7 White wines you have to try this Christmas
Need help choosing the perfect Christmas wines in 2020? No worries! Here's our buyers' selection for our top festive white wines this year.
The list also includes a fizz and a sweet wine because, well, it's Christmas!
1. The Christmas bubbles
We recommend you pick English fizz for your Christmas this year. The quality has never been better and you can find some outstanding bottles for your money, too. Albourne Estate Blanc de Blancs, made from 100% Chardonnay, is one of our top choices for Christmas sparkling wine this year.
Sourced from a vineyard in Sussex, this is an opulent English fizz bursting with apples, buttery pastry, almonds and fresh citrus.
The warm, toasty notes make it a perfect festive sparkling! Plus you'll struggle to find a Blanc de Blancs style fizz that tastes as good as this for just £26.99. Although if that's still a bit pricey, give Albourne's wonderful Multi-Vintage bubbles a go, which is on offer at £19.99 right now.
2. The Christmas dinner pairing
Christmas dinner can be a tough meal to pair wine with. While you'll find lots of advice about pairing with the main event, lots of folks forget about all the trimmings that can easily overpower your wine.
However, if you want a great wine that can go as well with baked fish as it can with a roast chicken, Kyperounda Petritis from Cyprus is your bottle.
Grown in Europe's highest altitude vineyards, the wine is made from 100% Xynisteri and gently oak matured to give you a white wine that's full of candied lime, citrus and vanilla.
3. The Christmas all rounder
Just looking for a good Christmas wine to enjoy? Easy. Gizella Estate Furmint has recently launched their new vintage of Furmint, an indigenous grape at home in the Tokaj region of Hungary.
Only a few thousand bottles of this are made, so it's a pretty exclusive wine. However, it's also a no frills wine and you can happily savour it by the glass or pair it with a platter of festive nibbles.
Bottled in the traditional Tokaj bottle, if you've never tasted a Furmint before this is the one to try. The grape is brilliant.
4. The fruity one
Looking for easy-drinking? After all, Christmas time is about relaxing and in 2020 I think we all need a break more than any year before.
Colomba Bianca 'Vitese' Zibibbo from a tapestry of certified organic Sicilian vineyards brings you a mix of tropical citrus and honeysuckle aromas. Smooth and velvety in texture with a nod of acidity, it manages to be both bright and voluptuous at the same time.
It's a sure-fire Christmas hit, especially at £9.99.
5. The big Christmas wine
Do you like your wines full-bodied and richly characterful? Us too! Also, when it's cold outside there's few things more enjoyable than a bountiful white brimming with tropical fruits, creamy vanilla and Christmas spice.
That's exactly what Painted Wolf Paarl Roussanne is all about. An easy favourite with breaded carp, roast chicken, a nut roast or even roast lamb, this wine's got character in barrels.
Coming from the warm region of Paarl in South Africa and made in a style inspired by the Rhone Valley, Painted Wolf Wines also donates a part of their profits to support the conservation of African wild dogs. So you can sip this one and know you're supporting a good cause at the same time.
It doesn't get much more Christmassy than that, does it?
6. The great value Christmas wine
Few wines offer as good value as the Pegoes co-op, situated on the Peninsula de Setubal in south-west Portugal. Lapped by Atlantic waves and bathed in plentiful sunshine, this coastal region is an ideal spot for ripe and fruity grapes.
Winemaker Jaime Quendera has created a special wine in his Colheita Seleccionada Branco, which we sell for only £9.99 a bottle.
Aromas of orange blossom, peach and pineapple are followed by an opulent flavour of peach melba, cream and spice. It's a big, creamy number that works delightfully well with a cheeseboard or roast turkey and all the trimmings.
7. The sweetie
Can you have Christmas without dessert wine? This indulgent treat is much overlooked and should be enjoyed throughout the year, but a Tokaj always tastes best at Christmas.
We've chosen the wonderful Demetervin Sweet Szamorodni 2013, a wine made by our friend Dr Endre Demeter. The Szamorodni style is lighter and fresher than its famous Aszu cousin, but nonetheless pure luxury.
From one of Hungary's finest vintages, this Christmassy dessert wine is full of fresh apricots, acacia, dried fruits, citrus and gingerbread spices.
Enjoy it chilled by the glass and shared with loved ones after your meal, or get stuck in with a slab of your favourite blue cheese.
Need more wine inspiration? View all our wines here.