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. best wine cakeWhite 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.best wine to cook seafood in

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. glass of wine badKeep 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 box wine canadaAnd 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!best wine in india with cost

Unless you grew up on a vineyard, are the child of an earl with a sweeping, cavernous wine cellar, or have a savvy qualification, picking plonk is no easy task. No more trying is the pastime than at Christmas, when you've got relatives coming round for a plate of plump roast turkey. What do you pair with your bird? A cheeky Chenin blanc, perhaps? Oh yes, and let's not forget that this year your husband's mum's friend Patricia is coming. best white wine varietyShe professes to be an expert in all things vintage. Will she sneer at your bottle of Pinot Noir? Who cares if she does. But still, it's advisable to have something affordable, but simultaneously delicious on Christmas Day, isn't it? There are lots of good wine offers – expense doesn't always equate to quality. I asked the major supermarkets to recommend me their best wine choices to accompany Christmas dinner, in three categories – under £5, under £10, and under £20.

Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi, Waitrose, and Lidl experts selected their finest white and red wines for each price band, so there really isn't any way Patricia can moan. Here's the best Christmas wine for 2016... White: Tesco Brut Cava (£5) – Better than cheap prosecco. Red: Tesco Duoro (£5) – Something a little different from Portugal. White: Giesen Estate Sauvignon Blanc (£8) – Strong with smoked salmon, but also fine with turkey. Red: Tesco finest* Montagne St Emilion (£8) – Classic. White: Tesco finest* Chablis Premier Cru (£12) – Quite posh for £12. Red: Tesco finest* The Trilogy Malbec (£11) – Might get a hint of chocolate, you know. White: Penguins Sands Chardonnay (£3.75) - Very simple and inoffensive. Red: Wild Valley Red (£3.75) – So juicy and forest fruity. White: Taste the Difference German Mosel Pinot Blanc 2015 (£7) – A pleasant alternative to pricey Chablis. Red: Taste the Difference Beaujolais-Villages Coteaux Gratiniques 2015 (£9) – Oh yes, spicy and festive.

Ask your annoying uncle to read out the name. White: Taste the Difference Pouilly-fuisse (£16) – Dry and crisp and sure to impress. Red: Sainsbury's Gigondas, Taste the Difference (£13) – Actually a bit of a bargain, this. White: The Exquisite Collection Muscadet Sevre et Maine (£4.99) – Aldi's Exquisite Collection has been highly praised by critics. Red: Cotes Du Rhone Villages (£3.99) – This can't hurt, can it? White: The Exquisite Collection Clare Valley Riesling (£6.99) – A little sweeter, so daringly good with both rich meat and vinegary cabbage. Red: Meadowhawk Californian Zinfandel (£6.99) – If American wines are your thing... White: Andre Vannier Chablis Grand Cru (£19.99) – Drink this immediately after bubbles. Or in the bath. Red: Domaine Chateauneuf-du-Pape (£14.99) – Better with beef than turkey, really. But nobody's stopping you either way. White: Les Petites Baies Chardonnay Viognier Pays d’Oc (£4.99) – Viognier is a personal favourite. So fresh and easy.

Red: Cepa Lebrel Rioja (£3.99) – Won't taste of much, but it'll keep you happy later on. White: Fief des Pierres Blanches Quincy 2015 (£8.99) – Bloomin' marvellous with a mouthful of gravy soaked potatoes. Or most other things on your Christmas table for that matter. Red: Glorioso Rioja Reserva 2012 (£9.99) – Be bold. Sometimes it's worth it. White: Comte de Senneval Champagne Grand Cru NV (£18.99) – Nicer than a lot of what the famous champagne houses put out. Sure, it's no Krug, but it's worth the price and then some. Red: Close Sainte Anne Pomerol (£14.99) – If I use the word elegant in this, it's now. Sorry, but this is in fact elegant. You could even talk about gentle aromas, or notes of leather and tobacco too if you like...it's best you don't, though, isn't it? How long does roast turkey take? Christmas Dinner leftover recipes How to make Christmas cookies How to make cranberry gin Mary Berry's Christmas pudding recipe How to cook a Christmas turkey

Mary Berry's Christmas cake recipe How to make Christmas pudding White: Cantina di Soave Veneto (£4.99) – Soave doesn't mean suave. But it is refined for under a fiver. People like to use that when describing wine. Red: Cuvée Chasseur Vin de France (£4.99) – This is from the Languedoc, which is full of good, affordable wine. White: Waitrose White Burgundy (£8.99) – All fragrant and grapey (another word people like to use when talking wine). Red: Waitrose Romanian Pinot Noir Dealu Mare (£5.99) – Romanian Pinot Noir is (still) a hidden gem. White: Broglia Gavi di Gavi, Piedmont (£14.99) – Gavi, a wine for people who like to think they know about wine. It means it's good, but not worth talking about. Red: Joseph Drouhin Chorey-lès-Beaune (£17.49) – This is a bio-dynamic wine from an organic vineyard. It's peppery and you might get some cherry flavours. White: Asda Extra Special Viognier (£5) – Here's our old friend Viognier. Seriously, you should drink this.