Still looking for the right wines for your Christmas menu? We’ve got you covered
- Miguel Crunia
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Every Christmas, we find ourselves asking the same question: what are we opening this year Menus may change, relatives may rotate, but the joy of choosing the perfect bottle never gets old. So this season, we decided to share some of our favourite pairing ideas to help you match Fìon wines with whatever festive feast you’re planning.
Starters
If you’re opening your menu with lighter, refreshing dishes — smoked salmon on oatcakes, a classic prawn cocktail, smoked trout pâté or a crab salad with dill — we’d steer you toward wines with crispness, tension and a saline edge.
If you're fan of a Chablisienne-like wines, the you'll feel immediately in love with Anima Mundi's Xarel.lo
Albariño at its rawest and more traditional way to be crafted
Why not a chillable red? Brutal's Bobal-driven cuvée will greatly surprise your guests
This block brings dishes that feel a little richer and more layered, thanks to marinades that build depth — think whisky-cured gravlax or beetroot-cured salmon. Here, bubbles really come into their own.
An Atlantic rosé pét-nat that will stick in your mind for a long time. Smoky, fruity, saline. Pure complex fun
These starters share a profile of warmth and comfort: buttery langoustines with garlic, scallops paired with Stornoway black pudding, a Mull cheddar soufflé or even a Cock-a-leekie soup or a hearty Cullen Skink. They’re generous, deeply savoury and full of festive richness. Here you want wines with enough creaminess to stand up to the dishes’ weight, but still lively enough to keep your palate fresh and vibrant to cut through the unctuousness of those dishes.
A wine with persnoality indeed. Concentrated nose - butterscotch, roses, quinces - with an river-like minerality
The real side of Verdejo, austere, waxy, and herbal. From ungrafted 65 years old vines
Made with a minor variety called Puesta en Cruz. Its leesy and flinty character will be a delight with this dishes
If some meaty starters are also going to be included — game terrine, venison carpaccio, mini Scotch pies, chicken liver pâté with brioche, or a black pudding with apple chutney — then let us take you into the world of minerally rosés and light, saline, sapid reds that can even be served slightly chilled as all the previous dishes call for wines with enough freshness to lift the palate, low tannin, and enough subtle structure to stand up to gamey notes and savoury intensity.
If you want to understand minerality in wine, don't give Mateolo a second thought! Not your fruity rosé though!
The most subtle and ethereal Carignan out there!
If you like coastal Atlantic reds, then get ready to fall in love with Caíño's herbal and sapid nature
Mains
Once the starters are cleared and the table settles into the rhythm of the feast, your choice of wine needs to rise to the occasion. Here’s how we like to guide the pairings:
Bird roasts: Turkey, roast chicken or even goose call for wines with lift, texture and a celebratory edge. Traditional-method sparkling — think a serious Corpinnat — brings the structure, creaminess and mineral tension to slice cleanly through the richness of the roast. If you want to keep things still, reach for a white with breadth and precision: something structured, gently creamy, but undeniably mineral. Even an orange wine with fine tannins and aromatic complexity can be a beautiful match
Some of the finest bubbles in Catalonia. Yo won't miss your Champagne once you crack through this Corpinnat
A wine that brings back the old memory of Ribeiro's ancient varieties. Waxy, silky and mineral
An Albariño like you never tasted it before: skin contact and barrel aged
For roast beef with deep gravy, slow-braised shin, lamb shoulder, braised pork cheeks or ox tail stew, you want warmth — but not heaviness. This is the moment for reds with full structure yet remarkable freshness. They will definitely stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the richness of these mains, amplifying umami, taming fat, and leaving enough brightness for another forkful.
Cencibel is how Tempranillo is called in La Mancha. This is an unoaked yet characterful expression of it
Samsó is how Carignan is called in Penedés (Catalonia). Floral, spiced, warmly fruited, yet incredibly vital
If you're a fan of the Shyrah from Northern Rhone, then give this unoaked Mencía from Ribeira Sacra a go!
Venison roast, wild boar, hare or any deeply flavoured Highland game deserve wines with complexity and soul. We are now looking into reds that weave together herbal notes, earthy undertones, lush but controlled fruit, subtle spice, and even a touch of ferrous character.
Let's bring some age to the table with the first bio estate in Portugal. Portuguese nose with an Atlantic soul.
Caíño Longo is a grape with incredible potential. In fact, this cuvée can be on of the best reds made in Galicia
Sceptical about multi-vintage wines? Let Xulia change your mind with her quintessentially elegant Ribeiro
Whole roast salmon, baked halibut with butter and herbs, monkfish wrapped in bacon, or a luxurious seafood pie shine brightest with wines of refinement and textural finesse. Barrel-aged rosé can be a beautiful surprise — supple, gastronomic, and mineral-driven. High-end whites with well-integrated oak, sapidity and precision are equally at home here, adding depth to buttery sauces and standing up to the richness of Christmas fish dishes.
Love Tondonia's Rosado? Why not giving María José's husband's a go? For us, equally iconic
Austere mineral precision, blending Godello’s natural unctuosity with Caíño Branco’s aromatic and acid lift
Doña Branca showing at its best. An almost forgotten variety able to deliver some world-class cuvées
Dessert
Christmas desserts call for wines that celebrate sweetness without overwhelming it. Whether you’re serving traditional mince pies, a rich Christmas pudding, buttery shortbread, a trifle layered with fruit and custard, or even a classic cranachan, this is the moment for wines with generosity, aromatic lift, a comforting sense of indulgence, and... a great level of freshness to don't feel cloying!
This is the reason why granny drinks smarter!
All these wines are available in our shop but stock varies from reference to reference. If you'd wish to buy larger quantities of a single given label please, don't hesitate to reach out: info@fionwines.co.uk
Director at Fìon, Edinburgh
Interviewed by Decanter
#7 Harper's 50 Top Sommeliers UK 2024
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