The Times - UK (2021-12-18)

the times Saturday December 18 2021

We e ke n d 5

Apostoles 30-Year-Old

Palo Cortado Sherry,

20 per cent Half bottle,

thewhiskyexchange.com,

£22.95 Splash out on a

great sweet sherry, a

smashing, smoky,

complex caramel, walnut

and toffee-licked charge.

2012 Alambre Moscatel

de Setubal, Portugal,

17.5 per cent Half bottle,

Waitrose, £7.99 The

essential festive fortified

sticky, with lip-smacking,

honey, fig and raisin fruit,

perfect with mince pies

and plum pudding.

I

n a panic about Christmas wine?
Fretting about serving the right
bottle at festive dinners? Relax.
It’s not too late to raid supermarket
shelves or arrange for wines to be
delivered before the big day,
provided you get your orders in
before noon on Monday to any of the
merchants mentioned here.
Champagne is what makes Christmas
truly magical and if you don’t fancy the
star buys, right, shine and sparkle instead
with an insider’s tip: a little-known
champagne house that sells half of its
production to prestigious
Pol Roger. Step forward, Olivier Père et
Fils, Cuvée Origine Brut Champagne,
with delicious, exotic, floral, musky,
pinot meunier-dominant pizzazz, yours
for £25 a pop from montrachet.co.uk.
Burgundy is the white for high days
and holidays and Marks & Spencer
always has a great selection, with the
dazzling, buttery yet lemon-zest zing of
La Reine Pedauque’s 2020 Meursault,

£30, this season’s star. Or spend less on

the suitably named majestic, smoky,

toasted hazelnut-spiced 2019 Rully Clos

du Moulin-à-Vent, Domaine de Rois

Mages, the estate of the three wise men

(privatecellar.co.uk, £23.85). With whites

sorted, you’ll need some whizz-bang reds

for your festive centrepiece. If it’s a

show-stopping baron of beef, then claret

is the bottle to buy. I loved the cockle-

warming, hearty, herbaceous, black-

fruited charm of the 2016 Definition

Pauillac (majestic.co.uk, £27.99) from a

top left bank commune producing some

of Bordeaux’s greatest clarets.

If it’s turkey and all the trimmings,

plump for the mature, leafy, gamey,

Marmite-licked star quality of Joseph

Drouhin’s 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin

(selected Morrisons, £40, down from

£44). With goose or duck, opt for a

tangy high-acid red that can cut

through the fatty meat and stuffings.

Castagnoli’s 2017 Chianti Classico

(leaandsandeman.co.uk, £20.95), is a

herby, violet-scented festive joy that

would work wonderfully well.

Juicy malbec is a festive red must-buy

for lots of you, so try the bold, black

plum and black olive-layered 2019

Zucccardi, Serie A Malbec-Tempranillo

(majestic.co.uk, £14.99). End the feast

with the gorgeous, steely, candied lime

of Seifried’s 2019 Sweet Agnes Riesling

(half bottle sundaytimeswineclub.co.uk

£16.99); it’s the perfect Christmas-in-a-

glass sticky to sip or to tuck into a

stocking. Have a good one.

Palmer & Co Blanc de

Blancs Brut Champagne,

France, 12 per cent

Waitrose, £39.75, down

from £53 until January 2

Tastebud-tingling, racy,

floral, apéritif-friendly

chardonnay champagne.

2018 Terrazas de los

Andes Chardonnay,

Mendoza, Chile, 14 per

cent majestic.co.uk,

six for £11.99 each

Top-drawer Chilean with

terrific bold, smoky, fat,

spiced yellow peach fruit.

2019 Chablis, France,

12.5 per cent

Marks & Spencer, £14

A festive smoked salmon

or seafood platter needs

an elegant, racy, verdant,

greeny-gold chablis just

like this one.

Lanson Le Black Label

Brut Champagne,

France, 12.5 per cent

Asda, £23.33, down from

£35 until December 31

Cheapest Christmas price

for a favourite big name,

pinot noir-led bubbly.

The wine, the

fizz: what I’ll

be drinking on

Christmas Day

By Jane

MacQuitty

2020 The Coppersmith

Pinot Noir, California,

13 per cent

Marks & Spencer, £9

Crowd-pleasing, robust,

spicy, red-berried pinot

noir that loves beef or

lamb and could even

manage milder game.

2018 Terrazas de los

Andes Malbec, Mendoza,

Chile, 14 per cent

majestic.co.uk, six for

£11.99 each

A rich, velvety, black

forest-fruited malbec that

follows on from the white

and has wide appeal.

2016 Definition Pauillac,

Bordeaux, France,

13.5 per cent

majestic.co.uk, £27.99

Majestic guarantees

pre-Christmas delivery

on orders made by

Wednesday (£8.95 for

express delivery). Tuck in.

2017 Castagnoli Chianti

Classico, Italy, 14 per

cent leaandsandeman.

co.uk, £20.95

Class-act chianti classico

from an Italian specialist

whose five shops are

open until 5pm on

Christmas Eve.

2019 Seifried Sweet
Agnes Riesling, New
Zealand, 10.5 per cent
Half bottle, sundaytimes
wineclub.co.uk, £16.99
Scrumptious sticky, a late-
harvest riesling from the
South Island’s northern
tip. One of the Kiwis’ best.

Great with

turkey

Best-buy

champagne

SARA MONIKA/GETTY IMAGES

Christmas special