Chardonnay for Christmas

What if you could choose only one wine to go with your traditional Christmas meal: which one would you pick?

I’d say let’s hear it for rich, ripe and rounded whites and, as I remind myself each year, Chardonnay is really all you need.

Often ignored at Christmas time, Chardonnay can be such an enchanting and versatile accompaniment when serving classic dishes. The right bottle will niftily segue from the first canapé to the last bite of the main course.

It teams up with starters such as smoked salmon blinis, cheese tarts, most terrines and pâtés, and even oysters and scallops – if that’s your Yuletide kind of entrée.

Chardonnay is a better choice than most red wines, I find, especially with traditional roast turkey.

It’s true that mouth-puckering tannins found in reds served alongside high-fat meats make for a perfect match as they make the taste appear smoother. But turkey is a lean meat with a low fat content. A high-tannin red wine pairing could hence easily come across as harsh and overpowering. And, if your roast were to end up being slightly overdone, a tannic red will make your big bird taste even drier.

Most Chardonnays cope well with turkey, its stuffing and all the ranks of hearty trimmings. Roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, pigs in a blanket and even Brussels sprouts, all which would march easily over lighter white wines. By the way, Chardonnay is also a great match for other poultry and wildfowl, including guinea fowl, pheasant and goose.

The grape’s expressions vary worldwide. To balance out all the different rich flavours and saltiness of Christmas turkey, just look for a fruity and crisp type of Chardonnay.

If you want one of the best wines Malta has to offer, Delicata’s Gran Cavalier Chardonnay comes recommended.

It’s made from hand-picked grape bunches from only two allotted, family-run vineyard parcels, one in Wied ta’ l-Isqof and the other in Ta’ Buqana.

A bright, inviting and slightly minerally nose surges from the glass. There’s a pleasant whiff of wet gravel and dewy petrichor.

This flagship white has been left to ferment in barrique; it’s been brought up in bespoke French oak barrels of world-famed cooperage. The result is a broad palate with a slightly oaky richness.

It’s a well-balanced, fuller-flavoured dry white wine, which delights with a wonderful whiff of toast with lemon jam, precise citrusy flavours and tastes of apple and riper pear.

This Chardonnay gives and gives generously. Its lushness offers complementary sweet aromas of spice to every bite, while its buttery creaminess helps lift the turkey’s bland white flesh.

So, at the risk of being called Scrooge, I say keep back that long-treasured and venerable bottle of red.

It’s Chardonnay for me this time round. But, if red has been your perennial favourite wine for turkey for years, by all means let’s share a smooth, medium-bodied bottle. Make sure it’s got a good level of acidity, though. Otherwise there’s a good chance that the cranberry sauce will slaughter it, and nobody would wish for upheaval round the Christmas table.

Wishing you a wine-filled and, above all, peaceful Christmas and a cheery 2020.

This article by Georges Meekers was first published in the Times of Malta on 20/12/19.