It’s that time of the season when people around the globe gather their families together and serve them the most decadent foods and wines to celebrate the year’s bounty. The holidays are a time for giving, both thanks and presents, and what better way to let your loved ones know how much you care than by preparing an extravagant holiday feast! Whether you’re planning a traditional or more modern affair, this article will highlight some of the very best menu items and wine pairings available to help ensure that your holiday event is a success for both gourmand guests and those with more straightforward palates.

Planning for Food

When preparing your holiday meal, there are several factors that you must keep in mind before even beginning to plan your menu. First, be sure to take into account the number of guests expected to attend, and plan enough portions to satisfy even the most gluttonous eaters while still leaving wiggle room for plenty of leftovers. Next, be sure that you’re well aware of your guests’ dietary or other health restrictions, as these factors can significantly impact your course selections. Then, take stock of your guests’ culinary persuasions, as you will obviously serve a vastly different menu to a house full of seasoned gourmands vs. a group composed of many toddlers or pre-teens. Finally, be sure that all of your appliances are in good working order and that you have all of the safety tools and gear necessary to avoid any holiday disasters. Essential items include a working fire extinguisher, oven mitts, a meat thermometer and, if applicable, a baby-proofing session with your electrical outlets and any other items deemed dangerous for tiny tots.

Once you’ve completed the initial planning, it’s time to decide what to serve! Holiday meals are almost always served banquet style, so you’ll need to plan well ahead to determine what dishes must be made ahead as opposed to which need to be served hot out of the oven. The most traditional central proteins to a holiday meal are turkey, ham or goose. Other more sophisticated alternatives include oysters, a foie gras terrine, and fresh or smoked salmon. Your protein selections should be at least partially based on the preferences of your guests and the availability of fresh options in your neighborhood.

Aside from the meaty star, a holiday meal is incomplete without a host of delicious side dishes and desserts. American and Canadian favorites include mashed potatoes, gravy (particularly if serving a turkey), fresh salad, a vegetable dish (broccoli and green beans are common key components), a cheese and/or relish plate, and cranberry sauce. Fabulous dessert options include a Christmas log, holiday cookies, fruitcake, seasonal pies, and tortes.

Planning for Wines

While you are free to choose whichever holiday dish selections that you like, the key to a truly spectacular meal is pairing your main courses with appropriate wines. The importance of appropriate wine pairings cannot be overemphasized, as a good wine will bring out a wealth of new taste sensations in your food and vice versa. Aside from following the main rule that a wine and food pairing should not overshadow one another, your taste preferences and those of your guests should play a significant role in the pairings. For example, some people have an affinity for complementary pairings (delicate dish with delicate wines), while others enjoy contrasts (selecting a sweet wine to highlight the saltiness of a particular dish).

Regardless of your personal preference, wine pairing considerations depend on four central factors: weight (heavy, medium or light body), flavor intensity (weak, moderate or strong), taste (sweet, spicy, sour, etc.), and smell (earthy, fruity, etc.). That being said, there are certain universally agreed upon principles and pairings that can be used as a cheat sheet for the novice gourmand or if you simply want to eliminate one more complicated decision from your holiday meal planning.

• Acidic wines (Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling and Chianti) pair well with many dishes
• Spicy foods pair well with fruity wines
• Sweet foods pair well with slightly sweeter wines
• Turkey or Ham: Light or spicy whites such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer, lighter reds such as Rioja, Barbera, Grenache, Burgundy, or the traditional Champagne
• Goose: Medium to full bodied reds such as Zinfandel or Tempranillo
• Foie gras: Sweet wines such as Sauternes or an ice wine
• Salmon: Full bodied whites or fruity reds for grilled salmon and Champagne or Muscadet for smoked salmon
• Green Salad: Herby whites such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Blanc. The dressing that goes with the salad might make the pairing a little bit risky.
• Raw or steamed shellfish: Crisp, acidic wines such as Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc or Muscadet sur Lie.

For those of you who are a bit more adventurous and want to attempt your own pairings, there are a few more general principles to follow. First, you need to decide whether you want to attempt a horizontal (single wine with each dish) or vertical (holistic view of the entire meal when pairing dishes and wines) pairings. If you decide to go with a horizontal pairing, you must be careful to ensure that every possible element of the wine blends harmoniously with its accompanying dish. Ideally, you should choose a wine that hails from the same region as the central element in its partner dish. With a vertical pairing, you must be sure to serve younger, white wines before older, red wines in order to create a mellifluous overall meal. Less alcoholic, drier wines should be served before sweeter dessert wines and you should only serve up to three wines in total to avoid over-saturating your guests’ palates.

Other important pairing considerations include choosing wines that mesh well with the season, the timing of the meal (lighter wines for lunch and heavier for dinner), and the vintage (different years of the same wine can vary dramatically in taste and aroma). To avoid overwhelming your wines, keep in mind that olives, vinegar, yoghurt, asparagus, chocolate and heavy cheeses all mask the tastes of wine and should generally not be part of your pairing contemplations.

This holiday season, whether you’re a novice food and wine aficionado or a seasoned oenophile, the pairing tips mentioned in this article can help you create a harmonious feast for family and friends. While the numerous possible combinations may seem daunting, try not to get stressed and remember that the love and thoughtfulness that you instill into your holiday meal will make the most delicious difference of all!