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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?
Image copyright jasoncoxphotography at fotolia.com
Pairing cheese and claret
I’ve always had a bit of a problem finding cheese matches for red Bordeaux. Cheddar is often suggested but I find mature versions have too much ‘bite’. Stilton slays it and so do most washed rind cheeses, oozy Camemberts and Bries . . .
The most successful match I’ve found so far is Mimolette so maybe it was auto-suggestion at work when I tasted a deep orange Red Leicester at The Fine Cheese Co’s Cheese Fair in Bath at the weekend and immediately thought of red Bordeaux.
It was the Sparkenhoe Red Leicester from David and Jo Clarke of the Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Co. a revival of an old recipe and a lovely mellow, typically English cheese. Extraordinarily it hasn’t actually been made in Leicestershire for 20 years and for even longer - over 50 years - on a farm in the county.
It has more flavour than milder cheeses like Caerphilly and Wensleydale which are better suited to a white wine in my opinion but lacks the intensity of a farmhouse cheddar which can sometimes throw a medium to full-bodied red. I tried it with a bottle of André Lurton’s 2004 Chateau La Louvire Pessac-Lognan from Bibendum, a mature Bordeaux of exactly the sort you might bring out with the cheese over Christmas and it was perfect.
Coincidentally I tried another aged Bordeaux (a 1999 Chateau Tour du Haut-Moulin which was drinking quite beautifully) with cheese the following day and found that although it was again overpowered by a ripe Brie it went really well with a Vacherin Mont d’Or, a combination I’d never have expected. I think it was probably because the cheese wasn’t that mature and the wine was. The problem with reds and cheese is mainly about unintegrated tannins. Older vintages seem to survive better.
- You can buy Sparkenhoe from The Fine Cheese Company and other stockists listed here.
Photo by Ray Piedra
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