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Christmas
companions
The current crisis calls for classic comfort
choices at Christmas, says Sally Easton
All around us may be falling down but Christmas is almost here, so
what better opportunity to put the worries and woes to one side for
just a few days. It could be the last blow-out ‘till next year if some of
the gloomier economic forecasts have grains of truth to them.
As with comfort foods such as big bangers with creamy mash and
seriously caramelised onions, so I reckon there are comfort wines. And, at
Christmas, this means retrenching to the old world and specifically to France.
You’d think Christmas, claret, chardonnay and Chablis alliterated perfectly for
a reason. These are the steadfast companions to a traditional English
Christmas dinner of turkey or goose, chipolatas, all colours of cabbage, and
vast quantities of the crunchiest roast spuds.
If you’re not used to chardonnay or think you don’t like it, I would urge you
to try some of these French examples, though quite understand if Christmas is not the
right time to challenge your taste perceptions. Toasty new oak is not an overt theme,
and it’s often the oak that puts people off. Though older oak is used in some of them,
you might be hard pressed to say which. Freshness is the obvious theme, but with less
acidity and more vinosity and weight than racy sauvignon blancs and rieslings. It’s the
palate weight and body combined with moderate acidity that make Burgundian
chardonnay well adapted to the richness of traditional English Christmas roast.
Claret is just the old English expression for the red wines of Bordeaux, which are
blends of cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Our trading history with this region goes back
more than 850 years, so with only a smidgen of far-fetched fantasy, one could almost
imagine some sort of culinary/vinous evolution, akin to the ‘muscadet with seafood’ or
‘port and stilton’ thing. Claret is classically medium-bodied and mid-weight. With a bit of
maturity, such as the 2001 and 2002 recommended on this page, the tannins are softening
and are not too much for a meaty bird. The 2004 Réserve de Léoville Barton has a bit
more youthful crunch for those who prefer more primary fruit. V
Try these:
wine wisdom v
Chardonnay
M&S: St Romain 2006, £9.99
M&S: Chablis, Dom Pierre de Prehy,
2006, £10.99
Wine Society: St Veran Les Terres
Noires Domaine des Deux Roches
2005, £9.95
Reds
Majestic: Château Senejac
2002, Haut Médoc, Bordeaux,
£12.99 each when you buy
two bottles between October
28, 2008 to February 2, 2009
Majestic: Château Calon 2001,
Montagne St Emilion,
Bordeaux, £11.99
Lea and Sandeman: Réserve de
Léoville Barton 2004,
Bordeaux, £18.50
‘Our trading history with
this region goes back
more than 850 years’
Sally Easton MW (Master of Wine) is a wine educator and freelance writer.
She teaches consumer classes and runs corporate seminars via her wine school. www.winewisdom.com
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