Make Your Christmas Dinner The Best Yet With These Wine Pairing Tips

With Oysters or other seafood the best pairing comes from a dry and crisp white wine, Muscadet is one of my favourites or a flinty Chablis also goes perfectly well, the wine’s dryness will cut through the flesh of the oyster like a lemon would, so I would recommend not to use lemon but stick to these dry white wines.

Foie gras is best paired with a wine that has a citrusy structure but with some notes of honey. The sweetness of the Gewurztraminer will enhance the foie gras perfectly, or the other option is to go for some bubbles from Champagne, their toasted brioche notes will be a very good match. Both are widely recommended pairings.

Smoked salmon requires a white wine that’s not too rich because the fish itself is already very rich yet extremely delicate. So the best match comes from the Loire Valley according to me and I would go for a Sauvignon blanc from Reuilly, it is dry but has a nice fruitiness to it. The second option would be a Chenin but a bubbly one from Vouvray, a Sparkling wine makes it nice and festive and the pairing works perfectly well

The beef wellington can handle a red wine with a lot of character, high tannins on a dish like this are always a perfect match. So I would go for a Bordeaux like our Cadillac that can easily go with this strongly flavoured dish, the dish will make the tannins soft and gentle, the second option would be a full-bodied Rhone valley wine from Vacqueras, this wine needs something like a beef wellington to express itself to its highest level.

You won’t be disappointed by these 2 pairings I can guarantee

A roast Turkey has 2 perfect pairings possible, 1 white and 1 with red wine. For white wine you need a rich and complex Chardonnay, preferably from Burgundy because of its amazing terroir. We propose a Pouilly-Fuissé, the rich and elegant wine with a buttery finish that will make your Turkey melt in your mouth. But if you decide on a red wine try to stay in the fruity and light grape varieties like Pinot noir, we would suggest a Maranges 1er cru another option would be a Gamay from Beaujolais.

Blue cheese has the particularity to enjoy a sweet wine pairing or a very fruity red wine. If you try the Gewurztraminer with the stilton you will understand how the saltiness of the cheese pairs amazingly well with the sweetness of the wine, it is a classic in wine pairing.  For those who prefer a red , I would recommend a  Grenache grape variety within the blend, it could be a Chateauneuf du pape from Domaine Duseigneur, both will do the job perfectly.

Christmas pudding will either need a sweet wine or Sparkling wine. The bubbles will give you a festive feel and always goes well with Christmas pudding. Or the other match is a sweet and rich wine from Alsace like the Vendanges Tardives gewurztraminer, both will make your dessert perfect.