Avoiding a festive drinks disaster
IT’S hard enough to turn out a delicious festive bird with all the trimmings without having to agonise over what drinks to serve up with it.
Luckily turkey goes with just about anything, so there are no real worries about getting it wrong, but to make it even easier, here’s a few suggestions. A traditional meal calls out for some tried and tested classics, but there’s no need to take Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay too seriously. It’s fresh, fruity and eminently drinkable and is available at Sainsbury, Tesco and Threshers at £10.19.
For a white wine to savour try Vergelegen Chardonnay (£9.99 at Majestic. Buy two and save £3). A South African star, with toasted oak, buttery, rich and nutty, take this one as seriously as you like and it should not disappoint on any level. Louis Jadot’s Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2006 (£10.19 at Tesco and Thresher) completes the Burgundy double. It is full of warm raspberry fruit and savoury earthy spice.
Staying with Pinot Noir but much further afield, Villa Maria Reserve Pinot Noir 2006 (£15.99 at Tesco) shows the great strides New Zealand is making with this grape. Perfumed ripe cherry and red fruits are followed by deliciously long-lasting and integrated flavours supported by silky tannins. Rioja comes into its own at Christmas. It must be something to do with the long ageing in oak that brings out those comforting aromas of old furniture and leather armchairs Cune Rioja Reserva 2004 (£11.99 at Waitrose and Majestic) has definite hints of tobacco and rich dark chocolate flavours. Its bigger brother Marques de Caceres Gran Reserva 2001 has spent more than two years in oak barrels and more in the bottle. The result is an intense and complex combination of savoury roast nuts, leather, spice and licorice. It’s £16.99 at Oddbins and £19.99 at Majestic, but buy two and it’s £15.99.
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