Every year people ask Mirela and I about the best Christmas wine. In previous years, we’ve said ‘buy it from us’ but now we’re not selling wine directly, we have had fun putting together our recommendations and suggestions from a wide range of producers and suppliers. Cheers!
Sparkling wine for Christmas
- Nytimber Classic Cuvee Outstanding English Sparkling Wine £27 (Served this at our wedding. This is a very good price for this wine. Read about our visit to Nyetimber)
- Pol Roger Reserve Brut £36 (This is what we ordered for Christmas. Very good ratings and an outstanding producer – can’t wait to taste it.)
Find out how sparkling wine and champagne get their sparkle
Red wines for Christmas dinner
- Berry Bros Good Ordinary Claret £12 (classic red wine for Christmas dinner.)
- Terrazas de los Andes Malbec £15 (good producer, good price.)
- 2008 Viña Tondonia Tinto, Reserva £36 (this is a classic producer, more famous for their white Riojas but we bought two cases of this good value premium red for Christmas.)
Read our article about how to choose the best red wine.
Festive white wines
- 2019 Berry Bros. & Rudd Albariño by Bodegas Sucesores de Benito Santos £14. (We haven’t tasted this but we would expect it to be a classic Albarino, and that means it’ll be tangy with a high acidity and a bit of saltiness. Perfect with smoked salmon, seafood, fish or as an aperitif)
- Penfolds Max’s Chardonnay £17 (We love Penfolds but haven’t tried this Chardonnay which looks like good value for the quality. It’s going to be a richer style of Chardonnay and very food friendly.)
- Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc £24 (classic New Zealand producer and a great wine. Lots of classic tropical fruit, gooseberry, capsicum notes. If you like Sauv. Blanc, you’ll love this.)
- 2019 Riesling, Trocken, Eva Fricke £23 (Riesling is the wine geeks’ favourite grape and this is a dry white wine from a top producer in the beautiful, premium Rheingau region in Germany.)
Learn more about Rheingau and our trip there.
Desert and cheese wine recommendations
- H&H 10 Year Old Sercial Madeira £20 (we absolutely love Madeira and this sweet-but-savoury wine will go with Christmas pudding, trifle and cheese without being cloying or too rich)
- Berry Bros. & Rudd William Pickering, Tawny Port by Quinta do Noval. £27 (This is a very reputable producer producing an own-label for Berry Bros. This tawny Port is ready to drink now and perfect for Christmas.)
- 2013 Berry Bros. & Rudd Tokaji Aszú, £37 (5 Puttonyos means its going to be properly sweet, but with a balancing acidity. We prefer this to all but the best Sauternes. By Oremus, which is a very good producer.)
Check out our recommendations for gifts for wine lovers.
Photo by Anthony Cantin on Unsplash
