Food and Wine Ideas for Your Christmas Day Meals.
Well, it’s coming up to my favourite time of the year, the time of peace and good cheer with your family and friends. It’s also the time to ensure you have your wines for your main meals and those through to New Year’s Eve and beyond.
What do most people find the most difficult and time-consuming? Is it looking for gifts for all of those who mean something to you, or is it getting food from the supermarkets or local stores?
Then, having spent a month shopping for both presents and food, only to find on the day that you forgot the stuffing for the turkey. That’s got the easy stuff out of the way. ( Laughing his socks off)
But on a more serious note, this can be a stressful time of the year for everyone trying to get everything sorted for the festive season.
That is why I thought it might be helpful if I could at least help you choose the wines that would give your celebrations the right rocking time.
Bearing in mind that there are ten days between the Friday before the main event and New Year’s Day, this is a great time to look for some fabulous wines, whether you prefer red, white, or rose.
This also gives us ten potential festive meals with all the goodies that make for fun and laughter. Rather than making myself look like some guru with food pairings.
I have found a couple of Ladies that I feel would do a better job than I would myself. I hope this will help you with some great ideas for your Christmas table.
Here is a list of wine pairings from Fiona Beckett at, Matching Food and Wine.
https://www.matchingfoodandwine.com/news/recent/20-christmas-wine-pairings-to-learn-by-heart/
or from Amy Hollier, University College Birmingham’s senior food and beverage lecturer.
Amy’s Top Ten tips for delicious Christmas food and wine pairings are here.
1. Smoked salmon: New Zealand sauvignon blanc or Chablis. A zesty wine with good acidity will cut through the fish’s oiliness.
2. Turkey (with all the trimmings): Viognier or Rioja. Turkey can be quite bland, so you need a wine that will pair well with it.
3. Goose: Riesling or pinot noir. A goose is quite a rich, fatty bird, so a white wine with good acidities, like a dry Riesling or a light red wine, would work.
4. Beef – malbec or cabernet sauvignon. The perfect match for beef is a full-bodied red wine with medium tannins.
5. Whole poached salmon: godello or verdejo. A white wine with well-rounded fruit works well with poached salmon.
6. Cheese selection –
Hard cheese: chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon or port.
Soft cheese: Chenin blanc, Vouvray or Sauternes.
Blue cheese: Sauternes, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise or vintage port.
Goats cheese: sauvignon blanc, pinot noir or a tawny port.
Always try to match wine to the style of each cheese rather than the whole board as the flavours and textures vary so much.
7. Christmas pudding – Madeira, Tawny Port, Vouvray. Wines with dried fruit characteristics and a good level of sweetness pair beautifully with Christmas pudding or a sweeter white wine.
8. Sherry trifle: Use oloroso sherry or Pedro Ximinez. This dessert needs a buttery, sweet sherry to ensure it does not overpower it.
9. Yule log: black muscat or Rivesaltes. A sweet, black muscat, preferably from California, is a great match for chocolate. Dessert wines should always be slightly sweeter than dessert.
10. Mince pies: Pedro Ximinez or Dornfelder. A sweet Pedro Ximinez is the perfect accompaniment to mince pies, or if you prefer a regular still wine, then a medium red wine like Dornfelder, from Germany, works well.
From here to the end of the year, it’s just a case of making sure that you have all of the important things covered. For example, do you drink red, white, or rose?
Also, don’t forget to get the stuffing this year.
Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Don’t forget to drink responsibly.
