New Zealand

5. Roast turkey + Rhone reds such as Chateauneuf du Pape

There are many other options but it's hard to beat this one.

6. Christmas ham + bright fruity reds such as shiraz or Beaujolais

The sweeter the glaze, the riper and fruitier the wine you need

7. Goose + Barolo or Chianti

Whites like spätlese riesling work too but most people would expect a red

8. Duck + Pinot Noir

Always works

9. Roast beef + Cabernet Sauvignon, red Bordeaux

Or, to tell the truth, almost any medium to full-bodied red you enjoy

10. Roast pork + Côtes du Rhône

Or, if you prefer a white and it's served with apple sauce , German or Alsace riesling

11. Baked salmon + white burgundy

Salmon and chardonnay is always a winner

12. Christmas pudding + muscat

Such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise or (a bargain this) Moscatel de Valencia

13. Christmas cake + tawny port

Sweet oloroso sherry is good too

14. Mince pies + cream or oloroso sherry or sweet madeira

Or port if that's what you happen to have open.

15. Chocolate Yule log + black muscat

Or any other sweet red wine

16. Stollen + auslese or other sweet riesling

But do check out the other options which are great too!

17. Panettone + prosecco

Cook's treat!

18. Trifle + Moscato d'Asti

Depending on the trifle and how boozy it is! Check my full post for more options.

19. Stilton + vintage port

THE Christmas pairing. Other types of port like Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) and 10 y.o. tawny are good too

20. Vacherin Mont d’Or + vintage champagne

Not the classic pairing of the region but a great way to end a meal!

You may also find the original 20 food and wine pairings to learn by heart useful.

Is there any other pairing you regard as classic or wouldn't miss over the Christmas period?

Image copyright jasoncoxphotography at fotolia.com


10 wines I enjoyed in 2019 that I'd like you to try too

10 wines I enjoyed in 2019 that I'd like you to try too

Why do we enjoy making (and, hopefully, reading), lists? I guess for some, like the “top-5” obsessed staff at Nick Hornby’s imaginary record store in High Fidelity, the idea of selection and hierarchy has inherent merit. For others, it can be the idea of taxonomies: putting some order into the chaos. Probably for all of us, the opportunity of thinking back to what we have experienced is what makes a landmark special. So, with the New Year approaching, I thought back to the wines that marked 2019 for me.

A list, however, that attempts to catch the “Top” or “Best” always runs the risk of turning too personal, too self-indulgent. After all, the most memorable wine moments we have are rarely because of the liquid itself. So, if you’ll indulge me, instead of my “best” wines of the year, here are 10 wines I had in 2019 that I think you should have too.

Happy new year everyone!

1. Billecart-Salmon Brut Sous Bois NV

Whisper it, but not everyone loves champagne. Or, to put it more accurately, not everyone loves the sparkling wines aficionados do. Friends and family have often had to fake approval after trying my latest favourite extra brut franciacorta or pas dosé champagne; it can be a challenging predicament being caught between a rather steely drink and a loved one staring back like an overexcited labrador. You don’t run any such risks with Billecart-Salmon’s Sous Bois, a blend of the classic champenois grape varieties, vinified and aged in oak casks. This is a rich, powerful champagne that understands elegance as muscle tone. It also speaks of grandness and festivity, so a good one for this time of the year – and even better for this time of the year 2021, as it will improve. Warning: you will need some serious canapés for this if young. I have served it to accompany a dinner of sea bass with roast vegetables and it shrugged that off casually. Proceed accordingly.

(£67.95, Fortnum & Mason)

2. Duran 5V Gran Reserva Brut 2012

Wine writers often feel that there are some wines that are perpetually misunderstood by the public and mistreated by the market. On the antipode of champagne’s glory and fame comes cava. Identified with the mass-produced offerings of Spanish conglomerates, it’s unsurprising most consider it a low-cost, entry level sparkling, like a brackish alternative to prosecco. That is, of course, only part of the story. There is another cava: fine, elegant, on par with any quality sparkling, yet distinctly different. Duran’s 5V, a blend of the three traditional varieties of macabeo, parellada, and xarel·lo, with the Champenois chardonnay and pinot noir, was one of my favourite examples this year. As above, you can serve this as an aperitif with suitably interesting starters (seafood would work particularly well), but I prefer it to accompany a main. I had it with salmon fishcakes and it worked like a charm.

(£18, Vinissimus)

3. Domaine Peillot, Roussette du Bugey-Montagnieu Altesse 2018

The concept of Alpine wines fascinates me. There is something particularly romantic about grapes that are grown in such a challenging environment. I don’t drink as many of them as I would like, partly because their availability is limited in the UK. For example, I’ve struggled to track down most labels described in Artisan Swiss, an excellent blog covering the wines of the Confoederatio Helvetica. You would probably find it similarly tricky to grab a bottle of the best product of the Alps I’ve had this year, the Aostan Les Cretes Fleur 2017, an electric, formidable wine keeping a fine balance between Northern coolness and an almost Mediterranean salinity. For a more easily available, and financially much less punishing, stand-in, I refer you to the ever-reliable Wine Society. Peillot’s Altesse has the gentleness and clarity I associate with the grape, but enough citrus on the palate and aftertaste to keep things interesting. Just the thing if you’re planning a fondue with the leftover Christmas cheese.

(£16, The Wine Society)

4. Planeta Eruzione 1614 Bianco 2017

It might not feel like it now, but summer does eventually come back every year and with it the appetite for fresh salads, fried zucchini, and grilled fish. You won’t be surprised to hear I favour Santorini whites above all else, but I’m always open to a supporting cast: Fiano and Falanghina from Campania, Albariño from Galicia and Xarel·lo from Catalonia, the Great White Classics of Burgundy. I’ve not always had a perfect track record with Carricante, Sicily’s answer to Assyrtiko, but Planeta’s Eruzione has been a favourite of mine lately. I don’t know if I can actually taste the small quantity of Riesling, or it’s just the idea it’s there, but I find an Alsatian twist in the aftertaste that works particularly well - and I’ve laid down a few bottles to see how it’ll do over time too.

(£29.50, Great Western Wine)

5. Gikas Pine Forest NV

Those more inclined to national stereotyping might think Greeks always need to have a retsina in their wines of the year. In reality, retsina is more a source of frustration than pride amongst the country’s vinerati, seen as unfairly sullying the good name of Greek wine to the older segments of Western populations. It might surprise you to hear that things have moved on. Earlier this year, I did a survey of the contemporary retsina scene. Amongst the novelties and oddities (pet-nat retsina, rosé retsina, retsina in amphora) one stood out: Pine Forest is 100% Assyrtiko, with only the gentlest suggestion of pine resin. Full-bodied, tense, and saline, it is probably the only retsina that will develop over the next two to four years - and it’s one for a Springtime seafood feast.

(approx. £10, Greece and Grapes)

6. The Society’s Exhibition Pauillac 2010

Supermarket and wine merchants’ own labels are rarely anything to write home about: unsurprisingly, producers do not reserve their finest wines for someone else’s brand. Happily though, there are still some reasonable buys to be found in the better years. The Wine Society’s 2010 Pauillac, from their premium Exhibition range, was released about this time last year and is just entering young adulthood now. A wine made for Beef Wellington, it provides a peek into the combination of firmness, leanness, and elegance associated with this most aristocratic of Bordeaux communes. Granted, it not exactly the finest example of its kind, but at £24 it is at least priced within the occasional reach of us mortals – you can buy a case of the allegedly monumental 2016 Lafite instead, but you’ll need to sell a moderately used Subaru Impreza for the privilege.

(£24, The Wine Society)

7. COS Pithos Rosso 2015

There must be few grapes in the wine world as mistreated as Nero d’Avola, usually making the bulk of bland, sugary concoctions, whose main aim seems to be to stay below the psychological threshold of £5, the inflation-unaware price ceiling first decreed, I believe, by Disraeli’s Super Market Minister. The COS Pithos feels like it’s made with the express intention of being the polar opposite. A blend of Nero d’Avola with the gentler Frappato, it could pass for Fixin in the glass. On the nose, it has earthiness and elegance; on the palate red fruit and freshness; on the aftertaste, length and hints of tannin. It is almost the platonic ideal of an accompaniment to a midweek plate of pasta with a rich red sauce. In a perfect world, it would also have a price to make it a midweek wine. Alas, as so often, quality comes with a price tag to match.

(£27, Buon Vino)

8. T-Oinos Mavro 2012

Santorini Assyrtiko has been arguably the greatest success Greek wine has ever had, with prices seemingly ever higher. While I mourn the loss of its status as one of the wine world’s greatest bargains, I can see it going even further up and deservedly so. I have struggled, however, to justify the dizzyingly high prices of Santorini’s red grape, Mavrotragano, which often appears to be over-oaked beyond any grape or terroir recognition. Thus, I approached the T-Oinos Mavro, a Mavrotragano-Avgoustiatis blend from Santorini’s Cycladic neighbour Tinos, with similarly low expectations. The dark, Argentian Malbec-like colour seemed to suggest more of the same. Yet, it all changed when I brought the glass to my nose, the aromas (ripe red fruit, hints of dark chocolate) promising that most elusive of qualities, finesse. The texture was pure velvet, the tannins having softened considerably after a few years in the cellar. It is not necessarily the best Greek red I’ve had this year, but it is the only one I would unhesitatingly call suave.

(£40, Corking Wines)

9. Château Suduiraut (for Waitrose) Sauternes 2011, Bordeaux

Sweet wines hold a peculiar position in the festive meal. By the time they arrive at the table, everyone is at least pleasantly tipsy, and thus very open to more drink. On the other hand, few are still in a frame of mind to fully appreciate how complex such wines can be. This, then, might not be the perfect time to serve your very best Sauternes. Yet, it is also not the time for something bland – and I am sorry to say that a good chunk of own label offerings I’ve tried are just that. An honourable exception is Waitrose’s Château Suduiraut 2011, delivering the tension between sweetness and acidity I am looking for in a Sauternes. The canonical match with Roquefort is not really my thing anymore (I’m more inclined to think lemon tart), but I’ve seen it perform admirably for others.

(£16 for 37.5 cl, Waitrose)

10. Graham’s 20 yo Tawny Port

Another plight of sweet wines is that they’re often called to accompany over-sweet desserts. Serve the Sauternes above with a traditional Christmas pudding, for example, and that beautiful tightrope walk will plunge into the rum-and-raisin depths. For such hearty fare, you’ll need something more substantial, such as Madeira, Maury, or, for something more off-piste, the sweet wines of Samos, about which I’ve written before. At this time of the year, however, I like to keep to the classics – and there is nothing more classically Christmassy as a tawny port. It’s a wine made for Christmas pudding, the nut and caramel aromas echoing the dessert’s spices, and the fortified backbone balancing the pudding’s richness. Do invest in the 20yo, a substantial upgrade over its 10yo sibling. It is Christmas after all.

(£30 on offer Ocado, and widely available for £40)

Image © Autthaseth

Peter Pharos likes drinking, talking and writing about the wines of Greece and Italy. He also writes a bimonthly column for timatkin.com.

Is Aldi or Lidl better value for your Christmas wine?

Is Aldi or Lidl better value for your Christmas wine?

Just as UKIP has shaken up the political landscape so Aldi and Lidl have changed the face of retailing in the UK. You might not have considered buying your wine there before but you certainly should this Christmas.

Which is the better shop to go to? Each has its strengths and weaknesses. I’d say Aldi had the better offers across the board - I’ll be posting some of their best wines for everyday drinking in the next few days - but Lidl has some real highspots too. Be aware that both operate on a WIGIG (when it’s gone, it’s gone) basis so you might find some lines - e.g. the 30 y.o. tawny port - are already sold out.

Here’s my pick of what each has to offer.

PARTY FIZZ

ALDI Philippe Michel Crémant du Jura 2012 £7.29 ****

Aldi consistently sells one of the best value sparkling wines in the country. Surprisingly it comes from the obscure Jura region in the east of France but is an elegant bottle of bubbly that’s just as enjoyable as champagne.

LIDL Cava Gran Cuvée 11.5% **** £7.49

Cava gets overlooked these days but this delivers the goods in a great-looking bottle. Fresh, clean and drier than prosecco.

CHAMPAGNE

ALDI Leon Launois Grand Cru Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2006 £22.99 *****

Champagne is the big battleground this Christmas and Aldi does of course have a budget line (the perfectly decent Veuve Monsigny at £11.99 ***) but if you feel like spoiling yourself this gorgeous blanc de blancs is a great price for a vintage fizz. Save it for seafood - maybe an Aldi lobster!

LIDL Champagne Grand Cru Brut £17.99 *****

Same message. Lidl’s basic Bissinger is decent but this is a significant step up. A really elegant, classy champagne - great for the price.

CHRISTMAS DAY WHITE

ALDI - Henri de Lorgère Macon Chardonnay 2013 £6.99 ****

A lovely creamy white burgundy that could pass for a much more expensive bottle. Would go with the Christmas turkey, if you prefer white to red. Better still with salmon or a festive fish pie.

LIDL - Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie 2012 12% £6.29 ****

You might not think Muscadet quite posh enough for the Christmas table but this good-looking bottle would be perfect with seafood or smoked salmon

CHRISTMAS DAY RED

LIDL - Gigondas, Calade des Eveques 13.5% £9.99 *****

I was tempted to pick the smooth, mellow Chateau Roylland Saint-Emilion Grand Cru **** 2008 but at £12.99 it’s a little more than you might want to spend especially at Lidl but this Gigondas - a Chateauneuf-du-Pape drinkalike - is a real bargain. Definitely one for the turkey.

ALDI - The Exquisite Collection Crozes Hermitage 2012 £8.99 12.5% *****

Aldi’s Exquisite Collection Gigondas, also at £9.99 is good too **** but this big, generous spicy Crozes Hermitage is even better, a pound cheaper and only 12.5%. Would go with turkey but better still with beef.

SWEET WINES

LIDL - Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh 2011 £7.99 *****

You may not be able to pronounce it (it’s pash-er-anc dew vic beel) but this tiny region of south-west France is one of the country’s hidden treasures. Locally they would drink it with foie gras but it’s also perfect with Christmas pudding.

ALDI - Selection Beerenauslese 11% £5.99 ****

From the best wine region in Austria for sweet wine, this lush beerenauslese is a fantastic buy. Delicious with a light fruity trifle or a festive pavlova. Or sip it with stollen

PORT

LIDL - 10 year old tawny £9.99 ****

A lovely rich nutty tawny - perfect for the Christmas cheeseboard. The best 10 y.o. tawny for the price I've tasted.

ALDI - Maynard’s 30 year old tawny port £29.99 ****

I’m not a big fan of Aldi’ Maynard’s ports as a rule but this deeply nutty 30 y.o. version is a bargain for a port of this age and would make a splendid present. Sip with dark chocolate and nuts. Or some aged parmesan.

Beers to match Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Christmas alternatives to turkey

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall proclaims firmly in The Guardian today that he won’t be serving turkey for lunch on Christmas Day so if he’s going to break with tradition why shouldn’t you? Bring on the beer!

Roast haunch of venison with celeriac, juniper and bay
Venison is usually gamey and juniper accentuates that so this needs a strong Trappist beer or bière de garde in my opinion. I’ve just had an email from a local Bristol wine merchant Corks of Cotham, which also has an excellent beer list, saying they have magnums of Chimay Blue and jeroboams of Chimay Blue Grande Reserve which would be perfect. I imagine you can get them from other beer specialists too.

Roast beef with horseradish, beetroot and parsley
A classic English roast that calls for a classic English ale. Something like Timothy Taylor Landlord, Adnams Broadside or Marston’s Double Drop.

Slow roasted pork shoulder
Although this recipe originated from the deep south and is cooked with red wine I still fancy my favourite beer pairing with pork - an American IPA (India Pale Ale). Goose Island IPA is the most widely available here - American readers will be spoilt for choice.

If I can’t persuade you to drink beer (shame!) and you want a wine pairing with any of these dishes just drop me a line at fiona@matchingfoodandwine.com

What to buy the winelover who has everything

Some of the most difficult people to buy presents for are serious wine collectors. Unless you have a cellar of your own from which to pluck a suitable bottle it’s quite hard to find something that will ring their bell (obscure sweet wines and sherries, I generally find, being the best bets)

An alternative approach is to select something edible - or drinkable - that involves a degree of connoisseurship to engage their interest such as coffee, olive oil, cheese or chocolate.

A brilliant present if you’re feeling flush would be a year’s subscription to a scheme which sends you goodies regularly during the year. My top pick would be the Roastmaster’s Selection from Union Hand Roasted (who used to call themselves Union Coffee Roasters) who will send two packs a month with accompanying notes and even food pairing suggestions! I’ve known the guys who run it - Jeremy Torz and Steven Macatonia - since they set up their first micro-roastery in the early '90s and have been a big fan of theirs ever since. If you don’t want to spend that much or need a more tangible gift you can buy their coffees in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose (and other supermarkets for all I know)

For artisanal cheese I would head to the Fine Cheese Company in Bath which again runs a monthly subscription scheme. It’s now past their Christmas deadline but you could order a delivery for January, a nice treat when all the Christmas fun and feasting is over. A monthly ‘class’, as they describe it costs £32.50, post and packing included. You also get a box of their very elegant crackers (biscuits not Christmas crackers!)

If you want to buy a single cheese the cheese this Christmas is Stichelton, a new unpasteurised version of Stilton, made the traditional way. You can buy it from Neal’s Yard in Covent Garden and Borough Market and from other good cheese shops and cheese counters (I spotted it in Fortnum & Mason the other day)

A classy bottle of olive oil also makes a good present. Or you could buy two or three from different countries or regions to compare. For a wine lover it might be intriguing to have a selection of oils from different wine estates such as Morgenster in South Africa or Planeta in Sicily, which I'm amazed to find you can now buy on Amazon. Or again there are online options such as Oil & More

Finally, chocolate. Apart from William Curley, whose seductive shop I wrote about the other day I’d head for Rococo which makes the most fabulous chocolate bars (the dark chocolate and cardamom is my favourite) They have three London shops in King’s Road, Chelsea, Marylebone High Street and Motcomb Street in Belgravia and you can buy a limited selection from Waitrose and from other independent shops such as the Algerian Coffee Stores in Old Compton Street (another fun place to shop). I also like their ‘Dinner Party Boxes', especially the Wild Boar Box which is full of fresh cream truffles. A fun present to take any host over the holiday period.

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