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Choosing wines for Christmas dinner

Who can get through Christmas day sober? Not me, says iVillage wine expert Alice King, who offers her top festive wine choices for every eventuality

Christmas is a good excuse to splash out on some decent bottles of plonk. In my house we always start the day with a glass of two of champagne, and I’d recommend going for the real McCoy – my favourite non-vintage champagnes at the moment are as Louis Roederer, Veuve Clicquot and Pol Roger. All these are widely available at around £25 a bottle.

Or treat yourself to supermarket own label vintage champagne. Tesco’s 1995 Premier Cru Vintage Champagne (£17.99) is delicious, rich and creamy – it tastes like a much more expensive bottle.

Apéritifs
Instead of sticking to old favourites, why not try something a bit more unusual? Safeway’s Gewürztraminer (£5.99) both smells and tastes like Turkish delight combined with tropical fruit salad. Majestic stock an wacky Aussie wine: Rosemount GTR Gewürztraminer Riesling (£5.99), an unusual blend of grapes. If you prefer something a little less spicy, opt for a Riesling such as Bethany Riesling 2001 (£5.49) from Australia’s Barossa Valley, again available at Majestic.

Turkey and Chicken
It’s really a matter of personal preference whether you go for red or white. If you opt for white, how about trying a Semillon Chardonnay blend? Rosemount 2001 Semillon Chardonnay is good value at £5.99, or if you are having lots of people for Christmas lunch try the Barramundi Semillon Chardonnay 3-litre bag-in-a-box wine (£13.99). The latter works out to the equivalent of just £3.49 a bottle and will provide up to 34 glasses. Both wines are available from Tesco.

If you prefer red, Argentina is great value at the moment. Try either the spicy blackcurrant-like Santa Julia Bondara Sangiovese 2000 or the slightly richer, heavier Santa Julia Tempranillo, (both Sainsbury’s, £4.49).

Over the page: What to drink if you’re not eating turkey

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