The best wine tips for Christmas!

Just a few more weeks and then it’s Christmas! If you celebrate Christmas at home, how nice is it to treat your guests to a wine pairing with the various courses. Difficult? No way! Anyone can make a beautiful arrangement and you really don’t have to be a sommelier to do so. Silvia from Vasco Wine will gladly give you some basic tips!

Logical order

At least make sure there is a logical order. That way you get the most out of the taste of your wine and the dish!

At least go from light to heavy, white to rosé and red, young to old, cold to warm. I almost always choose the (type of) wine first, and then look at the dishes that could go with it.

That way the wines are shown to their best advantage. If you have 8 people, you can make do with 1 bottle of wine. Do not serve full glasses but keep it to half glasses. This way everyone can more easily taste all the wines.

Equal or contrast

Wine and food work best when they are somewhat equal during Christmas. Light and fresh dishes go best with light and fresh wines. Round, fatty dishes go best with round fatty wines.

Also look carefully at the sauce; is it a creamy sauce or a light sauce? Spicy dishes go well with spicy wines without too many tannins. Sweet dishes pair best with even sweeter wines and more acidic dishes with even more acidic wines.

But contrasting flavors can also work well. Think of blue-veined cheese with Port. In short, also dare to experiment because that can sometimes produce very nice taste sensations! These wine tips for Christmas will take you a long way!

Start with a bubbly or a fresh fruity white wine

I always find it festive to start with a bubbly. If you don’t want to make it too expensive, choose Cava instead of Champagne. Made the same way as Champagne but from Spanish grapes.

If you do not like bubbles you can also go for a light fresh and (citrus) fruity wine. Think of a Piquepoul, Albarino, Riesling, Chenin blanc, Gruner veltliner or Sauvignon blanc.

Make sure these wines have not been aged in wood, as this immediately makes the wine heavier and creamier. Serve fresh light appetizers with this fresh wine. Think oysters, crab, scallops, shrimp, tuna. But also consider light meats like carpaccio and delicate vegetables like avocado, pumpkin, cucumber.

Full-bodied white wine or rosé

After the light white wine, choose a slightly fuller white wine with tropical fruit flavors.

Consider a Chardonnay, Vermentino, Gewurztraminer or a Viognier. But a rosé is also a good choice for the next course. Do you like a somewhat creamy flavor? Then choose a wood-aged white wine.

Delicious with white meat such as chicken, turkey but also with tofu, risotto and pasta. But also with fattier fish such as salmon, mackerel, eel.

Light or heavy red wine

As with white wine, you also have light and heavier varieties with red. Light red wines include a Pinot noir, Gamay, Cinsault and Zweigelt.

As above, these wines also pair with white meats such as chicken and with many different somewhat heartier vegetables such as mushrooms and beans as well as spicy condiments.

A heavier red wine is served last. Think of a Valpolicella, Barbera, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Pinotage, Syrah. Want a really distinct red wine? Then choose a wood-aged variety. Delicious with hearty stews, meats and sauces with cheese!

Dessert wine

For me, a dinner is complete when it is accompanied by a dessert wine. Make sure the dessert wine is sweeter than the dessert itself. Sweet dessert wines are for example a Sauternes, Ice wine, Muscat. If you choose a cheeseboard for dessert, then a Port goes perfectly with that, too!

Credits photos: www.canva.com