Wine and dine with Wagner Erne during this Christmas

What´s on your dinner table this Christmas? Are you perfectly pairing your food with special wines from around the world? Or will you be advised by the restaurants’ sommeliers and serving staff when it comes to your wine? This Christmas, we will provide you with a sneak preview of what’s on the dinner table during the Christmas dinners from our teachers. Today, we will explore an Swedish French menu and how to pair this with great wines from around the world with our teacher Wagner Erne.

Who is Wagner?

Our teacher Wagner Erne is a graduate in Wines of the World and Harmonization by the highly respected institution Le Cordon Bleu. He passed with distinction on WSET levels 1, 2 and 3, and recently graduated with the WSET 4 Diploma. Erne runs a wine club focused on small wine producers and provides consultancy services for wineries.

Even though our very own Wagner is an ambassador for the Valpolicella region, the italian dishes are not there on his family Christmas menu this year:

Wine food pairing during a Franco-Swedish Christmas menu

As a result of living in different countries the end of the year is always an opportunity. And, to go back to meet our families and friends. It was, and still is, a period of long lunches and dinners. Where our different cultures meet through the dishes on the dining table.

This year, we will celebrate with a Franco-Swedish menu. The traditional starter is for oysters, nature, s’il vous plaît. I will accompany these with an Alvarinho from Monção e Melgaço (Alvaianas bio, my preferred). The minerality of this wine pairs perfectly with the briny flavours of the oyster. This, while Alvarinho´s high acidity cleans your palate for… the next oyster!

Gravlax from Sweden with Chardonnay from the Bourgogne

Next will be Gravlax. Marinated salmon with its mustard and dill sauce. I will pair this with a good Chardonnay from Bourgogne, just lightly oaked, Domaine Barraud´s Pouilly-Fuissé is my pick. We will need a more structured wine. Wine to accompany such a juicy dish with good acidity nevertheless, to deal with the salmon´s fatty profile.

Wine food pairing this Christmas: Cooked Ham with Rufete wine from Beira, Portugal

We can´t skip the cooked ham that in according to Swedish tradition is flavoured with cloves and honey. I´ll be choosing a red wine with lower tannins to pair with such a mild dish. A nice Rufete from Beira Interior will be perfect. On the table, there will always be the children´s first choice: meatballs with cream sauce and potatoes. And if any adult joins in, I will have a good right bank Bordeaux at hand. I still have some Lalande Pomerol, La Croix Romane 2016 which is perfect to drink now.

Christmas dessert from France: the Tarte Tartin paired with a 15 year old fortified wine

For the grand-finale we will serve the incontestable Tarte Tatin. Magnificently paired with a Carcavelos; a fortified wine that rests in barrels for 15 years. The combination is an explosion of caramel, toffee, and almonds flavours.

Do you have a passion for entertaining your family and friends during Christmas or any other celebration you have at home? Maybe do you want to provide a better service to your customers at your restaurant. Learn the ins and outs of wine food pairing with the courses from Plansel International Wine School