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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?
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Pairing Cheese and Champagne
Cheese and champagne might not sound like natural bedfellows but if you think about the pairing for a moment you immediately realise they have quite a thing going. Many canapés - like gougères and cheese straws - are made with cheese for example and go wonderfully well with champagne but what about individual cheeses?
I had the opportunity to taste a range of cheeses with champagne recently and came to a few new conclusions.
- Mild slightly chalky cheeses work well. The classic example is Chaource, a cheese which is often paired with champagne but a mild but flavourful cheese like Gorwydd Caerphilly is good too. Very mild cheese like Mozzarella is an undemanding but also slightly uninteresting match
- Rosé champagne seems a more flexible partner than ordinary non-vintage. We tried two - a Moet rosé and a Benoit Marguet Grand Cru Rosé and they both showed well, particularly with Mistralou (goats cheese wrapped in chestnut leaf) and a Brie de Meaux. But a stronger goats’ cheese killed the Marguet stone dead so you need to take care.
- An Ossau Iraty sheeps cheese went well with most of the champagnes - the slightly nutty taste and smooth texture of hard sheeps’ cheese seems a good foil to champagne
- Washed rind cheeses as usual are tricky. If they’re not too mature, like the Reblochon and Langres we tried, they may work but if they’ve been allowed to get very mature like an incredibly gooey St Marcellin they’ll slaughter champagne (along with most other wines)
- Strong blues, as might be expected, are quite overwhelming but the creamy texture of Stichelton, an unpasteurised verson of Stilton, made it an unexpectedly good match for an elegant low dosage Jacquesson 732 (though coming mainly from the 2004 vintage it has quite a bit of bottle age)
- Parmesan is probably the ultimate champagne cheese - a case of umami meets umami
In general the stronger the cheese the older and more powerful the champagne you need. A mature Comté for example overwhelmed the fresh-tasting non-vintage champagnes but I suspect would have been great with an older champagne or a Prestige Cuve like Krug.
I shall just have to carry on experimenting ;-)
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