Vino... plenty of it for the Christmas season

For the coming Christmas we are all making room in our cellar for the right wines for our days and nights in with friends and families. My Christmas wines will be Prosecco to start with, plenty of full bodies, rich, complex aged red for the classic Italian meals and the traditional Spumante to accompany the Panettone and to welcome the New Year. Christmas festive season in Italy is made by days spent eating and drinking. Long meals, plenty of food eaten and wine drunk outside when visiting friends and families, a marathon harder than the real one if you are not fit. Somehow, Italians got something in their DNA about this capacity of enjoying food and wine in bigger quantities.

But this habit is now becoming common even outside Italy and therefore, full bodied, rich, complex and aged wines are present in many tables to complement the meals. We could also call these wines festive wines, because we are all happy to spend a few pounds more for one of them. Examples of these wines are Barolo or Brunello di Montalcino only to mention two. But be very careful if you don't want to spoil your Christmas meal, make sure you pick the right vintage. The wines I have mentioned are wines that are aged in barrels and need sometime to give their best after they are bottled and therefore, when spending the money you spend for them, make sure you pick the right one. Forget about 2004 or even 2003 vintage if you want to drink it now, opt for the 2001 or lower which you can be certain is ready to complement your meal and impress your friends. If you are not sure, ask for advice, shop assistant, sommelier. You can also ask us if you have any doubt, just make sure you don't waste your money and your meal, it would be a very disappointing Christmas meal.