One of the great joys of the holiday season (in addition to, you know, family and friends) is that we are afforded lots of new opportunities to drink wine. With seasonal parties and family gatherings, it’s always important to be an informed consumer, and especially important to be an informed wine provider if you are hosting an event.
With that in mind, my colleagues (Jim and Guy) and I decided it would be helpful to offer some recommendations, including some of our favorites for your consideration.
But first, some of the basics. Many holiday meals involve a healthy serving of turkey. “Why turkey?” you may ask. It turns out that goose was the favorite holiday meat for quite a long time – it was relatively cheap and abundant and, according to some, tasted good. Turkey, in addition to being sleep-inducing right before football games, was considered less pedestrian than goose and apparently favored by King Henry VIII, who mandated the big switch. Head-chopping may have entered into Henry’s decision making, but we’ll leave that for another time.
In any event, wines that go well with turkey include rose and pinot noir, both reasonably mild wines that won’t overwhelm the mild flavor of turkey.
Many holiday dinners also involve lots of vegetables, which pair nicely with a crisp white wine, such as a sauvignon blanc or white burgundy. And of course dessert wines are appropriate for, um, dessert; they are sweet and complement most pies, cakes and cookies.
Now, not all holiday gatherings are sit-down dinners. There are also loads of lovely cocktail parties where, happily, wines have replaced highballs as the drinks of choice. If you are hosting a holiday cocktail party, our advice is to be inventive – don’t just rely on the chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon standbys, but rather show off your creativity. Try a medium-bodied white that will satisfy both chardonnay and sauvignon blanc drinkers, something like an albarino or a dry riesling. You may also want to try an interesting red blend, not too light, not too heavy, that will go with all those hors d’oeuvres you’ve spent way too much time preparing, or picking up at Costco.
I asked my colleagues to choose one wine in each of the following categories to help readers prepare for the holidays:
- Under $25 wine for a holiday cocktail party
- Splurge wine for a holiday cocktail party
- Under $25 wine for a holiday dinner
- Splurge wine for a holiday dinner
It turns out my colleagues apparently found those instructions too hard to understand, or limiting, and instead offered lots of advice, which I have attempted to summarize as follows:
Under $25 wine for a holiday cocktail party:
- Bill: Dr. Goosen’s Riesling Kabinett
- Jim: Monticello Rioja Reserve or Laurent Delaunay Les Grappillages Pouilly Fuisse
- Guy: Burgundy Cremant (Trader Joe’s has a good one)
Splurge wine for a holiday cocktail party:
- Bill: Williams Selyem Pinot Noir
- Jim: Banfi Brunello di Montalcino or Javilier Meurseult Les Billets
- Guy: Fine French Chardonnay, Burgundy Santenay or Chablis
Under $25 for a holiday dinner:
- Bill: Cloudline Pinot Noir
- Jim: Moitecillo Rioja Reserve or Domaine St. Germain Bourgogne Blanc Viellies Vignes
- Guy: Terre Rouge Syrah, or other good Syrahs from California or Washington state
Splurge wine for a holiday dinner:
- Bill: Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon
- Jim : Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon or Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc
- Guy: Grenache and Carignan from Prioral, Spain; Clos de L’Obac if you can find it
Most of these wines should be available locally.
Cheers!
-Submitted by Bill Good
(Image credit: Pixabay.com and Vinepair.com)