We will look at traditional pairings, and we will also offer some bold, adventurous alternatives for people ready to try something different.

Champagne Breakfast

A Champagne breakfast has long been a traditional event for kicking off an important day such as a wedding.

So why not start your family Christmas day by adopting this tradition?

It doesn’t need to be formal. But it will help to make the day special, starting it off with something different.

But Christmas is already an expensive time of the year. It may not be within the budget of many families to roll out 3-4 bottles of authentic bubbly for everyone to enjoy.

So we are going to take a look at a couple of lower costs alternatives here.

Remember that Champagne is just the name of a specific region that makes white sparkling wine.

Many other white sparkling wines are just as good.

Wines to Drink with Christmas Dinner

Now we get to the really tricky part of choosing the perfect wines for Christmas.

A traditional turkey dinner is on the one hand a simple meal, yet on the other, a very difficult meal to pair well with wine.

Turkey is a white meat, so our go to wine would usually be white right?

Well, in theory yes. But as white meat goes, turkey is actually a pretty heavy one.

Also consider that the turkey may have been stuffed.

All that sage, onion and pork mince add some more complexity.

So in theory, we might actually be able to get away with a light rose wine. Something to help bring out the flavours.

Pudding on Christmas day is also quite complex.

Minced pies and Christmas pudding with brandy sauce are sweet desserts yes, but they are also very heavy desserts, even spicy.

So instead of pairing dessert on Christmas day with a sweet white, we could possibly use a semi-dry red, to clear the palate between mouthfuls.

So with this in mind, here are two pairings for both the main course and dessert.

One normal kind of pairing, and one a little more adventurous.

So a dry red, gives is a chance to clear the palate.

Now, this is a very adventurous pairing indeed, and it might not be for everyone.

Give it a try, you might find it works well for you.

After Dinner Drinks

For most families, a good Christmas dinner can take several hours. As people sit and enjoy the good company.

So this means we need an after dinner tipple. Something to keep the festive spirit flowing, and also to taste great.

So it’s time to roll out those rich, or even fortified wines.

More traditionally we would drink Sherry after dinner, and our first selection is a Sherry.

However, there are other options, as our second selection shows.

Christmas Supper

The meal that you either love or hate, Christmas supper.

With its cold turkey, pickles, traditional foods such as pork pie and other titbits such as Scotch eggs and other finger foods.

What we need here is a catch all wine, something that is going to work with everything.

Another important factor here, is people have been eating and drinking all day.

The don’t want a wine that is going to make digesting food late at night hard.

We need a refreshing wine, with enough character to clear the palate, yet forgiving enough to work with a very wide range of foods.

Sounds like a challenge right?

Well actually it isn’t there are a number of excellent new wines which will work very well in this situation.

This wine will work well with just about anything you serve at supper time on Christmas day.

It won’t be an amazing pairing, but with a wide variety of foods, nothing will. But it will work.

Christmas – the perfect time for Wine Experiments

Christmas is a fantastic time of the year to enjoy great wines.

And because we eat such a wide range of food types over Christmas, it is also the perfect time to experiment with more adventurous wines.

In this article we have looked at some traditional pairings, and also tried to provide some interesting alternatives.

If you would like to try these alternatives, it might be wise to have both eventualities covered.

Have both pairings available, the traditional one for people who do not want to experiment, and the more adventurous one so that those who are interested, can try a little more challenging taste over Christmas dinner.