Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza and Happy New Year! As we get ready for all of these delicious holidays, it’s fun to think about the best holiday wine pairings. Happily, I’m going to keep my recommendations very simple this year. But I’ll start with a few serving tips to help make sure your holiday meals are happy – and easy.
Holiday Wine-serving Tips
- Serve Family Style. Put all the wines out that you decide you want to include in your festivities, and leave it up to each person to choose what they want.
- Feature Sparkling Wine. As a great palate cleanser, Sparkling Wine allows you to eat a HEAVY holiday meal without it ever feeling too heavy. Sparkling Wine holds up nicely to even the most serious parts of a holiday meal, without ever being too wimpy or too strong.
- Serve Low Tannin Reds and Acidic Whites. The low tannin reds will be best for supporting the flavors of the food without overwhelming them. The acidic whites will stand up nicely to all the dishes you’re serving. And of course, don’t forget to include a dry Rosé.
- Make Sure Your Dessert Wine Is Sweeter than the Dessert. If you don’t do this, you end up with an unpleasant experience.
My Recommended Holiday Wine Pairings
This year, I’m recommending two specific wines for holiday wine pairings: Grenache and Sparkling Wine. Be my guest to add many more wines to your gatherings. But I think if you include these two wines, you and your guests will be incredibly happy. Let me explain why.
Why Grenache
Wine Enthusiast recommends this wine for roast goose. But as I read what they write, I think it sounds great for many dishes:
“’When it comes to pairing wine with roasted goose, I’m drawn to medium-bodied, fresh wines with lively acidity, particularly Grenache,’ says Arjav Ezekiel, beverage director and co-owner of Birdie’s, a beloved Austin wine bar and restaurant. ‘Grenache has this beautiful crack of black pepper that’s fantastic with roasted big game birds, while staying light enough that you can keep eating. I think of wine as that little squeeze of lemon you add to everything,. And with all the rich dishes on the table around the holidays, I find myself gravitating toward Grenache’s brightness and lift.’”
Why Sparkling Wine
As I mentioned earlier, Sparkling Wine’s palate-cleansing ability is greatly needed and much appreciated during HEAVY meals. A heavier wine will just be heavy on top of heavy, which isn’t any fun.
Sparkling Wine also works well with all parts of the meal. It’s great with appetizers such as crackers topped with brie and pear, stuffed mushrooms and olives. It pairs beautifully with the main courses, including turkey or ham, and the serious side dishes like stuffing and mashed potatoes.
Happy Holidays!
