What to Drink During the Festive Season?

As the holiday season approaches, oysters, scallops, capon, and other delicacies are making their way to the table… Here are a few tips to help you find the perfect wine pairings for your holiday meals!

The pairing of foie gras with wine depends mainly on when it is served. Sweet wine is a popular choice with foie gras, but it risks overpowering the flavors of other wines served after the foie gras as a starter, which will seem too light after the sweet wine.

London French Morning

The perfect wines to pair with foie gras

If you prefer to keep foie gras as the first course and change the wine served with it, we recommend pairing it with a dry white wine. Look for wines from the Loire region, such as Vouvray, Savennières, and Saumur, which are ideal.

Older white wines from Graves in Bordeaux or Côtes-de-Provence in Provence are also suitable.

For sweet wines, Jurançon and Monbazillac from the Southwest are good choices. Gewürztraminerfrom Alsace is also perfect, as is Sauternes from the Bordeaux region. When serving sweet wines, try something different and serve your foie gras between the main course and dessert!

If you want to really impress, choose a red wine to pair with your foie gras—old vintages are your best bet, such as those from the Médoc and Haut-Médoc regions in Bordeaux, or Chinon and Saumur in the Loire Valley.

How can you pair your taste with wine?

One might be tempted to say that nothing should be added to the flavor of scallops, but that’s not true—pairing them with wine creates a sumptuous combination. The texture of scallops is very similar to that of other types of seafood, yet it remains slightly different. When prepared properly, they are very tender, offering a truly unique culinary experience. Here, as is often the case with seafood, you’ll want a dry white wine with a fresh, mineral character that can stand up to the slight hint of brininess and certain accompaniments like spices or herbs. Wines with floral aromas, hints of citrus, and a touch of acidity from their minerality will pair well with the tender flesh of the scallop.

Which appellations to select?

We should opt for a dry, mineral, and fruity white wine. Our choices will lean toward grape varieties like Chardonnay—such as a Chablis for a very simple pan-seared scallop dish, or a Pouilly-Fuissé from Burgundy—as the mineral character of these wines pairs beautifully with the texture and flavor of the scallops. We could also opt for wines made from Chenin, such as a Blanc d’Anjou from the Loire region, which have a subtle citrus note that pairs wonderfully with scallops.

Since there are different types of oysters, they can be paired with different wines. Les Grappes offers a wide selection of wines that are sure to delight your taste buds!

The perfect wines to pair with oysters

Traditionally, you might chooseto pair your oysters with a dry white wine. In that case, you could opt for a Muscadet, a Chablis, or a Sancerre. For a more exotic touch, an Alsace wine would be a good choice—for example, a white Sylvaner from Alsace.

We’re trying out less traditional pairings

For a change of pace, don’t hesitate to choose champagne: the bubbles enhance the wine’s acidic notes and add a touch of freshness to the tasting experience. Additionally, champagne served as an aperitif will arrive just as the oysters do, at the start of the meal. It also pairs exceptionally well with hot oysters. We therefore recommend a brut or extra brut champagne, such as those from our winemaker Jeaunaux Robin, which will pair perfectly with hot oysters as a main course or as an aperitif. The fine bubbles and acidity of these champagnes will enhance the dish and balance its briny notes.

For a unique twist, you can also serve red wine with oysters—a refreshing change from the usual white wine and champagne. Egia Tegia’s Dena Dela Rouge follows the same style: fruity, yet retaining a fresh, well-balanced acidity.

A nice capon for Christmas—a classic choice, you might say, but one that never fails to impress. It’s the main course, the dish everyone’s been waiting for, the “star” of the menu. So if you mess up the wine, you’re in for a year’s worth of reminders about your monumental mistake (until next Christmas).

What wine goes well with capon?

To be perfectly honest with you, many wines pair well with capon. That’s because capon doesn’t have any complex flavor profiles. Basically, it doesn’t have a particularly strong or distinctive taste. In the end, it all depends on the sauce and the side dishes.

For white wine lovers

• Côtes-du-Jura – Chardonnay

• Santenay – Burgundy

• Meursault – Burgundy

• Puligny-Montrachet – Burgundy

• Châteauneuf-du-Pape – Côtes-du-Rhône

• Condrieu – Côtes-du-Rhône

For red wine lovers

• Santenay – Burgundy

• Vosne-Romanée – Burgundy

• Aloxe-Corton – Burgundy

• Saint-Émilion – Bordeaux

• Saint-Julien – Bordeaux

• Pomerol – Bordeaux

• Côte-Rôtie – Côte du Rhône, especially for those who prefer slightly fuller-bodied wines.

With these recommendations, you're sure to hit the mark…

What wine should you drink with oysters, crab, whelks, and more? Christmas is a real treat for seafood lovers. If you’re allergic to seafood, read on anyway—it’ll help you keep up with the conversation. What wine goes well with seafood?

What wine goes well with seafood?

Wine is important when serving seafood because it’s the first wine you’ll drink after the aperitif. It’s the kickoff to your festive meal. So, to help you choose the right wine for seafood, here’s an initial list of white wines to pair with seafood:

• Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine – Loire for its refreshing character

• Alsace Riesling for its fruity notes

• Quincy–Loire for its mineral character

• Petit Chablis – Burgundy, known for its rich aromas

• Sancerre–Loire for its "flinty" aroma

• Blanc de blancs champagne, preferably with fine bubbles, for its exceptional character.

With lobster, crayfish, or scallops?

• Pouilly-Fumé – Loire

• Chablis – Burgundy