Christmas Day in seven wines

With Christmas a matter of weeks away, David Kermode audits his cellar and the wine merchants to select the bottles to accompany a range of dishes on the most indulgent day of the year.

By David Kermode

4 December 2025

We dream of a white Christmas, Jack Frost nipping at our nose, but it’s usually a wet one, the puddles soaking our toes. Yet come the big day, some vinous indulgence ensures that the weather is soon forgotten. Here’s my plan for a festive feast on the big day, accompanied by some wine recommendations for Christmas.

The official start of the season, the winter solstice, usually feels like the longest day as I conduct a final audit of my own wine cellar, ready for Christmas. It’s a chilly task but, as any curator can confirm, spending precious time with your collection is akin to a spiritual experience, throwing up some pleasant surprises and also the occasional shocker: I learnt the hard way that Puligny Montrachet has a ‘best before’ date when I discovered a forgotten brace of bottles – our kitchen sink was the only one to ‘enjoy’ them. Storing wine is not for everyone, of course, so the following recommendations are all available to buy right away.

I’m an evangelist for winter rosé, so Christmas is the season to sink the poshest pink. To accompany smoked trout on soft fluffy brown bread, topped with creamed horseradish dotted with dill, Chateau d’Esclans Garrus 2022 (£90, Ocado), one of a small number of rosé wines to win an IWSC gold this year (full disclosure: I was on the judging panel, assessing blind). Whispering Angel’s much bigger brother is a class act with significant ageing potential, as evidenced by a vertical tasting I attended back in the spring. Showcasing the ripe fruit of the warm ’22 vintage, the nose teases with alpine strawberry and peach skin, while the palate gently unfurls to reveal the extraordinary breadth and purity of its pristine red fruit from the oldest Grenache vines on the estate (around 100 years old), supported by an elegant, mouthwatering salinity that underpins its serious, gastronomic credentials.

David Kermode is a journalist and broadcaster, with two decades of experience across TV, radio and print media, and a lifelong love of wine and spirits. Don’t miss his weekly podcast, The Drinking Hour.