Food
Christmas Desserts And Wine Pairings
You’ve put up the tree, decked the halls, wrapped the presents and chosen the ham and turkey, but what about Christmas dessert? It really is the time of year to indulge and there’s nothing more delectable than a delicious dessert paired with an equally divine wine, so we’ve put together this easy Christmas dessert and wine matching guide to make sure your festive season is sufficiently sweet.
Pairing a Christmas dessert with wine is relatively easy! The main consideration is that the wine needs to be at least as sweet as the dessert – a dessert that’s sweeter than the wine will make it taste dull and knock out its character.
WHAT WINES GO WITH TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS PUDDING?
Deliciously sweet and warm, you’ll need a wine with similar attributes.
Pair with: Tawny or Vintage Fortified
WHAT WINES GO WITH CHRISTMAS PAVLOVA?
Crunchy and textural yet fruit-sweet, choose an off-dry, not overly sweet wine style.
Pair with: Sweeter Prosecco or off-dry Moscato
For some pavlova recipe ideas, you can’t go past Lyndey Milan’s take on a festive pav.
WHAT WINES GO WITH CHRISTMAS COOKIES?
Who doesn’t love cookies? Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with creamy Aussie macadamia nuts, and a scoop of delicious vanilla ice-cream on the side. Yum!
Pair with: Late Harvest Riesling
WHAT WINES GO WITH CHRISTMAS TRIFLE?
Soft and luscious with layers of flavour, trifle needs a medium-sweet wine match.
Pair with: Late harvest Semillon or Riesling (not too sweet)
WHAT WINES GO WITH CHRISTMAS CHEESECAKE?
Just the right amount of sweet yet with the wonderful savoury note of native Australian wattle seed, this baked cheesecake calls for a dessert wine with similar attributes.
Pair with: Botrytis Semillon or Late Harvest Riesling
WHAT WINES GO WITH STICKY DATE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE OR WARM GINGERBREAD PUDDING?
Super-sweet and decadent, you’ll need wine with a generous core of sweet fruit.
Pair with: Topaque
WHAT WINES GO WITH RUM BALLS OR FRUIT MINCE TARTS?
For the ultimate pairing go for the richest and most luscious sweet wines.
Pair with: Muscat or Pedro Ximenez sweet sherry
If you're planning on cooking a Christmas feast, make sure you check out our Best Recipes for Christmas Food and Wine Pairing for some delicious ideas.
Whatever your choice of Christmas dessert and wine, we hope it’s delicious! Merry Christmas from everyone at Wine Selectors.