Dianne Curtin's festive wine picks for 2025
When it comes to the main event, turkey can be served with either red or white wine, depending on preference. A free range or bronze turkey has a deeper flavour and is complemented well by a rich red.
Nothing starts the party like a glass of fizz. If you want Champagne at a brilliant price, Louis de Custine Champagne Brut from the Epernay region, known as the ‘capital of Champagne’ brings its fine busy bubbles and classy elegance to the table at just €25 until 6/01/2026 from Dunnes Stores. Choose the white version or a sassy rose option which has bursts of summer berries on the tongue. Bargain bubbles at Aldi include Cava Brut Organic. This Cava from northern Spain is made in the Champagne method with second fermentation in the bottle, but using Spanish grown organic grapes. Crisp, fine mousse and a classy finish. It comes in at just €12.99 a bottle.
The opening act of a Christmas feast begins with a fabulous first course. Popular choices include smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, oysters, pear and goat’s cheese salads, or pate with thin slices of sourdough toast or crackers. Seafood starters are best paired with a white wine. Albarino is varietal wine originally made in the coastal region of Galicia in Spain, where fish is always on the menu, now also produced in high altitude areas of southern France. Laurent Miquel Albarino from Southern France is dry, sophisticated and invigoratingly fresh on the palate. This will match seafood perfectly. It is just €9.50 at Dunnes Stores until 6/01/2026. Meaty pates need a red wine, although a sweet white can also be an option. For a red, Andre Goichot Cotes du Rhone Unoaked 2023 packs the pepper punch familiar to this wine but has a fresh and vibrant fruit finish. This will also work with veggie pates. It is available at Supervalu (€10 until 5/11/25). Goats cheese salad will like a crisp white Sauvignon Blanc like Estevez Sauvignon Blanc, with its typical basil scents but also some fruity tropical notes (€8.49 from Aldi stores).
When it comes to the main event, you’re either a red or a white drinker. Luckily, turkey goes with both! For a white choice, Australia has mastered the art of producing Chardonnays with full fruit flavours but also elegant dryness. Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay has a pedigree as long as your arm. The 2022 vintage now in store at Supervalu has heaps of ripe stone fruits, vanilla notes and a lengthy dry finish – perfect for turkey at €14.50. For red wine lovers, Chateau Manon des Brumes from the Blaye region of the Cotes de Bordeaux is Merlot driven, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc making up the blend. This means lots of plum and blackcurrant in the glass with a long and lingering aftertaste. Perfect for turkey, especially a free range or bronze turkey which has deeper flavour. It is priced at €13 a bottle.
These meats come from fatty birds which makes the flesh moist and flavoursome. If you are splashing out on goose – it is worth splashing out on a wine to go with it! Barolo wines come from the region of the same name in Piedmont in Northern Italy, often said to be the finest of Italian red wines. A big bird needs a big wine and Enzo Bartoli Barolo 2019 is just that, in its traditional cask shaped bottle. So much class and sophistication in the glass, well-rounded and with a satisfying lengthy finish, this will match every delicious mouthful of meat. Find it at Dunnes Stores,€25.00 a bottle until 6/01/26. Duck is slightly more subtle in taste and would be well matched with a Pinot Noir. Pierre Ponelle Pinot Noir 2019 has typical mulberry notes and a clean edge that balances the rich meat. Also from Dunnes Stores, a snip at just €9.00 a bottle until 6/01/26.
Cheeseboards often have a hard cheese like mature cheddar, a soft cheese like Brie or Camembert and a blue cheese such as Stilton and all these make very different demands on a wine match. So I’m making it easy by saying go for a port instead. As there is a collection of cheeses here, a Tawny port would be perfect for the diversity. Tawny has complex notes of nuts and toffee with a subtle sweetness of ripe fruit as well. Sandeman’s classic 5 Star Tawny Port has all these characteristics of depth of flavour and warmth, consumed as it comes, but can also be served over ice if you fancy something different. It is available from SuperValu stores (on offer until 05/11/25 at €18.75).
The sweet stuff can range from trad Christmas pudding, cake and mince pies to lighter puds with a fruit base. For the traditional fruit and spice of the pudding and mince pies, the port above is a good suggestion.
For lighter desserts like fruit mousses and cheesecakes, a bottle of Prosecco will never go amiss! A rose prosecco suits the light hearted nature of these desserts. Aldi’s Costellore Prosecco Rose adds a bit of razzamatazz to the sweet course. Just €12.99 at Aldi stores now.
There’s not much to beat sitting by the fire with a nightcap after a busy Christmas Day. This is the time you can breathe a sigh of relief that all the cooking and washing up is done, the presents are opened, the kids are in bed and that’s that for another year!
Time to break out the Brandy for a sophisticated sip, or go for a cockle warming whiskey or hot toddy if you feel in the mood. Ronsard VSOP Napoleon French Brandy is aged for 5 years, to give a mature depth of flavour but also a good kick of spice. Make sure you get out the brandy balloon glasses so you can swirl and sniff and allow this brandy to breath. From Dunnes Stores at €22.60. Whiskey lovers will enjoy a sip of West Cork Dha Chasca Single Malt Irish Whiskey, aged in Sherry casks so it has that malty flavour backed with some subtle fruit notes. Break out the cut crystal for this one-best enjoyed as the coals flicker!
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