The Ultimate Guide to Christmas Wine Pairings
Nov 14, 2024
The Christmas break is nearly here, and with it comes the delicious chaos of festive feasts, decadent treats, and plenty of time spent with loved ones. If you're anything like us, food and wine are at the heart of the celebrations — and we’ve got the ultimate wine pairings to elevate every moment of your holiday spread! From the first nibble of chocolate truffles to the grand finale of Christmas turkey, we’ve carefully curated a list of perfect wine matches to make your festive meals even more memorable. Whether you’re hosting a lavish dinner or just indulging in a quiet night by the fire, these wines will make everything taste just that little bit better. So, pour yourself a glass, get comfortable, and let’s dive into the best wine pairings to enjoy this Christmas — all available at our online wine store, ready to be delivered to your door! Cheers!
Snacks & Sherry – Manzanilla
- We think you should drink more sherry, it’s so cheap and will give you so much satisfaction. In the summer it’s all about the fresher style of sherry like Manzanilla or Fino but this time of the year some of the richer styles are great to drink. Amontillado – it’s a lot deeper in terms of colour and profile and becomes a lot more versatile. The intensity of the sherry is really pleasant and enjoyed perfectly with your favourite grazing snacks in a chilled glass.
Cheese & vintage port
- There are so many great cheese and wine pairings. Christmas is the time of year when you pile the cheese board high so you need a good, seasonal all rounder. For us it has to Port, it’s such a classic, vintage ports are so reasonable too! They’re affordable and very rewarding. The best pairing for Port is a salty and stinky blue cheese, it’s puts it back in it’s place and really brings the cheese to life.
Our pick - https://nnc.wine/products/1996-taylors-vintage-port-half
Whole tin of chocolates & Sparkling Red
- You might need some help while your on a chocolate marathon, don’t worry, we got you. To break up all that rich chocolate a big hit red fruits with loads of fresh strawberries and raspberries. It’s refreshing and lively and will keep you going. Made in central alpine France. Best enjoyed straight from the fridge with a whole box of chocolates.
Our pick - https://nnc.wine/products/2021-bugey-cerdon-methode-ancestrale-rose-alain-renardat-fache-jura
Turkey dinner & red burgundy
- If you want a great pairing with turkey then Albarino does a great job, it just breaks up all the texture of the Turkey. However this is Xmas day we’re talking about and not everyone goes for turkey so this is a great pairing which will work with the majority of Poultry and game birds and is a solid classic. We recommend some Red burgundy, the great thing is there’s such a great scale to these wines so you can find the perfect wine to work with your budget. Experiment and get to know the different villages and the characteristics of each. Merry Christmas!
Our Pick(s) - https://nnc.wine/products/2018-beaune-epenottes-1er-cru-dominique-lafon
https://nnc.wine/products/2023-albarino-komokabras-spain-galicia
Leftover sandwich & Bojo
- After for most people is 3 solid days of eating and over indulging it’s time to be palate and give it everything it’s craving. Easy to drink, enjoyable high tone crunchy red fruit flavours, enjoyed cellar temp (in the fridge or outside for 30 mins) and inviting elegant perfume on the nose. It’s the same as putting a big dollop of cranberry sauce on your sandwich. It’s brings everything together and your palate will love you for it.
https://nnc.wine/products/2021-wild-soul-domaine-julien-sunier-beaujolais
Gingerbread & Vin Santo
- Vin Santo (‘Holly Wine’) a sweet wine from Tuscany with a beautifully inviting golden colour made from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes. We have no idea why these wines are often overlooked and they bring so much drinking joy to people. These wines are full of flavours of figs, apricot jam and dried fruits. An excellent pairing would be with your Christmas pudding but here’s another delicious way to enjoy. Traditionally in Tuscany vin santo is served after a meal and dunk your biscuits in it like a cup of tea. Normally with biscotti as they soak up the most flavour. Try this with gingerbread and the two together are absolute heaven.
Our pick - https://nnc.wine/products/selvapiana-vin-santo-del-chianti-rufina-50cl
If there's a Christmas pairing that you think is missing from here, get in touch and we'll help you to find the perfect wine.