Christmas dinners present a prime time to try new wines with favorite recipes of old. Will it be ham, turkey, goose or prime rib? If you are looking for new wine options to complement your holiday meal, then look no further, check out our unique selection of versatile whites and diverse reds that are sure to enhance your Christmas gathering, varietals picked for both their presence and adaptability. Baked, smoked, or honeyed hams beg for wines with a dash of sweet. A German Riesling with a touch of residual sugar, made lighter in style and a bit lower in alcohol will hop on the ham pairing wagon with plenty of food-friendly acidity and crowd-pleasing palate appeal. Alsatian Rieslings tend to bring more body, significantly less sugar, and a richer palate profile than their German wine cousins, and are capable of handling a wide range of pork-themed options with a wine focus on weight and pairing presence. Red wines that can accommodate ham happenings tend to be lighter in body and overall style.

Beaujolais, Pinot Noir (especially from Burgundy or California's Russian River Valley), and Spain's Tempranillo grape often exhibit subtle tannins with an easier going pairing profile. Turkey on its own presents a fairly straight forward pairing partner, but who really eats turkey solo? Herb-filled stuffing, roasted veggies, rich sauces, and an assortment of savory sides manage to make their way alongside the bird. It's these sides and sauces that must be taken into account when working out the best wine pairings. Sauvignon Blanc is hands-down one of the top white wine picks for turkey and savory sides, as it tends to bring its own herbal tones to the table.When it comes to pairing wines with duck, considerations have to be made for the unique, fatty profile along with the innate gaminess of the meat. The wines of France have a long and storied pairing partnership with a variety of duck preparations. As local foods paired with local wines make a trendy comeback, there's an underlying synergy between "historical" regional pairings and the red wines of Burgundy, Bordeaux, as well as the reds of the Rhone Valley will handle the elements of roasted, smoked, or braised duck.

If the duck is served with a fruit-based sauce then the wine pairing gears will shift towards the white wine trails. Gewurztraminer, Riesling, and Sauternes will make their mark on the fruit-themed duck pairing profiles.Prime rib makes a serious play for a variety of red wines. A big, bold Cabernet Sauvignon from California, a playful Lodi Zinfandel, a rustic Tempranillo from Spain, a refined red from Bordeaux, a Barbaresco or Barolo from Italy - all of these varietals can mix and mingle with a slice of prime rib and bring out subtle nuances in the pairing depending on the regional roots. White wines will have a tough time keeping up, but if you are hard pressed and must venture to the white grapes, try a full-throttle White Burgundy (Chardonnay) to keep pace with the rich textures and greater ratios of protein and fat. Christmas culinary creations from around the world add an extra layer of festive foodie fun. Whether it's exotic Asian spices, calling for the likes of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and even an aromatic Viognier or heavy European desserts with warm spice nuances, preferring a pairing with the weight and flavor of a fortified wine like port or Madeira - there are dozens of unique pairing potentials.

Keep in mind that flavor is not the only consideration to be made, but textures, spice intensity, serving sauces, weightiness and rich ingredient elements will all serve to sway a food and wine pairing potential.best red wine roast recipeAnd last, but not least there are choices to be made with which wines to serve with chocolate and a variety of dessert wines that are more than capable of serving as dessert themselves!good wine to have with fishIt would not be Christmas without turkey. can you buy wine in texas after 9It’s a traditional favourite in the US and the UK since as far back as the 16th century, although it was the Victorians who really cemented its place at the festive lunch table.nyc wine tours long island

Turkey is not a powerful white meat and has a low fat content – the reason why it can dry out if not cooked carefully. red wine brands on indiaWith this in mind, your wine matches should ideally be either a full-bodied white wine, or a medium bodied red, with low to medium tannin.best mild red wine Tannin is your Christmas banquets enemy. best quality wine brandIt is at odds with the lack of fat on the plate, leaving nothing to soften the tannins. best wine list floridaThis can lead to accentuated, harsh tannins in a wine, whilst the saltiness of the turkey can also make tannin taste more bitter.red wine 10 letters

If that wasn’t enough to think about, there is also the complexity of the accompaniments to your lunch; cranberry, bacon, parsnips, stuffing and brussel sprouts to name a few. A medium tannin red, for me, points towards top quality, robust Pinot Noirs or a Beaujolais Cru. Pinot Noir from muscular Burgundy Crus such as Gevrey-Chambertin or Pommard stack up exceptionally well – if you can stretch to the Grand Cru of Chambertin even better. The lighter, elegant Burgundian areas such as Volnay may be overpowered by all those accompaniments, so be careful. Pinot from Sonoma will also work extremely well along with Pinot Noir from Victoria, Australia. If you are not a Pinot fan, a mature Bordeaux, Chianti or Rioja would work well too. The tannin in red wine can soften and integrate with age, allowing them to be matched with Turkey. Sometimes ignored at Christmas lunch, a full-bodied Chardonnay is an enchanting accompaniment to your turkey, especially with traditional sides such as bread sauce.

Oaky richness gives sweet spice notes, while creamy lactic acid really helps out with a meat that can sometimes be on the dry side. Good Chardonnays, in general, are found in the same geographical areas as good Pinot Noir. White Burgundy from the Côte de Beaune will work well at almost all levels; upgrade where you can to something like a Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru or a Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. The high levels of minerality and acidity in these wines help to cleanse the palate, allowing you to wade through all the trimmings effortlessly. Other wonderful examples can be found in Victoria, Sonoma and New Zealand. The Kumeu River Chardonnays from near Auckland are extraordinary wines, offer fantastic value for money and impressed us in 2015. Vines and olives co-exist at Fattoria Casaloste. The organically certified vineyards have produced a really fruity and intense Chianti Classico… Hess use massal selection in the Su’skol vineyard to encourage aromatic complexity from the nine different Chardonnay clones...