What wine should I have with Christmas dinner? Romain Bourger, director of wine at The Vineyard at Stockcross and UK Sommelier of the Year 2019, gives us the lowdown on the best tipple for the festive feast

We are now gearing up for the season of cheer, the sun is setting earlier and the cold weather calls for a warming glass of red wine.

So does a Christmas menu – generally.

Here, Romain Bourger, director of wine at The Vineyard and UK Sommelier of the Year 2019, gives us the lowdown on the best tipple for the festive feast.

Well, I am a firm believer of pairing red wine with fish so we will look at the best white wines to pair with your Christmas food.

Now, the easiest choice is, of course, to wake up on Christmas day to a lively glass of something bubbly. This is a much better option than coffee to wake up to, trust me!

The obvious choice there may be Champagne but, since our lovely West Berks region has seen so many wineries setting up in the past 10 years or so, my recommendation would be a glass of Wickham’s Winding Wood Brut Reserve 2019.

Beautifully bright and balanced with extra toasty notes due to an aging of 36 months on its lees, it’s equally delicious on its own or with some Eggs Royale.

Or maybe sample a glass of All Angels Rose 2018, from the Enborne vineyard, a flavourful, fruity and fresh wine made from Rondo and Pinot Gris that would be sublime with your canapes and anything with cranberry.

Of course, the actual best pairing with these is opening presents!

If, instead of bubbles, you prefer a still white wine, then let’s start with one that would equally energise you such as the local Assyrtiko grape from Greece.

The basis of especially fine wines on the wind battered island of Santorini, this would be a delicious citrussy, yet rounded, option to kick-start the day. It would also balance anything rich you may have for breakfast.

Moving on to Christmas lunch. Now, with the traditional turkey – or any gamey bird or meat – my choice would be toward a richer, perhaps oaky wine along the lines of a Chardonnay from California.

There is always some apprehension towards oaky Chardonnay due to badly made wines produced in the past which were overly sweet. But frankly, the only oak they would have seen would have been oak chips dipped in the tank just like a huge, boozy tea.

Thankfully, this is less the case today and California is one of the world’s flag bearers when it comes to fine Chardonnay.

My pick would be a wine from a cooler region like Carneros, Sonoma Coast or perhaps Sta. Rita Hills to ensure a good, natural acidity in the wine to balance the oak as well as the richness of the food, but also to keep fresher aromatics.

If you would rather go for a wine as opulent but less oaky, maybe Viognier would be a great choice too. It is full of peach and blossom flavours and tends to have a slightly oily texture on the palate.

My go to would be South Africa, France’s Rhone Valley, New Zealand or Australia.

Moving on to the evening, perhaps you will enjoy a well-deserved cheese board after a whole day cooking and hosting.

For some reason, red wine seems to be the first choice when it comes to cheese, but I find white wine better suited and more versatile with different families of cheese.

My suggestion would be to revert back to a crisp style to cut the fattiness of the cheese.

Here, I find that a good Sancerre works marvelously well. Off the beaten pass, Savagnin, a local grape variety from the Jura region of France, is also a delight.

With its firm acidity, stone fruit, floral and nutty flavor, this is the perfect wine to accompany – almost – any cheese.

Santé!