It may well be that you already have a drink that you traditionally like to sip on after dinner (or lunch), and who am I to tell you that needs to change? Even so, I have a few ideas for drinks you might like to try instead.
Let’s start with the classics. There are many different sorts of port, including white and rosé, but you’re more likely to come across ruby and tawny ports at Christmas time. I like an LBV, a port that’s aged for up to six years in barrel, especially with cheese or anything chocolatey.
Another bottle you’re likely to see at Christmas – and one I’ve finally got my family on board with – is sherry. Specifically, for us, pedro ximénez. It’s generally the most intense and sweet of the sherries, and made from grapes that are dried in the sun. The evaporation of the water in the grapes concentrates the sugars and flavours, which results in an intense and flavourful wine. I also like to use it when I’m making tiramisu and can’t find any marsala. (FYI, I like Sophie Wyburd’s hazelnut tiramisu recipe, which tastes like a Kinder Bueno.)
Or how about something completely different? Elleisha Adriana, head of wine at Elephant, a new east London restaurant with an entirely Italian wine list, loves a recioto della Valpolicella, a sweet red dessert wine that’s also made using dried grapes: “It tastes like Christmas fruit cake, with slightly dried cherry, brown sugar and baking spice notes,” she says. “It also works amazingly with rich, salty blue cheese – the addition of the recioto della Valpolicella feels as if you’ve completed the whole dessert.”
Sweet French wines also deserve a look-in. For instance, rivesaltes, a naturally sweet fortified wine that’s a blend of grapes (typically grenache blanc, grenache gris, macabeu and malvoisie du Roussillon) from Languedoc-Roussillon. Also from the Roussillon area is banyuls, which is made from grenache varieties. Both go wonderfully alongside Christmas cakes and puddings, as well as anything intensely chocolatey, be that a Quality Street or an indulgent rocky road.
Sparkling wines often get overlooked in favour of these deep, rich dessert wines, but might I also turn your attention to demi-sec champagne? Where champagne brut contains less than 12g sugar per litre, demi-sec has between 32g and 50g (there’s also a growing trend for similar products in English sparkling wine). A glass of this will do very nicely alongside lemon tarts, pavlovas or anything with fresh fruit that you might serve post-lunch.
Four bottles that are made for desserts
Cockburn’s LBV £17 Ocado, 20%. A late-bottled vintage port that, alongside a slab of Toblerone, will hit the festive nail on the head
Morrisons The Best Pedro Ximénez £10.50 (50cl) Morrisons, 16.5%. I’ve always got a bottle of this in the fridge over the festive period. Fig and raisin notes make this a fab match for Xmas pudding.
Domini Veneti Recioto Della Valpolicella 2022/23 £19 (£17 on mix-six) Majestic, 12.5%. Dried red fruits and a hint of vanilla pod.
Muscat de Rivesaltes Domaine Bertrand-Bergé 2024 £15.50 The Wine Society, 16%. Great value rivesaltes. Swathes of rich, tropical fruit belie its freshness and citrussy character.
