Wine for Christmas: Which wine goes well with Christmas dinner?

Christmas is a time of enjoyment and festive traditions - and what would a festive Christmas dinner be without the perfect wine? The right holiday wine puts the finishing touch on any Christmas menu. But which wine goes with classic Christmas dishes like roast goose, sausages with potato salad, or fondue? And which wines make stylish Christmas gifts? The selection is diverse and should be well thought out, because a harmoniously matched wine is what turns the festive meal into a culinary experience.

How many wines do I need for the Christmas menu?

A perfect wine for Christmas? There is no such thing! For the Christmas feast with loved ones, at least three wines are needed: an aperitif, at least one (but happily two or more) wine pairing with the food, and a fireplace wine to be enjoyed slowly after the Christmas meal. In total, you can calculate 1 to 1.5 bottles of wine per person for a long evening.

Which wine should you bring to the Christmas party?

The question of which wine is right for Christmas depends heavily on the menu. Here you will find out which wine pairs with your Christmas dinner. Of course, you can also bring a suitable aperitif, dessert wine, or fireplace wine to your Christmas party.

Christmas Aperitif

As a reception or welcome wine and for the "waiting time", a champagne or another sparkling wine is ideal. But keep in mind that older people are often present at Christmas parties. They might not be as enthusiastic about the latest sparkling wine trends. We are talking about the extremely dry flavors Brut Zero, Brut Nature or the trendy Pet Nats – natural sparkling wines produced using an ancient method.

Choose at least Brut (6 to 12 g/l) or – even better – dry and extra dry variants. The corresponding 12 to 32 grams of residual sugar feel completely different in a semi-sparkling wine than in a still wine. With this sugar content, a good sparkling wine tastes refreshing, balanced, and by no means sweet - after all, "dry" isn't on the label for nothing.

If you know and appreciate Vintage Champagne, Crémants or Cava in your family circle – then go for it! Otherwise, these wines can seem too heavy for the untrained palate.

Prosecco Spumante is usually universally applicable and more festive than Prosecco Frizzante. The German winemakers offer a wonderful selection thanks to the great variety of grape varieties and regions.

Make sure that for Christmas it is best to have a Winzersekt (vintner's sparkling wine), meaning it specifies a specific wine-growing region, a specific winery, and notes "traditional (or classic) bottle fermentation".

Which wine pairs with which Christmas dinner?

Now we come to the festive menu. Let's find the right wine for your Christmas dinner. For this, it would be good to know if everyone at the table enjoys drinking red wine with their meal.

If not, there are of course plenty of opulent white wines that also pair well with a Christmas roast.

The first choice here is a barrel-aged Chardonnay, for example from Burgundy, but also from Germany or any other wine country. Chardonnay is the most widely grown white grape variety in the world.

Alternatively, a full-bodied Pinot Gris, a white wine from Spain (e.g., from Rioja), or for aficionados, a lush, sweet Gewürztraminer from Alsace is an option for the Christmas menu.

Otherwise, red wines dominate Christmas dinners.

Here is a selection of our traditional Christmas dishes with their matching wines:

The right wine for sausages with potato salad

For the classic German Christmas dinner of sausages with potato salad, Southern Italian wines are a particularly good match, for example lighter variations of Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola or Syrah. The Syrah can come from various countries, but preferably European ones, since Shiraz from Australia and other overseas countries can be a bit too fruity and lush.

The right wine for roast duck and roast goose

A more or less slightly sweet note will already be present in the taste of the Christmas dish. Therefore, quite full-bodied, intensive wines with a balsamic finish are recommended:

• Valpolicella Ripasso: The grapes were fermented twice
• Wines from Southern France such as Cahors, Madiran, Corbières,
• Noir of the Cru class or from a Village in Burgundy
• Good German Pinot Noirs (Spätburgunder): It's best to get advice from a professional in a wine shop, or at least use the price as a guide, which in this case should start at 15-20 euros.

The right wine for roast beef or crispy roast pork

The side dishes and sauces play an important role in choosing the right wine for roast beef or pork.

You can reach for "serious", tannic wines:

• Bordeaux
• Côtes du Rhône Villages
• Rioja
• Ribera del Duero
• Napa Valley (California)
• Or other barrel-aged red wines

However, you should save matured rarities from the cellar for drinking solo later on. The noble taste does not fully come into its own with food.

The right wine for bratwurst with sauerkraut

White wines from Alsace, Riesling from the Rheingau, or an upscale Pinot Blanc are the best match for bratwurst with sauerkraut.

For red wines, slim, low-tannin wines such as those made from the Pinot Noir, Barbera, or Trollinger (Schiava) grape varieties are preferable.

The right wine for carp blue or baked in the oven

Lighter and aromatic white wines like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and many others make a beautiful combination with carp.

A rosé would be far too fruity and subtle here, but you can certainly experiment with very mild red wines.

The right wine for a vegan nut roast

My personal recommendation for a vegan nut roast: try mid-range Georgian red wines with it. So, wines that aren't too expensive and heavy or aged in a Qvevri (clay amphora). The most widely grown grape variety is called Saperavi and incidentally, it usually contains significantly less sulfur dioxide than is permitted in the EU.

The right wine for fondue and raclette

With cheese fondue, white wines come into play again, ideally from the region where this dish originates:

• Chasselas (Gutedel) from Switzerland
• Pinot Blanc from Switzerland
• Silvaner from Franconia
• Wines from Trentino, South Tyrol, Savoy or Southern France usually also pair well with fondue and raclette

Meat fondue is very different depending on the preparation method and ingredients. If we are talking about a broth fondue with a mixed meat platter, which is more common in Germany, then these red wine pairings are ideal:

• Beaujolais Villages
• Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
• Grenache (Garnacha)

These wines also pair well with raclette.

Christmas dessert wines

Let your desires run wild and choose a wine with a lot of fructose as a dessert wine for Christmas: sweet wines, noble sweet wines, and fortified wines are ideal.

There is a wonderful range of heavenly aromatic, sweet specialties among wines.

• Dessert wines from Germany: Auslesen (Note: Auslesen can also be dry), Beerenauslesen, and Eiswein (Ice Wine).
• Dessert wines from France: Sauternes, Monbazillac, red Banyuls, and other Vin Doux Naturel.
• Dessert wines from all over the world: Port wine, Madeira, and Sherry – referring, of course, to the sweet variants of these wines.

The right wines for after the Christmas menu

If we want to continue celebrating comfortably after the Christmas dinner, a sweet wine is not suitable for everyone in the long run. Then we resort to so-called fireplace wines: fireplace wines are usually deep, matured, and noble red wines, depending on the "cellar stock" and budget.

For those who do not care for that, they can opt for delicate Blanc de Noirs (very light rosés), aromatic but not necessarily sweet white wines, such as Goldmuskateller, or full-bodied bubbles like vintage sparkling wines or upscale Lambrusco creations on Christmas Eve.