Christmas Food and Wine Pairings

The Christmas holidays are coming up fast! And who says "Christmas parties", says "Christmas party meals": real marathons of food where the feasts last forever. Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve... Every year, we put the cutlery back on the table with the existential question: What to drink with these festive dishes?

Our experts have worked like super-heroes to make you a tailor-made selection, from the aperitif to the dessert! Have you worked out your menu? Your table plan has already been thought of. Tablecloths, plates, glasses, candles... the decoration is just waiting for the big day... For the choice of alcoholic beverages and the delivery of the bottles, you can trust Vinatis!

Aperitif, cold starter, hot starter, main course, dessert… there will be many refined dishes to match. For each of these, our sommeliers have designed a wine list that will honour your table. Vinatis' tailor-made "Special Festive" selection takes into account the flavours of the sea as well as those of the land. Find here the right bottle to accompany the inevitable emblematic dishes. Humm!!! All these suggestions make your mouth water!

From the Grands Crus to the more eclectic wines that are neither drunk nor known, here are the nuggets that everyone will be talking about on New Year's Eve! Everything is on this page! Let our experts guide you!

For Christmas, the great classics are served: from the starter to the dessert, it's a parade! Oysters, foie gras, turkey, yule log… Marrying these festive dishes with wines is no easy task when you know nothing about them! Carefully selected by our experts, red wines, white wines, sweet wines, fortified wines, will go perfectly with your festive meals. Not forgetting the Champagnes!

You should know that there are several possible combinations: Between the classic complementing pairing, which respects the harmony of flavours, and the contrasting pairing to play the originality card by betting on the unexpected, just to get away from what has already been drunk... Vinatis plays the big game by betting on safe bets. For a perfect match, all you have to do is respect a few rules of service and tasting, especially for wine.

When it comes to the order of wine tasting, you have to build up to a crescendo! You serve the wines like a wine expert, when...

• Wines in ascending order of strength and quality.

• White wines and rosé wines before red wines.

• Light wines before full-bodied wines.

• Young wines before older vintages..

• Dry wines before sweet wines.

• Wines served fresh before the ones served in room temperature (between 18 to 20°C)

Choosing only one wine for the whole meal is possible! As long as you adjust the dishes accordingly. It's also a way to stay within your budget!

If it is a red wine, it will generally not match well with seafood! On the other hand, it will go well with red meat, duck breast, game, chocolate or red fruit desserts.

If it's a white wine, choose fish and seafood as a starter and a main course, followed by a fruit dessert. And if you didn't have to choose between cheese and dessert, know that white wine and cheese always go well together!

If it is a gastronomic rosé, do not make the mistake of pairing it with dishes in sauce! This does not enhance its freshness or its aromatic profile. Go for game birds (quail stuffed with grapes), or sea food (sea bream carpaccio, skate wing, monkfish, scallops). Bonus: With their low alcohol content, these rosé wines lighten the meal!

As for sweet white wines, they are suitable for starters (foie gras), with cheese or dessert. However, the sweet, mellow or luscious wines can saturate the palate, making it difficult to appreciate the rest of the meal. The sweet white wines will certainly go well with cheeses of character: blue cheeses (Roquefort, Stilton...).

Poultry will not go with a wine that is too powerful, too dense or too tannic. For desserts, the trick to remember is that the colour of the wine matches that of the dessert.

Golden rules:

• Match the richness of a dish: a rich dish requires a full-bodied wine.
• Match the aromas of a dish: a very fragrant dish will require a more aromatic wine.
• The wine serves the dish, and vice versa.

Finally, it would be a shame not to enjoy these wines without the optimal service conditions. Pay attention to the serving temperature: some red wines need to be opened in advance to oxygenate in the bottle or in a decanter. As for old vintages, decanting will avoid deposits at the bottom of the glass.

Whether it is Christmas or New Year's Eve, there must always be a bottle of Champagne in the fridge! An unmissable festive drink, often drunk as an aperitif or with dessert, Blanc de Noirs Champagne goes well with meats of character such as lamb and game (venison, partridge). These are so-called "vinous" vintages with fine bubbles, made for long ageing and having spent most of the time in oak barrels. The strength of the Blanc de Noirs Champagnes makes them a perfect accompaniment to your poultry dishes.

We love it whatever it is: Rosé Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Vintage Champagne, Magnum format, Jeroboam or even made into cocktails! And what if you surprised with a sparkling and fruity Christmas cocktail this year? And yes, the Champagne cocktail, we had to think about it!