8th December 2023 | Pairings & Recipes | 8 minute read
Christmas dinner is arguably the most important part of Christmas Day (aside from the presents, of course), so we like to pull out all the stops when it comes to pairing wine with our big festive feast. Whether you’re going for classic roast turkey, switching things up a bit with chicken or goose, opting for something far less traditional or planning a vegan nut roast, we’d love to share our best wines for Christmas dinner with you.
There’s a lot to consider when it comes to mastering your Christmas wine pairing. Once you’ve chosen your meat, sauces and trimmings, it’s good to also consider the textures and flavours you’ve gone for in order to choose a wine that complements it all perfectly.
Let’s start with the meat everyone thinks of when you say Christmas dinner. Turkey is the number one choice for most people on Christmas Day, served with crispy roasted vegetables, lashings of gravy and a nice big dollop of cranberry sauce.
What makes turkey so different to other types of poultry is that it tends to be a drier texture when cooked, so you need a wine that will make up for that dryness when it comes to pairing with turkey. The meat itself is also fairly mild in flavour, so not only do you need to be conscious of not overpowering it with seasonings and other ingredients in your cooking, you need to make sure the wine you choose doesn’t overwhelm it too. It’s a tricky one, but don’t worry, we’re here to help!
It may be a white meat, but it’s actually red wine that makes for one of the best pairings with turkey. Old World Pinot Noir is light in body and tannins, and an absolute winner for a Christmas roast turkey. With an interesting palate of strawberry and cherry mixed with mushroom and wet leaves, it’s a complex red wine that complements this delicate meat rather than being so bold and punchy that all you can taste is the wine.
The Santenay 1er Cru Clos Rousseau Jessiaume is a glorious Premier Cru Burgundy Pinot Noir that’s bold yet elegant, and bursting with racy red fruits and gentle spice. It’s fruit-forward and food-friendly, with added complexity from a little ageing. Notes of ripe strawberry, cherry and spice will dance on the palate without overpowering the mild-flavoured turkey.
For something even lighter and fruiter than Pinot Noir, opt for a Beaujolais instead, which is famous for its light body, low tannins, refreshing acidity and oh-so-perfect-for-Christmas notes of cranberry and cherry.
With white wine, you have two really strong options. A mineral Sauvignon Blanc is hard to beat, especially if you prefer your whites clean, crisp and light. With all the hallmarks of a great Sancerre, but more complex and ravishing, the Pouilly Fumé Les Loges Pierre Marchand is the best Savvy B around for a lavish roast turkey dinner. A symphony of gooseberry and blackcurrant overlaid with hints of citrus and minerality make it an utterly sensational pairing.
For something a little fuller in body and creamier in texture to offset any dryness in the turkey, go for a Viognier. It has a similar mouthfeel to a full-bodied Chardonnay, but also has that delicate minerality that complements a mild white meat like turkey so well.
The nation’s favourite white meat, and a popular alternative to roast turkey in many households on Christmas Day. All the traditional trimmings and sauces you’d serve with turkey tend to be served with roast chicken, although unlike turkey, the meat is succulent when roasted rather than dry. So, while there are similarities between these two festive favourites, pairing wine with chicken is a different ballgame.
For a juicy roast chicken, a rich and smooth white wine is the only way to go in our book. Oaked Chardonnay is one of the best options, as the time spent in oak barrels gives the wine a beautiful buttery nuance. The oak also imparts warm cooking spice flavours into the Chardonnay, which will complement the seasonings you’ve used in your Christmas roast wonderfully. The smooth Aussie Black Flag Winemakers Cooler Chardonnay ticks all the boxes here. Crisp and bright with tropical fruit notes, a subtle lick of oak and a fresh citrus core, this is an expertly made Chardonnay.
If you don’t fancy a Chardonnay, Viognier is another delectable pairing for roast chicken, for similar reasons to turkey. The perfumed, floral aromas of this grape variety are also a nice match for herbs you’re likely to be using in your roast, like rosemary, oregano and thyme.
Now, if you really want to push the boat out and enjoy a glass of Champagne with your Christmas dinner, then roast chicken is the way to go. Roast chicken tends to be juicier and richer than roast turkey, and full of fat, so a nice extra brut Champers will cut through the oil and creamy textures to refresh the palate. Champagne Ayala Brut Nature (Zero Dosage) NV is one of the best around, and will certainly add extra wow factor to your Christmas roast!
Goose is another poultry that’s proving a popular alternative to the traditional roast turkey. Typically seasoned with plenty of herbs and citrus, and accompanied by a generous helping of sweet and tangy apple sauce, a festive roast goose dinner can be an explosion of herb and fruit flavours. The gamey flavour profile and higher fat content of this meat compared to other types of poultry means you can go a little bolder with your wine choices when pairing with goose.
This calls for a juicy Italian vino. A Barolo is a mighty match for roast goose, packing heaps of acidity to counterbalance the fattiness and oiliness of the meat, along with lashings of lovely luscious fruit flavours and spice that will complement your apple sauce nicely. The Cascina Adelaide Langhe DOC Nebbiolo has an elegance that suits poultry well, with beautiful floral notes followed by mulberry, deep red fruit flavours and Christmas spice on the palate. What could be better for a Christmas dinner wine?
Your best white wine options for a flavoursome roast like goose are a little on the sweeter side. The bold, gamey flavours of the goose can handle more pronounced aromas and flavours than you’d find in a light and delicate white wine. So be brave and go for a bottle of off-dry German Riesling or a lightly sweet Gewürztraminer. We’d recommend the fantastically food-friendly Cave de Turckheim Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive – rich, fruity and spicy with a full, honeyed bodied and a finish so long you’ll be tasting it into next year. It’s the right level of bold for goose, and also a great match for the cooking spices in your Bramley apple sauce.
Christmas dinner doesn’t have to be about poultry. Beef is one of our most loved Sunday roasts in the UK, so why not choose beef for the biggest roast dinner of the year? Traditionally served with a drop (or dollop, if you can handle the heat) of horseradish sauce, pairing wine with beef is a balancing act of complementing the red meat, the herbs and the spiciness of the horseradish. The flavours are big, so stay away from white wine for this one.
It’s red wine all the way for roast beef. Especially fuller, bolder reds with a smoky edge, such as Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. Our top pick for this Christmas is the magnificent Perez Cruz Liguai. Made from Perez Cruz’s prized Maipo Valley plots and aged in French oak for added complexity, this rich yet elegant Chilean red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz with a touch of Carménère. You’ll find a plush palate of black fruit, black pepper and chocolate, and it’s that peppery nuance that makes it an especially good match for beef and horseradish.
There’s no denying that pork is a holiday season essential, whether that’s pigs in blankets, pork stuffing or honey-glazed ham and crackling. It tends to be a sweeter roast dinner than other red meat roasts, often cooked with a brown sugar, maple syrup or honey coating and served with a sweet apple sauce.
Unlike other red meats, it can be paired with a variety of red and white wine styles, which (although is a great thing in some ways) can make pairing wine with pork a lot trickier as you’ve got so many more options. We’ve narrowed it down for you and chosen the best possible styles to go for.
Stay away from anything too heavy. Instead, a juicy, fruit-driven red is your best bet, especially as it’ll enhance that apple sauce. Both Carignan and Montepluciano are medium-bodied with an abundance of bright red fruit flavours that’ll complement your roast pork very nicely. Try Alchemy 50 Year Old Vine Carignan for its delightful aromas of ripe summer berry pudding and subtle vanilla, which intensify on the palate. Smooth velvety tannins and those flavours of fruit and baking spices make this a lovely drop that packs enough of a punch without being overly heavy.
Or, you could opt for this little Italian number – the mouth-wateringly juicy Brio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Super bright cherry flavours with a touch of cranberry make it a fine accompaniment to a Christmas roast pork dinner.
You need to find a style that’s rounded and fruity and has just enough acidity to stand up to the flavour of the meat. Sémillon is a great shout here for all of these reasons, plus it can often evoke notes of honey that would complement a honey-glazed roast pork exceptionally. Try the Billy Bosch Sémillon, which is brimming with palate-cleansing citrus and stone fruits flavours and sweeter notes of honey, making it rich enough to pair with succulent roast pork and apple sauce.
Another beautiful alterative to roast turkey that’s a little different for Christmas Day. A Sunday roast lamb tends to be seasoned with the usual suspects (rosemary, oregano, thyme), but the herb that makes this meat stand out is mint.
Lamb is one of the most wine-friendly meats out there, so it’s the seasonings and powerful mix of peppermint and vinegar in the mint sauce that should influence your wine choice here. Just like with beef, when it comes to pairing wine with lamb, it’s got to be deep fruity reds all the way.
You can’t get much bolder than a Cabernet Sauvignon, and it even displays mint as one of its main tasting notes! The Château La Raze Beauvallet Medoc Cru Bourgeois makes for a heavenly match with roast lamb. A superb, medal-winning Cru Bourgeois expressing notes of bramble fruit and blackcurrant leaf, along with earthy and herby nuances that go so well with lamb. A few years of ageing give this indulgent dinner choice a cigar-box and toast finish, all enveloped in velvety tannins.
Another incredible French option is the world-famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Grenache-Syrah-Mourvédre blend you find in vintages like the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Speciale give a long, smoky finish and a touch of meatiness on the palate. A classy option for lamb, and perhaps a more suitable match if you’re leaving out the mint sauce.
You really can’t go wrong with roast duck as an alternative to turkey on Christmas Day. The traditionalists at the table will be happy you’ve gone for poultry, while those who are craving a break from turkey or chicken will be excited at the prospect of a much richer, gamier meat!
Duck is also a fattier and sweeter meat than other types of poultry, meaning your wine should be well-structured and display some sweet notes of its own. Other factors to keep in mind when pairing with duck are your seasonings and condiments. If you’re doing a honey balsamic glaze or serving with a cherry sauce, remember to choose a wine that’ll work well with these flavours too.
If you really want to impress your guests this Christmas, go for a good quality bottle of Rioja or Chianti for your lavish roast duck dinner. The Bodegas Amaren Rioja Reserva is a truly outstanding vintage that’ll be a real talking point at the table. Made from tiny, intense Tempranillo grapes that were grown on 60-year old vines in Rioja’s most prestigious sub-zone, then aged for added complexity. Subtle sweet notes of plum, cherry, liquorice and toffee balance perfectly on the palate, complementing the sweetness found in a roast duck dinner exquisitely.
Our top Italian pick for duck is the Riecine Chianti Classico. Sangiovese has a natural charm and elegance other grape varieties envy, producing wonderfully bright and juicy vinos like this one. Succulent, red cherry flavours and fine, powerful tannins make this a worthy match for a decadent duck dish.
Riesling is a wonderful option for a slightly sweeter meat like duck, and even more so if you’re planning on doing a honey or marmalade glaze. You’ll typically find notes of apricot and honey with this grape variety, and an interesting combination of sweetness and acidity that you won’t find in many other wines. The Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling has a vibrant and colourful palate with pronounced notes of ripe apricot, zesty lime and tropical mango. The sweetness is beautifully balanced by a burst of crisp acidity, meaning this wine will be able to cut right through the fatty meat of your roast dinner perfectly.
If you’re planning a nut roast, you’ll probably be looking to pair your dish with a vegan wine. These are wines where the producer has not used traditional fining agents of egg whites or milk protein to give clarity to the wine, and these bottles can often be spotted by the term Unfined/Unfiltered appearing on the label.
Cabernet Sauvignon is ideal for a spicy, herby nut roast due to its balance of dark fruit flavours and spicy notes. If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing Cab Sav that’s also vegan, look no further than the rich and complex The Black Pig Cabernet Sauvignon, with its luscious palate of blackcurrant, mint and chocolate.
Or, for a red that displays more festive flavours, then Cinsault is a lovely choice. It has notes of cherry and ripe strawberry, accompanied by that peppery spice you’d find in a Cabernet Sauvignon, but with warm cooking spices of clove too. The Château Musar Jeune Red, which is a lovely Lebanese Cinsault blend, would be our top pick for this.
If white wine is your style of choice for the big day, opt for an oaked Rioja Blanco or a French Chardonnay. The divine Castillo de Logrono Familia Manzanos Barrica Rioja Blanco will complement your Christmas nut roast beautifully. A glorious Riojan white made from a blend of Viura and Chardonnay grapes kept in a mix of American and French oak barrels for five months. The result is a decadent white with plenty of vivacity, and rounded, rich flavours of butter, toast, nut, pear and baked red apple.
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