It would not be Christmas without turkey. It’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. Turkey is not a powerful white meat and has a low fat content – the reason why it can dry out if not cooked carefully. With 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. Tannin is your Christmas banquets enemy. It is at odds with the lack of fat on the plate, leaving nothing to soften the tannins. This can lead to accentuated, harsh tannins in a wine, whilst the saltiness of the turkey can also make tannin taste more bitter. 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. best wine boxes uk 2015The lighter, elegant Burgundian areas such as Volnay may be overpowered by all those accompaniments, so be careful.big wine glass funny pics Pinot from Sonoma will also work extremely well along with Pinot Noir from Victoria, Australia.best wine to go with pizza If you are not a Pinot fan, a mature Bordeaux, Chianti or Rioja would work well too. time out best wine bars londonThe tannin in red wine can soften and integrate with age, allowing them to be matched with Turkey.dry wine red or white

Sometimes ignored at Christmas lunch, a full-bodied Chardonnay is an enchanting accompaniment to your turkey, especially with traditional sides such as bread sauce. places to buy wine in parisOaky 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... When Louis of Domaine Louis Carillon retired in 2010, the family decided to divide the vineyard holdings, with son François… Mad Dog sell most of the grapes they produce to premium winemakers in and around the Barossa Valley, which says… Still trying to decide? We've got you covered... Hard, soft, blue, goat? Which cheeses do you choose, and do you pick a wine for each or try to… What styles to match with this this festive classic...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. She 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. Red: Wine Atlas Bobal (£4.78) – A Spanish red. Vibrant (nearly finished, I promise). White: Marsanne (£5.78) – Citrus Mediterranean vibes from France. Red: Burdizzo Chianti Riserva (£6.98) – Finally, a Chianti! You might usually have this with steak, but this one is a little lighter. White: Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc (£11) – This is usually £13, so a deal worth noting. It's intense and floral. Red: ASDA Extra Special El Meson Rioja Gran Reserva (£10.98) – Merry Christmas!