#LoveReds: Celebrating Red Wine This Christmas

We all know that red wine is phenomenal. And that we especially enjoy drinking red wine in the autumn and winter months with our roast dinners and hearty meals. But we were curious to see whether our red wine preferences change during the festive season. On a quest to find out more about the nation’s festive drinking habits – including discovering the UK’s all-time favourite red to drink at Christmas time – we surveyed 2,000 red wine drinkers to unearth all the juicy details!

The first big discovery was that 91% of those surveyed said they drink the same red wine at Christmas as they do throughout the year. They know what they like and they stick to it. Interestingly, though, 47% said they do spend more on a bottle of red for Christmas than at other times of the year, suggesting that even if people are sticking with trusted favourites, they are more likely to splash the cash on a more premium bottle to celebrate the festivities.

Only 12% of those questioned in the survey considered themselves to be a red wine connoisseur, with 68% selecting red wines at Christmas purely for the enjoyment of drinking them and not with specific festive food pairings in mind. While choosing wines that complement your Christmas dinner and cheese boards was important, the overriding message was that the wine just needs to be delicious. And who can argue with that, hey!

The Nation’s Favourite Red Wine at Christmas

It may come as a surprise to you, or it may be blindingly obvious as it’s already on your Christmas shopping list… but the clear winner in our big red wine survey was mighty Malbec!

It appears that we can’t get enough of this full, smooth and juicy, inky purple beauty. With big, bold characteristics like rich dark fruit flavours, high tannins and high alcohol, Malbec is a great grape variety for oak ageing – making it a strong match for many winter foods we enjoy this time of year. Fruity flavours of cherry, plum and bramble dance on the palate alongside nuances of pepper, making it a classic, well balanced red vino that ticks all the boxes for many of us.

Runners up in our survey were Merlot and Rioja, showing that there is a strong preference overall at Christmas for red wines that are both fruity and spicy in flavour, with a luscious mouthfeel.

Our Head Wine Buyer, Andrew Baker, wasn’t too shocked by the results:

“Malbec, Merlot and Rioja are firm favourites all year round, although the industry does tend to see a spike in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Cabernet Sauvignon over Christmas, as people look to deeper reds with a slightly higher-price point. But it looks like people are generally planning to stick with the crowd-pleasers that never fail them.”

Now we’re asking you, our wonderful Virgin Wines’ customers, to share how much you #LoveReds. Do you pair your favourite red with your favourite Christmas food? Do you treat yourself to a luxury bottle for the festive period? Are you only indulging in a certain grape variety when Father Christmas comes to visit? We want to know!

We’re celebrating our love for red wine this winter with regular prize giveaways over on our social channels. To be in with a chance of winning prizes – such as an ‘ultimate red wines for Christmas’ bundle and slick new Black Flag reds for your cosy nights in – simply share your photos of you enjoying your favourite winter reds by tagging us (@VirginWines on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) and including the hashtags #VirginWines and #LoveReds in your caption. Make sure you ‘follow’ our page, too.

Our favourite entries who make us smile the most will be our winners. So, get tagging and good luck, fellow red wine lovers! Check out our Customer Wall to see if your entry has made it to our grid.

T&Cs

Entrants must be 18 years of age or over and UK residents only. This competition is running on our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels from Friday 5th November until Friday 31st December at 12:00pm. We will contact the winner via their Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account shortly after. Prizes that are given away throughout this competition are not exchangeable. These giveaways are not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or connected to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter in any way.

The research in our survey was conducted by Virgin Wines using a self-serve research platform on 13/10/2021 at 5:44pm time. 2,000 red wine drinkers in the UK were surveyed. Data is weighted on age, gender, education level, region, and social grade to be nationally representative of adults 18+ in the UK.