W
L
CHRISTMAS
For most of us Christmas is a special time of the year. It is one where
many of us will put some thought into what we should be drinking with
our Christmas meal. Whenever we go shopping at this time of year, and
whichever shop or supermarket we pop into, we are often faced with an
almost endless choice of wines, spirits and all manner of offers in this
direction. What should we do?
content – i.e. probably sausages, bacon, stuffing, gravy, bread sauce, potatoes
and parsnips (probably both cooked in fat) cranberry or recurrent sauce etc.
So it is, all in all, a difficult balancing exercise. The bottom line, though,
can be fairly simply stated. Find a wine with low to medium tannins, with
decent fruit and with good acidity that will give the wine a refreshing edge
and crispness.
So what does all that mean in English? For red wines either select a wine
style that is traditionally not high in tannins (e.g. think here perhaps red
Burgundy, Dolcetto and Barbera, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Spanish Rioja/
Tempranillo or even a Californian Zinfandel). Alternatively go for a wine
that is traditionally associated with higher tannins, but one with some age
where the tannins will have softened out, but a wine that still offers decent
fruit (e.g. think here perhaps some red Bordeaux, Barolo, Barbaresco, Syrah
and Cabernet Sauvignon with decent bottle age).
For whites most things will go - white Burgundy (Cote de Beaune),
chardonnay from the USA or even Australia, perhaps some viognier, a
decent sauvignon blanc or riesling. Even a sparkling wine or champagne
will go with your traditional Christmas meal. A decent rose will also work
well here (I’d go for Provence).
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
The bottom line, as always, is to drink what you like – not what somebody
else tells you to buy and thinks you should like. Don’t just simply get dragged
into buying what is on offer either, or that which has been heavily discounted
or which may seem too good to be true (as always, it probably is much of
the time)!
In our house we always go traditional at Christmas when it comes to the
main meal of the day – turkey and all the trimmings. If you are joining us
this year, with a Christmas turkey, then a few words that may help. Like
most poultry, turkey is not what we would call powerful meat. In wine terms
I guess we would call it light bodied. One of the most important things to
remember is that turkey has a low fat content. This lack of fat means that
any wine you choose to drink with your turkey should not be too, or overly,
tannic. The lack of fat in turkey means there is nothing to soften a harsh or
overly tannic wine. Bitterness and harsh tannins are never great on the pallet
– particularly on Christmas day!
But of course, even with turkey, you then have to throw into the balance the
fact that you are likely to be consuming, with your turkey, more powerful
and richer foods with potentially higher (in some cases much higher) fat
40 wirrallife.com
During the course of this year I have been able to talk to, and bring to Wirral
Life, some true wine experts. So I thought, at this juncture, I would return to
some of them now when it comes to Christmas and Christmas wines.
• Those of you who are regular readers of Wirral Life magazine may well
remember the advice that the great Oz Clarke gave us, a few months
back, when it comes to Christmas and wine. First and foremost don’t
splash out like mad on a wine, or on a style of wine, that you don’t
know. What you should do is trade up a notch on what you do know
– so if you like Chilean Merlot, trade up and buy a slightly more
expensive one. Don’t experiment – trade up within your own comfort
zone; and don’t necessarily go for the wines that have been discounted.
As to individual wines – sauvignon blanc is one wine he would trade
up on for Christmas. With Christmas pudding he recommended some
Muscat, or even Asti Spumate (again trading up here where you can).
• Back in the August edition of Wirral Life I interviewed head sommelier,
Sarah Donoher, from The Art School restaurant in Liverpool. Recently
I asked her what she would recommend to us. With a traditional turkey
Christmas dinner she would normally stick to traditional French
wines. From the huge choice that France offers, when it comes to wine,
she recommends a Mersault - specifically she would recommend The