It will probably come as no real surprise that the team at TLLWTL are fond of a Christmas tipple or two. We’re also fond of Christmas nibbles. And as we all know, all great drinks taste SO much better when you have just the right food to compliment them. An whilst we’re usually reasonably happy to swig away at whatever wine you put in front of us, we think it’s especially important you get food and drink pairings right over Christmas, as getting the flavours right will make the difference between going back for seconds or binning the first round.
We’ve been taste testing a lot of festive food and drink over the past month (think plenty of canapés and turkey), and boy have we come up with some corkers for you. We’ve given you the ideal wine solution for each different Christmas food situation, and we guarantee these choices will create such a taste explosion over the festive season your guests will be begging for more! In fact, they’ll be so bowled over you probably won’t be able to get rid of them (sorry about that)…
The perfect aperitif for Christmas Eve
Tio Pepe (Gonzalez Byass) RRP from £8.99 for 75cl, available from all major retailers and most independent wine merchants.
Just £7 at Fortnum and Mason right now!
Tio Pepe is a very dry, pale, fino style of sherry. Sherry is the ultimate drink of the cool kids and the one thing that should definitely be in your Christmas drinks cabinet. With a dry, fino style of sherry like Tio Pepe, we recommend you serve it very, very cold – as chilled as Champagne. Because the sherry is so dry it matches particularly well with savoury snack such as salted almonds, olives, sea salt crisps or those deliciously warm Christmas canapés such as pigs in blankets (the saltiness of the bacon goes down a treat). Once you bite into a mini sausage wrapped in bacon, then wash it down with a swig of Tio Pepe we have a feeling you’ll finish off the plate. And be a sherry addict for life.
Festive fizz: bubbles on Christmas morning
Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Brut NV Champagne, RRP £20.99 at Sainsbury’s
On offer with a third off from Wednesday 16th November until Tuesday 3rd January, now £13.99
If you’re like us bubble addicts at TLLWTL no occasion is complete without a bottle of sparkling, let alone on Christmas morning! We think Sainsbury’s Blanc de Blancs Champagne is perfect for morning of the Big Day, along with some smoked salmon. Made only from Chardonnay grapes it’s elegant in style, lovely and refreshing – perfect for toasting Christmas in before midday! Best of all it’s a third off until the 3rd of January at Sainsbury’s (which also makes it the perfect fizz for New Year!)
The ideal turkey tipple
Palataia Pinot Noir 2010 (Marks and Spencers £8.99)
This smooth Pinot Noir is so delightful it’s worthy of a place alongside your turkey meal. Because it’s so versatile, light and fruity it can cope with all those competing flavours you have on the table. Think of all the food stuffs we pile on our plate on the Big Day – gravy, dark turkey meat, white turkey meat, sausages wrapped in bacon, roasties, parmesan parsnips and even those dreaded brussel sprouts. It takes a worthy wine to match up to the Christmas dinner and this Pinot Noir is definitely up to the challenge. Interestingly this is a German Pinot Noir. Did you know that Germany is actually the third biggest Pinot Noir producing country in the world and at the recent the International Pinot Noir tasting seven out of the ten top wines were from Germany? This makes your Christmas dinner choice trendy as well as tasty!
The Christmas vino for vegetarians
Cono Sur Bicycle Chardonnay 2009, RRP £7.49 at Tesco.com and Yourfavouritewines.com
Some wines use animal derivatives in their production process, so, if you’re a veggie it’s best to check that the wine you’re drinking is best for vegetarians. Also probably best to do so if you’re entertaining veggies throughout Christmas, you don’t want to serve them up a non-veggie wine now do you?! This unoaked Chardonnay is our favourite vegetarian wine. It’s a little peachy and has refreshing citrus flavours so it matches perfectly to that nut roast.
Boxing Day buffet time
Viña Pomal Crianza 2007, RRP £9.99 at Majestic
Another tricky meal to find a meal for – the Boxing Day buffet. It’s a bit similar to the Christmas Day meal actually in the sense that there are lots of different flavours to match up to, as after all, your buffet on Boxing Day will be full of lots of yummy leftovers – and that’s the whole point. But which wine to match? We recommend this Riojan Criaza. Because it’s spent two years ageing before release, with at least a year in oak, the wine has a lovely creamy vanilla note along with flavours of juicy red berries. This is a particularly versatile wine because it’s so soft which means it’s ideal to drink with lots of different dishes – hence why it’s a great choice for your Boxing Day leftovers.
