Pairings | Passito di Pantelleria

What's the best wine to drink with Christmas pudding?

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on December 14 2017 at 07:07

There is an argument that you don't need anything to drink with the classic Christmas pudding*, especially if you've sloshed brandy all over it but if you're pairing other courses of the Christmas meal you might fancy a small glass of something sweet.

Which type depends on your pudding. Some are much darker and stickier than others. Basically you’ve got a choice of serving something equally intense or going for a lighter, fresher contrast.

Both options have some potential drawbacks. If you serve a rich sweet wine like a liqueur muscat or a sweet sherry you can make an already rich pudding overwhelmingly rich. On the other hand a lighter dessert wine such as a Sauternes or a sparkling wine like Moscato, can get lost amidst all the rich spicy fruit.

In my view the type of wine that works best is a dessert wine with a touch of orange or apricot. Inexpensive options would be a Spanish Moscatel de Valencia (one of the best value dessert wines around), a Muscat de St Jean de Minervois from Southern France or an orange muscat such as Andrew Quady’s Essencia.

To gain full access to this article and other premium content you need to purchase a bundle of credits which you can do as a one-off purchase or - and this is better value - on an ongoing subscription basis. (1 credit = 1 article)

To buy credits you need to register an account, which which is easy to do here. Or just sign in to your account if you already have one.

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my Substack Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.

You may also enjoy …

Baba with rum

A spring lunch for 4

What to drink with chicken wings (and your other Superbowl snacks)

Comments: 8 (Add)

Richard Macdonald on December 23 2018 at 17:40

Pedro’s Pedro Ximinez is below £10 at Majestic, unctious & extremely sweet it’s Xmas is a bottle, you only need a small glass, savour every sip. Ideal for dipping Pannetone in too. Merry Christmas x

Tim Clarke on October 29 2018 at 19:50

Another great Muscat choice is Samos. Samos is made from White Muscat a petit grains, so has very fine aromatics. The best vineyards are very high (and south facing) at approaching 3000ft above sea level, so the acidity and balance is VVG. The co-op EOSS is best known and it's Nectar is a Passito wine made from grapes dried in the Sun for nearly a week. Their Anthemis is an aged fortified wine. Both lovely. There are a couple of smaller producers too, Vakakis and Nopera, both are excellent with very good sticky Muscats.

Sherry on June 7 2018 at 07:01

Hi FIONA BECKET,
Thanks for such a nice article. I love sweet wine. That kind of wine which would be tasty for all. Could you please tell me where can I buy some sweet wine with the resonable price? Basically, Christmas and my birthday is the same day. So I wanna arrange a gorgeous party that time. I've already got a site on the internet. Here is the link http://eldoradocountywines.com But I don't know about there quality. If you have any suggestion for me, please leave your valuable suggestion. Thanks again for such a nice post.

Willem van Helden on December 24 2016 at 09:12

Wouldn't Madeira suit puddings like these? Like a fine Malmsey? They always keep their acidity, while being sweet an rich.

Stefano on December 25 2014 at 23:12

I can suggest Passito Pantelleria Ben Rye by Donnafugata ... wonderful!!!!

Theresa on December 14 2014 at 12:04

Hi Fiona!:)
I could really use your suggestion here
I'm gonna buy a bottle of 10/20 year tawny port to my dear frd and I have no idea whether to serve with the traditional christmas pudding's(with sherry, sparkling in it) better or a intensly fruity christmas pudding(with brandy, port in it), do I also need to get brandy butter? Pls give me some advise. Thx a lot!!!

Fiona Beckett on December 4 2012 at 09:30

That's another great idea. Delicious wine!

Lynne @josordoni on December 4 2012 at 09:18

We will be having my beloved Maculan Dindarello . Assuming I don't drink all of it between now and then...

See all entries tagged "Passito di Pantelleria"