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Christmas drinks: bottles to gift not glug | Fiona Beckett


It may strike you that there are two main camps when it comes to Christmas prep: those who have everything done and dusted by mid-November, and the rest of us, who take things to the wire and end up shopping on Christmas Eve. But there is, in fact, a third group: those who have cracked most of the shopping, but suddenly remember they’ve forgotten something – most commonly, a bottle to take to their host.

I’ve touched on this subject before in the context of “gifting” (gah!), but sweet or fortified wines are likely to be appreciated more than wines to go with the first or main courses, which your hosts will most probably have already lined up.

But which type to buy? Sauternes is always well received (Booths does a really good, 13% one under its own label for £14 the half-bottle), but it’s a bit light for many of the classic Christmas puds. So you’d be better off going for a richer dessert wine, such as a moscatel or the passito di pantelleria below, that tastes of apricots and marmalade or, indeed, of the Christmas pudding itself.

Half-bottles of sherry always go down well with aficionados – again, considering the time of year, I’d go for a richer style than the crisp finos and manzanillas you might be inclined to drink in summer. Palo cortado is my personal favourite, while the sweet-toothed will swoon over a bottle of PX (pedro ximénez), which is way cooler than a cream sherry these days.

If you’re thinking more along the lines of port, the Aussies have their own version, which they call liqueur muscat and which tastes (deliciously) like sticky toffee pudding. I personally prefer tawny ports to sweeter, more brambly, late-bottled vintage ones – Morrisons has a really good 10-Year-Old Tawny (20%) in its The Best range, which is currently on offer at £10 and tastes enticingly of salted caramel.

And if you’re wondering whether you should take along one of those seemingly endless new riffs on Irish cream, what can I say? Fifteen quid seems a fair amount to pay for a Clementine Gin Liqueur Snow Globe (at Marks & Spencer), though it might be better stockpiling that for a Eurovision party. It’s preferable, in any case, to the same store’s Trifle Flavour Cream (£10), which tastes spookily like a liquid Victoria sponge. Personally, I’d stick to the Clementine & Cranberry Bucks Fizz (4%), which is a definite improvement on the basic OJ version and a snip at its current price of £4 a bottle.

Four treats to take your host this Christmas


Duca di Castelmonte Passito di Pantelleria 2017


Duca di Castelmonte Passito di Pantelleria 2017

£11.99 (50cl) Lidl, 14.5%.

This rich Sicilian dessert wine, with its heady scent of apricots and marmalade, is normally much pricier than this. Perfect with the Christmas pud.


De Bortoli Sumptuously Rich Pudding Wine


De Bortoli Sumptuously Rich Pudding Wine

£8.99 a half-bottle Aldi, 18%.

The label may say pudding wine, but it basically tastes of Xmas pudding with a touch of sticky toffee pud and gingerbread thrown in. Outrageously good.


Co-op Irresistible PX Sherry


Co-op Irresistible PX Sherry

£6 a half-bottle, 17%.

Less for the mince pies, more for the Black Magic (or, better still, chocolate brownies), this ultra-sweet, raisiny sherry is too good to leave out for Santa.


Kirk & Sweeney 12-Year-Old Rum


Kirk & Sweeney 12-Year-Old Rum

£28 (on offer) Sainsbury’s, £36.95 Royal Mile Whiskies, 37.5%.

Rum is supposed to be the new gin (I’ll believe it when I spot as many bottles in friends’ houses), but this handsomely bottled, fudgy rum from Dominica is a real treat.


For more by Fiona Beckett, go to matchingfoodandwine.com

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