There’s so much written on the perfect matches and the various theories behind it.
At the end of the day though, it’s what you like and what suits your taste buds, that makes the perfect food and wine match.
While a lot of the literature suggests that the same kind of wine and food match best together, sweet with sweet, spicy with spicy and so on, it’s all too often that the complete opposites produce the unique experiences.
Matching flavours together that contrast exaggerate the other often less dominate flavours in the wine and food can bring a surprising result that is sometimes better than the components in isolation.
A festive dinner is not the easiest meal to get the food and wine match right; there’s often various different foods prepared, add to that Aunty wanting a particular tipple, Uncle that only drinks red, what Mum wants, Dad, and oh they are the joys of the day.
Putting all that aside, here are my thoughts on matching with a festive dinner, starting with of course with the Champagne.
There’s a massive amount of great Champagne available this Christmas - one of the top picks is the Drappier. There’s so much to love with this Champagne house. Drappier is a family-owned Champagne house that produces excellent quality Champagne.
Michel Drappier and his father are both allergic to sulphur and for this reason they have worked very hard to reduce the quantity used and now produce Champagne with the lowest percentage of sulphur.
Following on from Champagne as an aperitif, something with a little sweetness is perfect served with cured meats and terrine as an entree. There are two styles I really enjoy at this stage, either a Sauternes or a low alcohol Riesling produced in a sweeter style.
Mouton Cadet’s 2019 Sauternes is an excellent value Sauternes that’s just perfect. A blend of Semillon, 86%, which adds roundness and refinement, Sauvignon Blanc, 12%, which provides the fresh and fruity aromas and flavours and Muscadelle, 2%, which has a distinctive aromatic character.
With the main event, I would serve a white to match the turkey and a fruity red for the ham. Starting with the white wine, Chablis works well with turkey. We have a number of great Chablis in stock. One of my favourites is the Seguinot Bordet Petit Chablis.
This Domaine can trace its history in Chablis to the sixteenth century and is currently under the skilful contract of Jean-Francois Bordet, the 13th generation making wine.
The current vintage of the Petit Chablis is the 2021; it’s a great vintage, the wine is pale golden, the palate mineral and beautifully balanced.
For the red wine, a Grenache would be perfect. One of my favourites at the moment Palacios Remondo La Vendimia, a Spanish wine from the Rioja region, it’s packed full of crushed strawberry fruits with textured layers of tannins and a lingering finish. It’s a wine that’s great at room temperature as well as lightly chilled.
Then to the pudding - a nice rich Tawny port works well. Quinta de la Rosa’s Tawny port is superb. Grade A grapes from a very old family vineyard are then aged in barrel meaning you get hugely concentrated flavours and the complexity that comes with age, yet a brightness and freshness not often seen in ports at this price. (Liz Wheadon)
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