SALES DIRECTOR RORY'S TOP TEN FESTIVE WINES

Christmas Eve, in preparation for the big day…

I will be wrapping things, so I’ll probably open a bottle of white with Pia, my wife. I’ve a bottle of Edetaria Garnatxa Blanca from Edetaria in Spain in the fridge now so likely that one.

Christmas morning, to get things going!

Thankfully, we will have Spinetta Moscato d’Asti Ca’ di Pian back in stock! This fizzy, sweet wine is just what we want while the kids rip open their presents.

The main event – the Christmas feast…

  • Starters: Champagne, and my favourite is the 1er Cru from Edouard Brun.
  • Main course: For a white, I want something relatively big, so Californian Chardonnay works for me and current favorite is the Sta. Rita Hills by Brewer-Clifton. Red I think we are having beef this year, so I am going to buy a bottle of the Lola by Two Vintners, a new and exciting Oregon producer we’ve just started working with.
  • Desert: The kids will definitely want pudding, so I’m going to have some of the new Orenga de Gaffory sweet Muscat to accompany it.

Later, by the fire or collapsed in front of the TV…

James, our MD, bought the Orenga de Gaffory sweet red Rappu mainly as he thought this was the perfect wine for such a fire-side moment, so I will indeed be having that!

Boxing Day with the leftovers or after a bracing walk…

I think a bit of Plan B “C.V.” Margaret River Chardonnay Viognier for a white and the Skinner Smithereens for a red will do well.

When the inevitable unexpected guests drop in, what do you open?

The Cremant de Bourgogne from Trenel, always a reliable crowd pleaser.

New Year’s Eve, to end the season in style…

Well, more Champagne of course! Perhaps the Edouard Brun Rosé this time. We might be with friends who drink white Burgundy and Rhone reds, so I’ll take a new vintage of the Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and the brilliantly named Dog Strangler by Consolation in the Roussillon, to show them something new.