We dream of a white Christmas, Jack Frost nipping at our nose, but it’s usually a wet one, the puddles soaking our toes. Yet come the big day, some vinous indulgence ensures that the weather is soon forgotten. Here’s my plan for a festive feast on the big day, accompanied by some wine recommendations for Christmas.
The official start of the season, the winter solstice, usually feels like the longest day as I conduct a final audit of my own wine cellar, ready for Christmas. It’s a chilly task but, as any curator can confirm, spending precious time with your collection is akin to a spiritual experience, throwing up some pleasant surprises and also the occasional shocker: I learnt the hard way that Puligny Montrachet has a ‘best before’ date when I discovered a forgotten brace of bottles – our kitchen sink was the only one to ‘enjoy’ them. Storing wine is not for everyone, of course, so the following recommendations are all available to buy right away.
After an invigorating start of freshly squeezed orange juice (Navels are at their plumpest in December), buttered sourdough with lashings of Marmite and my best attempt at a flat white, festivities commence with devils on horseback. Sweet yet savoury, juicy dates wrapped in pancetta offer more sophistication than cocktail sausages, so are deserving of a serious Champagne. This year, my choice is Bollinger PN TX20 (£82, The Finest Bubble). The technical name makes it sound like a sports car – PN is Pinot Noir, constituting 100% of the cuvée; TX for Tauxières, the dominant cru for the fruit; and ’20 for the base vintage – and that’s actually an appropriate image to conjure because this is a racy Champagne, a scintillating vehicle for Pinot’s power and pinpoint precision; the red apple-driven acidity will slice through the devils’ bacon fat, while the creamy stewed plum complexity will enrobe the richness of the dates.
2025 has been an extraordinary year for apples, so lunch will start with a ‘change of the seasons’ salad featuring the last of this year’s russets, accompanied by incoming Radicchio di Treviso, crumbled with salty Roquefort, dressed in honey, mustard and cider vinegar and scattered with candied walnuts. The orchard theme calls for a top notch English sparkler, with its defining apple acidity, and Langham Estate Blanc de Blancs NV (£44, The Wine Society) is among the best. Fending off competition from the Champenois, this small Dorset estate won the IWSC’s coveted sparkling producer trophy and much of the credit should go to its young winemaker, Tommy Grimshaw, whose experimental verve combined with confidence results in innovative, assured winemaking. He has been greatly influenced by Grower Champagne and that’s borne out in this idiosyncratic cuvée where the Chardonnay shines like a celestial star, with bright citrus, fleshy greengage, toasted hazelnuts and savoury pastry.
I’m an evangelist for winter rosé, so Christmas is the season to sink the poshest pink. To accompany smoked trout on soft fluffy brown bread, topped with creamed horseradish dotted with dill, Chateau d’Esclans Garrus 2022 (£90, Ocado), one of a small number of rosé wines to win an IWSC gold this year (full disclosure: I was on the judging panel, assessing blind). Whispering Angel’s much bigger brother is a class act with significant ageing potential, as evidenced by a vertical tasting I attended back in the spring. Showcasing the ripe fruit of the warm ’22 vintage, the nose teases with alpine strawberry and peach skin, while the palate gently unfurls to reveal the extraordinary breadth and purity of its pristine red fruit from the oldest Grenache vines on the estate (around 100 years old), supported by an elegant, mouthwatering salinity that underpins its serious, gastronomic credentials.
The festive season comes with its unshakeable rituals and a velvety velouté is one of mine, so the night before Christmas is spent slaving over a Le Creuset stockpot. A spiced parsnip and crème fraîche soup topped with crunchy Comté croutons will be served with Giant Steps Tarraford Vineyard Chardonnay 2022 (£49, Vinvm). From Australia’s Yarra Valley, this deliciously opulent wine, with charred pineapple, peach and mandarin balanced by a vibrant grapefruit acid line, embellished by vanilla pod and creamy macadamia, is a match for Mersault at twice the price and a lovely match for the frost-induced sweetness of the parsnip.
It was once goose but these days turkey is our festive centrepiece, however there’s evidence to suggest it is falling out of fashion. If so, I am glad, because I think it’s a boring bird and I much prefer a fillet of beef, seared and then roasted to pink and bloody, served with a crisp-but-fluffy Yorkshire pudding, goose fat potatoes, puréed celeriac, and pan-seared sprouts enlivened by lardons and chestnuts. This year, I’m heading back to the Côte d’Azur for accomplished winemaker Romain Ott’s unusual and impressive take on a Super Tuscan. Produced primarily from Cabernet Franc, of which there’s precious little in Provence, Château Léoube Collector Rouge 2018 (£62, Daylesford Organic) offers deep, brooding berries, balanced by an enlivening pomegranate acidity, with notes of maquis (the dense sun-dried shrub that’s native to the Med), dark cherry chocolate and tobacco leaf, with tannins polished to perfection to serenade the melt-in-the-mouth fillet.
I take the French approach to the cheese course, so it is served before pudding. A board featuring Cornish Yarg wrapped in wild garlic, an aged Stilton and something suitably stinky, such as an Epoisses, served with black grapes and charcoal crackers, requires something serene and nothing too tannic, so I’m going for Gamay. The grape of Beaujolais, it is rightly growing in stature, with some notable examples also coming from Burgundy, where Pinot Noir rules the reds. Arnaud Boué Coteaux Bourguignons 2021 (£23, Tivoli Wines) offers vivid raspberry and sour cherry character, the crisp crunchy fruit enhanced by gentle, silky and supple tannins, with a herbal undertow that will enhance the complexity of the cheese.
Finally, to dessert, with a lighter, more manageable alternative to the traditional figgy pudding, courtesy of a Nigel Slater recipe published many years ago: prunes steeped and stewed in Malmsey, slathered in dark melted chocolate and served with a dollop of boozy whipped cream. This year I shall pass on the port in favour of a yin and yin pairing with Madeira, choosing from the range of D’Oliveiras, the winning producer in the IWSC’s Top 50: Wine list, based on its impressive haul of medals.
D’Oliveiras 5-Year-Old Medium Sweet Madeira (£21, The Whisky Exchange) is lusciously sweet but beautifully balanced, with a savoury, nutty undertow and a zip of zesty citrus to keep it all in check, a versatile wine that will take the challenge of chocolate in its stride and a fantastic way to finish after a day of festive indulgence.
David Kermode is a journalist and broadcaster, with two decades of experience across TV, radio and print media, and a lifelong love of wine and spirits. Don’t miss his weekly podcast, The Drinking Hour.
