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 make sure that 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 that mean something to you or is it getting the 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 really stressful time of the year for all of us that are trying to get everything sorted for the festive season.
That is why I thought that it might be helpful if I could at least help you with the wines that would give you the right rocking time for your celebrations.
Bearing in mind that there are 10 days between the Friday before the main event through until New Year’s Day, this is a great time to be looking for some fabulous wines whether you prefer red, white or rose.
This also gives us 10 potential festive meals with all the goodies that make for fun and laughter. Rather than making myself look like some sort of 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 that 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.
Here are Amy’s Top Ten tips for delicious Christmas food and wine pairings.
1. Smoked salmon: New Zealand sauvignon blanc or Chablis. You need a zesty wine with good acidity to cut through the oiliness of the fish.
2. Turkey (with all the trimmings): viognier or Rioja. Turkey can be quite bland so you need a wine that will pair well with all the trimmings.
3. Goose: Riesling or pinot noir. Goose is quite a rich, fatty bird so a white wine with good acidities, like a dry Riesling, would work, or a light red wine.
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: oloroso sherry or Pedro Ximinez. Sherry trifle needs a buttery, sweet style of sherry to ensure the dessert does not overpower it.
9. Yule log: black muscat or Rivesaltes. A great match for chocolate is a sweet, black muscat, preferably from California. 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 normal 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, that is 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
