Which wine do you drink with which dish?
CRASH WINE COURSE FOR THE CHRISTMAS DINNER
At Christmas, the drinks will flow abundantly at my parents' table and at my in-laws a bottle of Sambuca will be on the table as soon as possible. Drinks that I find hard to keep in check. Yes, Sambuca, yes. So I am prepared for four days of waking up with a heavy head every morning. No matter how good the wine is, if someone has a hangover, it's definitely me. Even if it's just two glasses, I'm not fit to function the next day. So what does it really matter? With food, I can keep it in check just fine. But I am also lucky that I am one of the few people who doesn't get too excited about Christmas cookies, apple pie, or dripping fatty sauces with meat. With drinks, that's a different story. When I'm 'wine tired', I take. Hoe goed de wijn ook is, als er iemand last van katers heeft, dan ben ik het wel. Zelfs als het maar twee glazen zijn ben ik de volgende dag niet te knallen. Dus wat maakt het dan eigenlijk nog allemaal uit? Met eten lukt dat maat houden mij in ieder geval prima. Maar ik heb dan ook het geluk dat ik een van de weinige mensen ben die niet heel warm loopt voor kerstkransjes, appelgebak of druiperige vette sausen bij het vlees. Met drank is dat een ander verhaal. Als ik ‘wijnmoe’ ben, neem ik a gin and tonic instead of biking home. Those things give you such a nice boost. Life-threatening.
Speaking of wine tired, don't let Gijs from wine merchant Grapedistrict hear it, because according to him, that doesn't exist. And I immediately take that back. He treated May and me to a mini-crash course this week: what to drink at Christmas? We then selected our five favorite wines and immediately put together an Amayzine Christmas wine package. We will tell you what to drink with which dish. So print it out, bike to Grapedistrict and you'll make an incredible impression on your (in-laws). Then you can be sure that you are drinking good, matching wine.
For the aperitif, for example with oysters
Grüner Veltliner vom Vogelsang, €9.49. This is an amazing wine to start the evening with.
Starter with shellfish or fatty fish (like salmon)
Chablis Séguinot-Bordet. May and I immediately said “mmmmm”. You can also start the evening with this one. An accessible wine, but with a piece of fish, you taste even better how delicious it is. Especially for you, not €15 per bottle, but €13.
Imagine you make a dish with mushrooms
Now we move on to red. Pinot Noir to be precise, and I often make a leap with that one. Especially when it's chilled. The El Bohemio from Chile, €7.99 per bottle, is amazing, one that I can drink all evening (without getting wine tired).
Then we go to red meat. Entrecôte, bavette, or duck for example.
We chose a Spaniard: Catalan Eagle Red with the grapes Carina, Garnacha, and Syrah. I even remarked that you can also make mulled wine from this wine (Syrah is the most suitable for that), but I definitely didn't make any friends with Gijs. He even called it wine rape. So you drink this cold, and for the special price of €9.49 per bottle, this is a good choice for a meat dish.
Or maybe you're serving game or stew
We chose the wine Casa Nostra Amarone and this is a bottle you can wake May up for at night. Amarone is her favorite. Be careful, because this is a heavy wine, so you'll be tipsy quickly, but maybe that's just good if you're sitting at the table with your in-laws. It's a special wine and our favorite, and therefore also specially available with Amayzine discount not for €27.99, but for €19.99.
Cheers!
