We get weekly deliveries of wines at Ake & Humphris, so you still have time to furnish your Christmas table with something truly wonderful. Our resident foodie, Paul Fogarty (AKA The Aperitif Guy) has been browsing the shelves to pick out some beautiful pairings for traditional festive dishes.
Let’s start with the main event. One of the nice things about traditional Christmas meats, whether turkey, goose or pork, is that they often pair best with pinot noir wines, many of which are among my favourites. You can choose from super quality Burgundies, something fresher from the Margaret River area of Australia, or an unexpected German red. With ripe red fruit aromas, low tannin and good acidity, pinot noir wines are simply perfect for roast white meats and richer poultry. Darker meats such as venison and beef call for higher-tannin grapes like sangiovese, malbec and cabernet sauvignon, especially if served rare. The proteins in red meat bind with the tannins in these wines to create a beautiful, satin-smooth experience in the mouth.
That said, I’ve picked out some less obvious matches that I think would compliment your roast in such a way that the combination improves both wine and food.
With turkey, I’d suggest Pojega Ripasso della Valpolicella. Light, fresh wine is blended with the raisined grapes that have been used to make Amarone, and then re-fermented. The resulting wine shows amazing depth of red fruit flavours (cherries, raspberries and mulberries) whilst retaining the fresh tang of the region’s lighter wines.
Goose works equally well with white or red wines. If your accompaniments are appley, go for a chenin blanc, but I’d cook goose with lovely rich flavours like prunes. That being the case, it’s got to be a fat, ripe primitivo/zinfandel for me. I’m recommending Cline Old Vine Zinfandel from California. All that sunshine really suits the grape, resulting in intense plum and blackberry aromas to compliment the robust meat.
Pork is another meat that works with both red and white wines, so I’m split between two. For whites, it’s got to be Daschbosch Mossiesdrift Steen from South Africa. Made in small quantities from old vines, this really shows off what a great chenin blanc should be. It is rich and velvety in the mouth, with flavours of tropical fruits, spices and dried apricots, but has plenty acidity to cut through that lovely, fatty crackling. For lovers of red wine, I’d go for Château Mayne-Vieil Fronsac from Bordeau. It’s a merlot-rich blend, so won’t overpower the flavour of the pork. Red fruit aromas predominate, with good acidity (that crackling again!) and enough ripe tannin to bring some elegance and structure to the table.
Vegetarian dishes don’t respond well to high-tannin wines, so keep it light with Uva Non Grata, a gamay wine from the southern end of Burgundy. It’s light, fresh and full of red cherry flavours. Fans of white wine might want to investigate the rich pear and ginger flavours of Heaphy Pinot Gris from New Zealand. Alternatively, another chenin blanc wine, Fabian Duveau Les Poyaux, from Saumur in the Loire valley, manages to be both rich and flinty at the same time – perfect for leafy greens and anything in a mustard sauce. Spicy dishes need a little residual sugar in the wine and are perfectly suited to a gewurztraminer like the one from Cave de Turkheim in Alsace. Its sweeter edge also makes it a great partner for ripened cheeses.
Finally, Christmas pudding is such a rich dessert that I’d be tempted to let it sing solo. If you want a wine, two options present themselves: you could go for strong contrast, with a light, fresh Alasia Moscato d’Asti, or match its dried fruit and muscovado sugar elements with the huge, sweet Micaela Pedro Ximénes Sherry.
And what will I be drinking? I’ll be pairing truffled crab with Ferghettina Miledì Franciacorta, an Italian, bottle-fermented sparkling chardonnay, and roast veal with Château de Valois Pomerol, a merlot-rich Bordeaux.
Happy entertaining!
