Putting a Shine on the Holidays

Some of Canada’s best sommeliers share their strategies for wine service when entertaining at home.

A well-trained sommelier is a Swiss Army knife of wine suggestions. Sommeliers can guide you from your first course through your fifth and find a bottle to go with both a delicate bass and a behemoth porterhouse. Yes, they can even find a bottle that will suit all the dishes (and personalities) at your holiday table. So, follow their lead and host like a wine pro. Here’s how.

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I love picking wines because I get two very distinct meals to play with. My partner’s family is German, so at the holidays, we enjoy cured meats, dumplings and wursts. My family is Anglo-Canadian — bring on the roasted turkey, roasted vegetables and casseroles!

For both [families], I focus on wines I know my family will enjoy, mixed in with new grapes, regions or producers. For the German side, we open Riesling and traditional-method sparkling wines with refreshing brightness to pair with cured meats — B.C. producers, like Blue Mountain, Synchromesh or Tantalus, with a few Hacker-Pschorr beers thrown in for good measure.

For my side — reds that pair with cranberry sauce and whites with texture and no oak. Côte de Beaune Pinot Noir, Ken Forrester South African Chenin Blanc, Le Vieux Pin’s Southern Rhône–inspired Dorée. Serve all the above with glühwein [mulled wine] and the much stronger feuerzangenbowle — a great crowd-pleaser when entertaining.

Suggestions:

• Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc
• Blue Mountain Gold Label Brut NV
• Synchromesh Thorny Vines Vineyard Dry Riesling
• Le Vieux Pin’s Cuvée Dorée

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Picking wines for people that I love is one of my favourite adventures. My first rule: Look for wines that are meaningful — producers I have read about or visited. Sharing these stories is a surefire way to get the dinner table talking! The second: Look outside the classical fancy regions like Burgundy and Bordeaux and hunt for upcoming regions. I’m in love with the wines from Saumur in the Loire Valley — the reds and whites are textural, complex and food-friendly, and should cost twice as much as they do. Rías Baixas is producing thrilling whites from Albariño that remind me of the best of Chablis at a fraction of the cost. Finally, if you do splurge, decant the wine. Almost any great wine, regardless of price, will improve if you open the bottle a few hours in advance.

Suggestions:

• Étienne Moly Saumur Champigny Les Sybarites

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There are few things that I look forward to more than opening a special bottle of champagne during the holidays. It’s a buzz that signals a luxury of time and an abundance of pleasure. For my personal cellar, I buy a mix of LCBO brands and grower champagnes from bottle shops. There are some excellent off-the-shelf brands, such as Laurent-Perrier (the rosé) and Pol Roger, that give luxury at a palatable price point and offer a broader gifting appeal. For grower champagne, I love Bérêche et Fils and Cédric Bouchard. If you’re looking for grower wines, I always check the label for info on dosage and disgorgement — having even that info suggests attention to detail.

Suggestions:

• Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Brut Rosé Champagne
• Pol Roger Brut Champagne
• Champagne Bérêche et Fils

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When hosting, do your homework. You’re hosting loved ones — you know their preferences. Your offerings should reflect something they like. That said, it’s your house, your kitchen. Be confident. If someone likes gratuitously oaked Chardonnay, I’d suggest a creamy Muscadet. Outside of that, I’m a big fan of Gamay, and for whites, something like Zelen from Pasji Rep in Slovenia. It’s fresh, clean and surprisingly textural. I’m a big fan of ripe cava during the holidays. A great bang for your buck!

Above all, serve palatable and pleasant wines! We’ve heard remarks about how funky things can be. Do not subject your guests to unbalanced or hard-to-figure-out wines at the holidays. You can do that at your birthday party.

Suggestions:

• Vignoble Bulliat “Bibine” Beaujolais-Villages
• Casa Mariol Cava Brut Nature
• Pasji Rep Zelen

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Around the holidays, I love wines that are treasured and off the beaten path — hard to get and crafted in small quantities. Australia’s Sami-Odi, California’s Scholium Project and Piedmont’s Cesare Bussolo Roscaleto will stop you in your tracks.

Although red wines are what most people seek for Peking duck and other roast mains, I honestly love white wine, particularly something with more body and structure. White Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a home run. Russiz Superiore Col Disôre (a Pinot Blanc blend) from Friuli, Italy, is simply stunning.

Last, wine needs to be fun. At Mott 32, we specialize in large-format bottles, which are perfect for our style of dining, especially around the holidays. Guests love to take pictures with them, and you would be surprised how fast it goes.

Suggestions:

• Cesare Bussolo Roscaleto Barbera d’Alba
• Russiz Superiore Col Disôre
• Medici Ermete Quercioli Reggiano Lambrusco

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I’m a holiday enthusiast, but not in the traditional way. I’m more excited about opening fun wines, pairing them with something incredible, and showing everyone what a wizard I am. My favourite way is to create different textures and flavours. I start things off with a salty cocktail hour — manzanilla sherry with oysters and chamomile mignonette. For dinner, I put olives and crunchy bread on the table with good fino. From there, I’ll pair homemade tonkotsu ramen with Amontillado and nut-crusted flank steak with an aged oloroso. Finish the night with a bottle of Pedro Ximénez, poured over ice cream (might as well have a glass). I think of pairing like a great playlist — some anticipation, a few classic bops and good flow throughout.

Suggestions:

• Lustau “Fina”
• Romate Pedro Ximénez
• Equipo Navazos “La Bota de Manzanilla Florpower”

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Any holiday dinner highlighting local produce will pair best with local wine, and there is no better expression of the beautiful terroir of Quebec’s Eastern Townships than Les Pervenches. It’s a Chardonnay grown from 30-year-old vines farmed and vinified with minimal intervention practices. I love its yellow apple and pear fruit — like the orchards it grows near — and its cool acidity and endless minerality. It tastes best in the cold winter months, preferably when the sun is still shining.

If we’re drinking champagne around Elena, it’s probably Charles Dufour. His wines are elegant with a rare purity, but they’re also relaxed enough to be a “bar champagne.” This is Blanc de Noir that he makes in collaboration with his mother, who manages the harvests and vineyards.

Holiday dinners can have intense flavours — lots of sweet, savoury, spice, meats and vegetables. The most dynamic wine to match all of it is Lambrusco. Cinque Campi Lambrusco Rosso Frizzante is bright and punchy, with licorice, rustic earthiness, spice and nice bubbles that keep the palate fresh through a marathon dinner.

Suggestions:

• Lustau “Fina”
• Les Pervenches “Le Couchant” 2023
• Panevino “Girotondo” 2021
• Françoise Martinot par Charles Dufour
• Cinque Campi Lambrusco Rosso Frizzante 2022

– By Kate Dingwall