What to drink with a Capon?

A beautiful capon for the Christmas festivities is classic, but terribly effective. It's the main course, the dish everyone's waiting for, the "star" of the menu.

It would be a shame to waste hours spent in the kitchen on the wrong choice of wine. But don't panic! To help you avoid family reprisals, we're here to help you choose the best wine to accompany your Christmas poultry.

Capon: the ideal holiday dish

A highly coveted Christmas dish, capons are a crowd-pleaser, with their tender, delicate flesh and simple cooking.

At Les Grappes, we love to get behind the stove and try out new recipes for successful food and wine pairings. Since you're all very wise this Christmas, we're giving you our favorite poultry recipes .

Oven-roasted capon stuffed with chestnuts

Making this recipe is simple! First prepare the stuffing, with a little sliced bread, shallots, parsley, cream, chopped chicken liver and a glass of white wine. You can then stuff your AOC capon.

Simply brush with sunflower oil and place in the oven for 2 hours: 1 hour covered, the other uncovered. Our secret? Baste your bird regularly with its juices.

In our recipe, we serve the bird with crunchy seasonal vegetables and chestnuts. Delicious!

An unmissable dish that will delight young and old alike, but you still need to know which wine to serve it with.

Which wine to serve with capon stuffed with chestnuts?

To enhance your recipe, we recommend a wine from the Rhône Valley, with this exceptionalChâteauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine Duriau.

Capon with straw wine recipe

A unique recipe with vin de paille ! We advise you to start the day before by cutting up your poultry. And yes, a good recipe has to be earned! Brown the pieces in a casserole dish with a little salted butter. Allow the fat to melt. When the pieces are well browned, it's time to add the shallots and season.

Take out your bottle of vin de paille and pour it into the casserole. Cover and simmer for 1h30. Leave to cool and preserve overnight.

The next day, remove the fat and use it to sauté the chestnuts. Remove the capon pieces and discard the carcass. Then reduce the sauce. We recommend that you crush a few chestnuts to bind the sauce, and then reheat the capon pieces.

In the meantime, prepare your morels and mix in a little cream, then add the sauce.

Ready to serve!

Bresse capon stuffed with pears and figs

This recipe is all about stuffing and sauce!

Let's start with the stuffing. Simply soak slices of sandwich bread in milk, sauté shallots and onions in a little walnut oil, then in another pan, sauté the chicken liver and a few pears in butter.

Once everything's ready, mix it all together, add a little parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Now it's time for the capon! Season the inside of the bird with salt, then add the stuffing.

All that's left is the sauce. Pour a little Port into a saucepan with a little sugar. Reduce by half. Add the beef stock and a large glass of water. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter and remove from the heat. Add the figs.

Place the bird in the oven for 3 hours, basting regularly with the sauce. For the last hour of cooking, add a few figs.

Tip: feel free to add roasted nuts to the top of your capon just before serving!

To accompany your capon

Yes, we think of everything! On Christmas Eve, you won't be serving your bird alone, so here are our ideas for a complete festive meal.

Roasted winter vegetables

The perfect accompaniment to your capon! Peel and chop potatoes, squash, turnips and carrots. Arrange the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush with olive oil or walnut oil, as preferred, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and spices such as curcuma or curry. Bake for 35 min. Tell us all about it!

Roasted potatoes with garlic

For those with a sweet tooth, you can also serve roast potatoes to accompany your dish and delight your guests. Start by cutting your potatoes into quarters, then cover them in an ovenproof dish with chopped garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir to coat the potatoes. Our advice? Add a few thyme leaves on top. Then bake at 200°C for 45 min.

What better accompaniment for your capon?

Chestnut purée

Finally, for chestnut aficionados, what could be better than chestnut purée? An original and divinely tasty accompaniment! It's easy to make! Place your chestnuts in a saucepan and cover with milk. Bring to the boil and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Once cooked, mix the chestnuts with a little cream and butter and season to taste. The perfect accompaniment to your festive dishes!

Our ideas for your festive meals

What are you doing for New Year's Eve? If you really want to surprise your guests, you can serve them a capon fricassee with Champagne. The mountains of Reims on your plate, no less!

With all these dish ideas, there's no excuse not to offer the perfect food and wine pairing during your festive meals! You're sure to impress your guests! The risk? That they'll ask you for the same recipe the following Christmas.

Which wine to drink with stuffed poultry?

Sometimes stuffed, often accompanied by chestnuts or potatoes, baked or casseroled (+++), it's the essential fowl of the festive season, but you still need to know which bottle to serve with it!

Which wine to serve with capon?

To be perfectly honest with you, many wines can accompany your AOC poultry, depending on the sauce and accompaniment. In the end, it doesn't matter which wine you choose, the main thing is to enjoy yourself. Red wines from Bordeauxfrom Burgundyfrom Loireand Beaujolais or the Rhône Valley will go perfectly with your dish.

What red wine to serve with roast stuffed capon?

For red wine lovers, it's possible to serve a red wine with your capon. We recommend a dry red, with fruit and spice aromas, liveliness and freshness. If you're serving a capon stuffed with chestnuts, you can also accompany your guests with a bottle of Beaune (AOC).

What wine to pair with capon for white wine lovers?

For white wine lovers, we recommend wines with white fruit aromas, with mineral and slightly woody notes. To find your nugget, look no further than Alsace, Bordeaux or Burgundy.

If you're a gourmet who likes to try a capon stuffed with dried fruit, you'll prefer wines with a round mouthfeel and notes of sweet spices and honey, such as those found in the Rhône or Loire Valleys.

And what about daring?

For those who want to surprise their guests, it's perfectly possible to serve a Champagne with your capon - after all, it's not December 25th every day!

A surprising food and wine pairing, but one that will sublimate your dish. The roundness and liveliness of Champagne will go perfectly with the white meat of your French poultry.

Made with a majority of Pinot Meunier grapes, we recommend the Brut Réserve champagne from Olivier Marteau champagnes or Champagne Gremillet.

Every Christmas meal has its debates. And why not sow the seeds by serving a bottle of rosé ? Its slightly acid notes will enhance all the flavors of your recipe.

Which wines go well with stuffed poultry?

For the undecided, discover our selection of wines for your festive dishes! Capon, turkey or guinea fowl, we've chosen these 5 cuvées for your Christmas stuffed poultry.

With these references, you're sure to hit the nail on the head... So which wine with capon is right for you?

(Don't forget to leave a glass for Santa too!)