When it pertains to the holidays, there’s never ever a one-size-fits-all drinking plan. Plenty among us will mark the joyful season with an electric green Grinch mixed drink surged with melon-flavored Midori. Others will gravitate toward the minty “It’s a Wonderful Life” cocktail doctored with Irish cream liqueur. More still will prefer spice-scented aquavit, or creamy hot buttered rum. However for those of us kitchen-oriented folk, who’ve been planning our Christmas menus because July? Red wine– and particularly, the ideal wine to couple with food– is the name of the video game.
It’s not always a simple equation. What’s the just-right bottling to accompany a glistening ham sprinkled with a sauce of Port and sweet-tart cherry maintains? Or a wine that dazzles together with a plateful of salty baccala, also referred to as salt-dried cod?
Never fear, we’ve tapped the specialists in White wine Enthusiast’s Tasting Department for bottlings that’ll make any of these great Christmas-ready meals sing.
92 Points White Wine Lover
Couple of dishes wow quite like a remarkable ham focal point. Ham Stuffed with Prunes and Apples suffices; it’s served with a sweet-sour sauce that mingles rich pan juices with tawny Port and sticky cherry protects. Serve it together with this medium to full-bodied red, which provides focused flavors of ripe dark plum, black currant and a hint of loam.
$31
Wine-Searcher
93 Points Wine Enthusiast
Obviously, who’s to say you need to select just one showstopper dish? Our Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb with Gremolata, roasted over a bed of fresh thyme and rosemary, makes for a classy affair. In between bites, sip this dark ruby-hued bottling, which provides flavors of blackberry, black cherry, anisette, menthol and violet against a rigid tannin foundation.
$19
Wine.com
91 Points White Wine Enthusiast
Don’t choose a standard potato gratin. Mix things up with a hot, bubbling Pear and Parsnip Gratin swimming in whipping cream and butter. Don’t worry, it still counts as a vegetable. (It’s the holidays, OK?) Pair it with this acid-forward Sauvignon Blanc, which fittingly dishes out flavors of warm apple and pear.
$18
Wine-Searcher
94 Points White Wine Enthusiast
We’re in dessert territory, people! It’s tough to argue with Whiskey Pumpkin Pie spiked with dark maple syrup and a hit of liquid smoke, so do not even attempt. It plays perfectly with this Australian Para Grand Tawny, which in addition to a lovely acidity on the taste buds, conjures scents of dirty library books and leather armchairs (good ideas, we ensure you), plus baked raisins, molasses, coffee beans and warm spice.
$40
Wine-Searcher
93 Points White Wine Lover
Do not forget to leave some cookies out for Santa. Easy Crescent Cookies, packed with ground hazelnuts and dusted in a blanket of confectioners’ sugar, perhaps? While you’re at it, do not forget to leave the huge person a glassful of something beautiful, like this white Trebbiano-Malvasia mix. With sweet notes of marzipan and acacia honey, it presents scents of maple syrup, ripe apricot and vanilla.
$69
Vivino
Why You Need To Trust United States
All items featured here are individually selected by our group, which is comprised of experienced authors and wine cups and supervised by editorial experts at White wine Enthusiast headquarters. All scores and reviews are performed blind in a controlled setting and show the criteria of our 100-point scale. White wine Enthusiast does decline payment to carry out any item review, though we might earn a commission on purchases made through links on this site. Costs were precise at the time of publication.
We Recommend:
- Reclaimed Red Wine Barrel Christmas Tree Collar
- Double-Wall Snow Globe Gnome Red Wine Tumblers with Gnome Bottle Stoppers Set
Released on December 12, 2022