Christmas dinner is the biggest meal of the year, and choosing the wines should be part of the fun, not another job on the list. From the first glass of fizz to the cheese board, here’s how to find the right bottle for every dish, with classic pairings, a few surprising picks and plenty of good-value options.
What is the best wine for Christmas dinner?
With so many dishes on the table, the best Christmas wines are versatile: fresh, fruity and not too heavy. If you only want to open one bottle for the whole meal, a Pinot Noir is the safest red, a white Burgundy the safest white, and a dry Champagne can carry you from the starters right through to the turkey.
Here are our top picks for each course:
- Apéritif: Champagne, Crémant or English sparkling wine
- Smoked salmon: a Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc, such as Sancerre
- Turkey: Pinot Noir or a white Burgundy
- Roast beef: a Bordeaux or a Malbec
- Ham: an off-dry German Riesling or a Cru Beaujolais
- Christmas pudding: Tawny Port
- Cheese board: Port with Stilton, or Champagne with soft cheeses
What wine should you serve as a Christmas apéritif?
Christmas would not be the same without some fizz. And what’s better than a delicious all-rounder Champagne, with a creamy texture, some fruit, biscuity flavours and a mineral finish?
A Blanc de Blancs or a classic Champagne blend will work perfectly. Stick with Brut, Extra Brut or Brut Nature for a dry style that pairs with pretty much any nibbles.
If you’re looking for an alternative to Champagne, try an English sparkling wine. It’s made with the same method, and often from the same grapes, so it could become your new favourite!
Or, to indulge without breaking the bank, choose a Crémant, also made in the same way as Champagne but in other French regions. A Crémant de Bourgogne or a Crémant de Bordeaux is much better value than a lower-budget Champagne.
If your guests arrive cold, a warming glass of mulled wine is a lovely way to welcome them before the bubbles.
What wine goes with Christmas starters?
Christmas starters are often rich or salty, so they call for fresh, crisp whites or sweet wines with good acidity.
Smoked salmon
Sauvignon Blanc with smoked salmon is the classic match, and you cannot go wrong with it. A Loire Valley Sauvignon such as a Pouilly-Fumé or a Sancerre is ideal.
For something more off the beaten track, grab a bottle of Grüner Veltliner, a super crisp white with a hint of white pepper that complements the salmon to perfection.
Prawn cocktail
The creamy Marie Rose sauce needs a wine with plenty of freshness. A Blanc de Blancs Champagne is a festive choice, while a Picpoul de Pinet from the south of France or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc are great-value alternatives.
Foie gras
Foie gras needs some sweetness to enhance its flavours, but good acidity to cut through its richness.
The classic choices are Sauternes, Loupiac or Barsac, the sweet white wines of Bordeaux, a Monbazillac from South West France, or an off-dry or sweet Pinot Gris from Alsace.
Oysters
Oysters need a very mineral wine, like a Chablis or a Muscadet from France. A fresh Albariño from Galicia would also work beautifully.
What wine goes with Christmas turkey?
Roast turkey is the classic of the classics. The meat is mild and can easily dry out, and the real challenge is everything around it: rich gravy, sweet cranberry sauce, herby stuffing and salty pigs in blankets. You need a wine with enough fruit and acidity to bring it all together.
Red wines for turkey
Choose a red with juicy fruit and soft tannins, so it doesn’t overpower the meat:
- Pinot Noir: a red Burgundy or a Californian Pinot Noir, with red fruit and a touch of earthiness
- Cru Beaujolais: a Fleurie or a Morgon is light, juicy and great value
- Grenache from the Rhône: especially Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with ripe fruit and gentle spice
- Mature Rioja or Brunello di Montalcino: for something a little more structured, with savoury notes that love the gravy
White wines for turkey
You need a rich, concentrated and complex white, with enough freshness to keep the meal lively. Something buttery with delicate oak, like a Meursault, a Chassagne-Montrachet or simply a white Burgundy, is a stellar choice. A Californian Chardonnay works wonders as well.
With all the trimmings
The side dishes can change the best match:
- Cranberry sauce: its sweet and sharp flavour suits fruity reds with good acidity, like Pinot Noir or Beaujolais. Avoid very tannic reds, which can taste bitter next to it.
- Sage and onion stuffing: herby, savoury flavours love a Grenache or a Côtes du Rhône.
- Pigs in blankets: their saltiness works well with juicy reds, and even better with a glass of Champagne.
- Bread sauce: creamy and mild, it’s a great reason to choose a white Burgundy.
Many of these pairings also work for an American-style feast, as you’ll see in our Thanksgiving wine pairing guide.
What wine goes with other Christmas mains?
Not everyone has turkey on Christmas Day. Here are our favourite wines for the other festive classics.
Roast beef and Beef Wellington
For beef lovers, you will want a medium to full-bodied red with enough power and intensity.
With roast beef, choose a red with soft tannins and a little age, like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot from Bordeaux, a Super Tuscan, a Barolo or a Malbec.
If you go for a Beef Wellington, choose a Pinot Noir, a Chianti, a Syrah or a Bordeaux to complement all the flavours from the mushrooms, herbs and puff pastry.
Ham
Because of its sweetness, Christmas ham needs wines that are either sweet as well, or very fruity with a nice acidity.
For a sweet option, choose White Port, Moscato, an off-dry German Riesling or even a Vin Santo.
If you want a red, you have several options: a Cru Beaujolais like a Moulin-à-Vent or a Morgon (don’t forget to chill it a little), a juicy medium-bodied Shiraz, a New Zealand Pinot Noir or a Blaufränkisch from Austria.
If you prefer whites, pick a dry Chenin Blanc from South Africa or a German Riesling.
Goose
Goose is rich and fatty, so it needs a wine with bright acidity to cut through it. A red Burgundy is a classic match, while an off-dry German Riesling or an Alsace Pinot Gris brings fruit that works beautifully with the traditional apple or prune stuffing.
Venison
For venison, you can select the same type of wines you would for beef, such as a mature Bordeaux or a Barolo.
You can also pick a Rhône red from Saint-Joseph or Hermitage, or a Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot dominant) from another part of the world, like South Africa or Australia.
Fish and shellfish
If you are serving something from the sea, like a baked salmon or sea bass, a Lobster Thermidor or pan-fried scallops, an unoaked Chardonnay from Chablis is always a great choice. Go for a lightly oaked one, like a white Burgundy, if there is butter in the sauce.
Vegetarian and vegan
For vegetarian or vegan Christmas mains, it all depends on the main flavours of your dish.
A classic nut roast, with its earthy, savoury flavours, suits a Pinot Noir or a Côtes du Rhône, or a rich oaked Chardonnay if you prefer white.
A dish with mushrooms as the key ingredient needs a wine with savoury depth. So if you have a Vegetarian Wellington with mushrooms, a Pinot Noir from Burgundy or California, with earthiness and red fruit, will be ideal. A brilliant but under-the-radar match is a Vin Jaune from the Jura, with its savoury, nutty aromas.
A shallot tarte tatin would be great with a Californian Chardonnay, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or an off-dry Alsace Pinot Gris.
For a dish with root vegetables like butternut squash or sweet potato, or this pumpkin, chestnut and Stilton tart, choose a full-bodied, rich Chardonnay. A lighter red, like a young Pinot Noir, a juicy Syrah or a Zweigelt from Austria, could also be a great option.
If you’re cooking for vegan guests, it’s worth checking the wine too: our guide is wine vegan? explains why some wines aren’t suitable.
What wine goes with Christmas desserts?
The golden rule with desserts is that the wine should be at least as sweet as the dish, or it will taste thin and sour.
Yule log
For a classic chocolate Yule log or bûche de Noël, try a natural sweet red wine like a Banyuls, a Black Muscat or a Rivesaltes. If you have never tasted a sweet red before, expect cooked black fruit, prunes and caramel aromas: the perfect match for chocolate!
An ice wine also matches well with most desserts, chocolate ones included. For more ideas, have a look at our Yule log wine pairing guide.
Christmas pudding
With Christmas pudding, you need to complement the rich fruit and nut flavours, so a Tawny or Ruby Port is usually preferred. A Muscat, either a Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise or a Moscatel de Valencia, is also a great option. For more ideas, see our guide to wine with Christmas pudding.
Christmas cake
The fruit in a Christmas cake calls for luscious sweet wines or rich fortified wines. The nutty, prune and caramel flavours of a Tawny Port pair amazingly well.
Mince pies
Mince pies also match well with Tawny Port. But try them with a sweet Madeira, or a sweet Sherry like an Oloroso or a Cream, and they will take your dessert to the next level.
Panettone
Panettone is a staple of the festive season. With all its candied fruit, you want something fun and fruity, with enough sweetness and acidity: pick a Prosecco or a Moscato d’Asti.
What wine goes with a Christmas cheese board?
A cheese board is a lovely way to finish the meal, and there’s no need to match every cheese perfectly. A few classic pairings will cover most boards:
- Stilton and other blue cheeses: Port or Sauternes, where the sweetness balances the salty cheese
- Brie and Camembert: Champagne or a crisp white, which cut through the creamy texture
- Mature Cheddar: a Bordeaux or another Cabernet Sauvignon blend
- Comté: a white from the Jura or a Chardonnay
You’ll find more ideas in our guide to wine and cheese pairing.
What wine should you drink on Boxing Day?
After the previous day’s feast, Boxing Day calls for refreshing, lighter wines.
If your lunch includes some fish, a Muscadet, a dry German or Alsace Riesling, an Albariño from Galicia or a Vinho Verde will be perfect.
If it includes cold cuts from Christmas dinner, like turkey, ham or beef, pick a juicy Chinon, a Beaujolais, a young red Burgundy or a Mencía from Bierzo.
Got a few bottles open from the day before? Our guide on how long wine lasts once opened tells you which ones are still worth pouring.
How much wine do you need for Christmas dinner?
A standard 75cl bottle pours about six 125ml glasses. As a rough guide, plan around half a bottle per guest for the meal, plus a glass or two of fizz for the apéritif, and adjust to how much your family usually drinks.
There’s no need to open every bottle you buy, as unopened wine will keep for another occasion. Remember to chill your whites and sparkling wines in advance, and check our wine serving temperature guide to serve each bottle at its best.
FAQ
Should you serve red or white wine with Christmas dinner?
Both work, and serving one of each is the easiest way to please everyone. A Pinot Noir and a white Burgundy will cover almost every dish, from turkey to fish.
What’s a good budget wine for Christmas dinner?
Crémant instead of Champagne, a Cru Beaujolais instead of red Burgundy, and a Côtes du Rhône for richer dishes all offer great value. Ask your local wine shop for their best bottles in your budget.
Can you drink Prosecco with Christmas dinner?
Yes, Prosecco is a lovely apéritif and works well with light starters and panettone. For the main course, a drier, more complex sparkling wine like Champagne or Crémant is a better match.
What wine should you bring to Christmas dinner?
A bottle of Champagne or a good red is always welcome, as your host can serve it straight away or keep it for later. For more ideas, see our wine gift ideas.
