WHAT WINE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO GO WITH CHRISTMAS TURKEY?

With Christmas turkey stuffed with chestnuts

Turkey with chestnuts is THE Christmas turkey par excellence. Tender, fleshy, creamy and buttery, it has an extremely rich and aromatic taste and requires red wines that contain tannins but which are mellow so not to disguise the firm but slightly bland texture of the turkey and the floury consistency of chestnuts. You also need to go for fruity wines with a slight spicy touch to enhance the chestnuts.

Explore the Rhône Valley hills where many appellations have these criteria, such as Côte-Rôtie or Cornas. If you prefer wines from Burgundy, go for a Pommard or a Haut-Médoc if you trust nothing else than Bordeaux wines.

With Christmas turkey stuffed with foie gras 

Complex and extremely aromatic, turkey with foie gras is not the lightest dish but embodies the festival meal spirit. As it is extremely rich, you need to choose a wine to drink with it carefully. In this particular case, both colours (red and white) will go with it well, but you need to remember that the wine needs to go with the main ingredient of the dish and not the trimmings. So a sweet wine like Sauternes or Monbazillac that is traditionally combined with foie gras will not be the best for Christmas turkey with foie gras.

You could aim for a red wine that is a few years old with smooth tannins and pronounced acidity to counteract the firmness of the turkey and the richness of the foie gras. An AOC Côte de Bordeaux wine or an AOC Chinon Loire wine will be absolutely perfect. But if you are feeling bold, then you could also start with an oxidative white wine (i.e. ages on contact with air) from the Jura, also known as young wine. We recommend Arbois, Château-Chalon or Étoile appellations.  

With Christmas turkey stuffed with white pudding 

You can't have white pudding without white wine! This might seem simplistic at face value but has in fact proven its worth. In fact, the tender and fatty flesh of white pudding needs to be refreshed by fresh and tart wines. A fruity dry white wine like a Chablis (Bourgogne) or a Pouilly-Fumé (Loire) will be ideal. If you don't like white wine, you can also combine the dish with red wine, but you need to choose a light and fruity wine because again you need to remember that turkey is the main ingredient. Choose a Beaujolais AOC Fleurie or Morgon wine, or a Pinot Noir from Burgundy or Alsace.