It’s several centuries since turkey began replacing peacock and goose to be the centrepiece of Christmas dinner in the UK. King Henry VIII is believed to have been an early adopter in 16th Century England.
These days, not everyone eats turkey on Christmas Day. There are now a lot of challengers including steak and venison and plenty of meat-free options, however, turkey is still the classic choice.
When choosing wines to drink with roast turkey one thing to remember is tannin is the enemy and acidity is your friend. Turkey is not a powerful meat. It has a low-fat content, which is why it can dry out if not cooked carefully. Too much tannin will overpower the meat and your taste buds. Acidity can help to balance the range of flavours on your Christmas dinner plate.
So good Roast Turkey matches would be either a full or medium-bodied white wine or a light or medium-bodied red, with lower tannins and relatively high acidity.
Great white wine choices from the Winecroft list would be:
- 2016 David Moret Rully, a top quality white Burgundy which is medium-bodied with great balance between acidity and richness
- 2016 Gabriëlskloof Elodie Chenin Blanc, a rich and bold South African white from Swartland with great natural acidity and freshness
Top Winecroft red wine choices would be:
- 2015 Château du Moulin-à-Vent Cru Beaujolais, a top drawer lighter fruity red with just the right amount of tannin structure
- 2016 De Loach Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from California. Silky smooth with moderate tannins and bright acidity.
And of course, here at Winecroft, we are big believers of pairing wine with great music as well as great food (catch up with the earlier Winecroft blog – That bassline tastes so good! for the science). Great Christmas songs to go perfectly with the turkey and Winecroft wines would include:
- Rockin’ Around the Chrismas Tree (1958). Brenda Lee was only 13 years old when she recorded this classic
- Feliz Navidad (1970). Puerto Rican Jose Feliciano’s upbeat bi-lingual Christmas song with easy to remember lyrics
- Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977). A country rock Christmas classic from The Band.
