Christmas Wine and Food Pairing Ideas

If you're trying to decide which wine to offer with which dish at your Christmas party or on the Big Day itself, then the team at Premier Estates Wine are here to help you out. Our research and development team are constantly sampling different food types along with our range of wines to ascertain which pairings work best so that we can pass that advice on to our customers. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Each of our wines, from our magnificent Italian Prosecco in our Sparkling wine range to our velvety South African Pinotage in our New World red wine range, can be enjoyed as an aperitif just as much as they can with food. However, tradition dictates that guests are welcomed with a glass of something bubbly, so we’ll begin by looking at our sparkling wine range.

 

Sensational Sparklers

As your guests come through the door out of the chilly weather what could be more magical, more exciting and more welcoming than a popping cork? We have three wines in our sparkling range: a Spanish Cava for those who like their wines on the dry side, an Italian Prosecco for those who prefer a lighter, fruitier tipple and an Italian Grand Rosé for those with a sweet tooth.

All of our sparklers are award winners in their own right with our Cava and Prosecco having consistently won awards at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) and the Decanter Wine Awards for the last few years.

You can enjoy the feeling of decadence that comes with drinking a very high quality wine in all three, without putting extra strain on your bank balance at Christmas. A case of 6 bottles can be yours for just £47.94 and you can even mix and match all three varietals.

Each of these sparkling wines will happily complement white meat, seafood dishes or vegetarian dishes and they are also traditionally enjoyed with the hors d’oeuvres before the main meal is served.

 

Luxurious Christmas Reds

Should you’re wine preference lean towards a full bodied red wine, then we have plenty of treats in store for you. Although turkey tends to be the main focus of a traditional Christmas dinner, it would seem that more and more of us are seeking a bit of a change from tradition and are substituting a steak in its place or even a beef or lamb roast instead. To be honest, our reds will complement a turkey meal just as well as they complement a roast as they are well suited to meals with lots of different, strong tastes such as sprouts, cranberry sauce, pork and sage stuffing and, of course, the gravy.

Our red wine range consists of the following wines are we’ve included some food pairing recommendations but at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference:

Australian Shiraz - This IWSC silver medal award winning beauty offers an abundance of spiced plum flavours and aromas and is great with roast beef or lamb.

Californian Cabernet Sauvignon – A wonderfully rich wine full of smooth tannins which complements roast beef, lamb stews and aged, hard cheeses very nicely indeed.

Chilean Merlot - With aromas of spice, black pepper and ripe blackberries, this well balanced red goes perfectly with lasagnes and stews.

South African Pinotage – Our Pinotage is a full bodied wine bursting with red berry flavours. It goes splendidly with Indian curries, spicy barbecue sauces and chilli con carne.

 

Magical Christmas Whites

If a nicely chilled glass of white wine is more to your liking then we’re sure our range of white wines will most definitely not disappoint. There are plenty of multi award winners here as there are throughout our wine range, most notably our IWSC silver award winning Californian Chardonnay.

Our white wines are all amazing with turkey but each has its own special niche as well: Australian Chardonnay – Smooth and soft with an abundance of tropical fruit flavours, this sublime white will go very well with fish or white meat dishes and light cream-based sauces.

Californian Chardonnay – With melon and orange flavours enhanced by a touch of butterscotch, this award winning white is the perfect complement for light, delicate food such as shellfish, steamed fish, chicken or pasta with spring vegetables.

Chilean Sauvignon Blanc – Highly refreshing with mouth-watering gooseberry flavours, this cool white wine is a terrific accompaniment for fish, chicken or turkey dishes however they may be cooked.

South African Chenin Blanc - Fresh citrus aromas, tropical lychee flavours and a wonderfully crisp finish. This one goes nicely with white meat dishes and, in particular, pork and apple sauce.

 

Remarkable Christmas Rosés

For the sweet toothed wine drinkers amongst us or even for those who prefer something a little different from reds and whites, we have some wonderful sweet, refreshing rosé wines for you.

Rosé wines are amazingly versatile and make great aperitifs as well as complementing just about any meal you could desire. Here's what we have on offer:

Californian Zinfandel - Packed full of peach and berry aromas and leaving a lingering sweetness on the palate, this particularly refreshing rosé is amazing with any meal but particularly good with barbecued or chargrilled meats.

South African Shiraz Rosé – Crisp with fresh strawberry aromas and redcurrant flavours, our Shiraz rosé wine is the perfect complement for salmon, seafood, salad, pasta or soft creamy cheese.

 

Mulled Wine – The Warmest of Welcomes

When the weather is cold and the nights are long and dark or if your Christmas shopping trip was particularly arduous, we recommend putting your feet up and settling down by the fire with a steaming mug of mulled wine. The team at Premier Estates Wine have spent some serious time investigating the potential of our red wines to make the ultimate Christmas Mulled Wine.

Any of our reds are ideal as a base for the recipe which you can find by following this link.

Christmas Wine Advice

Now that we’ve introduced you to our wines and passed on our recommendation with regards to food and wine pairing, it’s time to give some thought to how much wine you’ll need. This is always easier if you know your guests well and you know which wines they prefer. If you’re not so sure who prefers what, we offer mixed cases of wine so that you can cater for all tastes and eventualities.

We also have miniature 20cl Prosecco bottles with screw caps which are ideal for parties as guests can serve themselves from an ice trough packed with minis and you won’t end up with several partly finished bottles of Prosecco that need to be stored and may go past their best before you get around to finishing them off.

We're offering FREE next day delivery on all orders from our online wine store and the orders are coming in thick and fast as we get closer to Christmas. Order your wine as soon as you can to guarantee a pre-Christmas delivery slot.