Who remembers flicking through the catalogues that came in the post during the run up to Christmas looking for inspiration for your Christmas list? It was always one of the first Christmas activities of the year and following that we’d send our letter to Father Christmas to make sure he got it in time. Well, this year at iDealwine, we were feeling sentimental, and we’ve put together a catalogue of drinks perfect for Christmas for you to flick through. What’s more, it includes food and wine pairing suggestions!
iDealwine’s Christmas selection
Bubbles and sweet wines
Mayenne Poiré Granit 2022 – Éric Bordelet
€19 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Perfect with oven-baked Camembert cheese in puff pastry, an apple tart, a fruit Yule log or frozen nougat.
This gourmet perry produced from around twenty different varieties of pear was crafted with the same precision as a fine wine. These pears come from trees aged between 200 and 300 years, rooted in the granite hillsides of the Armorican Massif in northwestern France, where they are nurtured and the perry is produced by a former sommelier.
Montlouis-sur-Loire Brut Tradition – La Taille aux Loups
€18 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Ideal for pre-dinner drinks or a soirée with smoked salmon and preserved lemon or fish rillettes.
This Brut Tradition from La Taille aux Loups is crafted from handpicked grapes and is a go-to bottle when it comes to bubbles. Its fruity notes (pear, apple and quince), typical of the Chenin grape variety, are complemented by a light woodiness, balanced by superb freshness. Perfect to start the evening off lightly!
Champagne Cuvée Jeanne Brut Premier Cru – Virginie Bergeronneau
€25 per bottle (750 ml) or €22.50 per bottle when buying 6
Food and wine pairings: Great for aperitif with sea bass carpaccio, mature or creamy cheeses (Comté and Chaource), or a frozen Yule log.
Produced almost exclusively for iDealwine, this cuvée comes from a premier cru produced using the classic blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the three noble Champagne grape varieties. Elegant and lively, this cuvée was vinified in stainless steel vats to preserve all its freshness. We love its delicacy and fine, elegant bubbles. Be warned, this is a bottle that tends to disappear rather quickly…
Champagne Esprit Nature – Henri Giraud
€64 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Delightful with poultry and morel mushrooms, scallops with saffron, or a carpaccio of red tuna.
The result of the most natural viticulture and vinification practices available, this is a fabulous, vinous gourmet Champagne. Vinification and ageing occur in small oak barrels, a signature feature of this great House, which produces full-bodied, flavoursome wines that pair admirably with the delicacies of refined gourmet dinners.
Sauternes Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Suduiraut 1996
€45 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Perfect for toast with foie gras or pâté and fig chutney, blue cheeses, or a pear and almond tart.
This outstanding Sauternes, produced near the legendary Château d’Yquem, is particularly sophisticated, rich and smooth. It has tremendous ageing potential. Delight your senses with unusual pairings such as spicy dishes, blue cheeses, or sweet and sour dishes. This superb wine, almost thirty years in the making, promises a fine contemplative experience…
Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos – Disznoko 2000
€66 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Perfect for chicken with apricots and cumin, a carpaccio of pineapple, or a chocolate and caramel Yule log
This exceptional wine, produced only in the greatest years, when the grapes are sufficiently concentrated and, in this case, affected by botrytis cinerea, will add an exotic touch to your end-of-year feasts. The grapes are harvested by hand, one berry at a time. The resulting wine is extraordinarily complex, yet surprisingly fresh.
Red and white wines
Corsica Figari 2022 – Clos Canarelli
€34 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Delicious with a carpaccio of scallops, a spiced roast turbot, or cheeses from Corsica.
Vermentino, also known as Rolle in Provence, expresses its full potential on the Figari terroir. This Mediterranean white, produced by a local icon who embraces indigenous grape varieties, strikes a fine balance between richness and finesse.
Savennières Les Vieux Clos 2015 – La Coulée de Serrant
€52.50 per bottle (750 ml) or €47.25 per bottle when buying 6
Food and wine pairings: The perfect companion for a porcini mushroom risotto, truffled guinea fowl, or roast lobster.
The complexity of this cuvée stems from the rigorous selection of the finest grapes cultivated on a single 5.5-hectare plot of vines rooted in schist, quartz and, in places, sandy soils. The result is a superb biodynamic Chenin, offering excellent ripeness and a full, fresh, mineral structure.
South Africa Swartland Palladius 2019 – The Sadie Family
€85 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Superb with sea bream baked in a baking paper parcel, goat’s cheese with honey and fine herbs in puff pastry, or a scallop terrine.
Crafted from a blend of a dozen grape varieties, this South African masterpiece exudes aromatic complexity. The estate is renowned the world over for its low yields and use of biodynamic viticulture and winemaking methods.
€17.50 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: Ideal with a fillet of beef with truffles, sautéed veal with morels, or a roast duck breast.
Produced by the Guinaudeau family, owners of Château Lafleur in Pomerol, this wine is still a well-kept secret. Crafted in Fronsac in southwestern France from vines rooted in a clay-limestone terroir somewhat similar to that of Saint-Emilion, it unfolds elegantly on the palate, infused with the delicacy that has become the Guinaudeau family’s signature. We cannot recommend this wine strongly enough!
Côte-Rôtie La Giroflarie 2020 – Domaine Jasmin
€42 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: The perfect match for a leg of lamb with herbes de Provence, pan-fried beef with truffles and a Madeira sauce, or a braised rib of beef.
The Rhône Valley based Domaine Jasmin has opted for a blend of Syrah (95%) and Viognier (5%) in keeping with the Côte-Rôtie winemaking tradition. The Viognier white grapes add a beautiful suppleness to the black fruit, violet and pepper notes associated with the Syrah variety. This wine can be enjoyed young but remember to decant it first.
Corton Grand Cru 2021 – Maillard et Fils
€70 per bottle (750 ml)
Food and wine pairings: The ideal companion for roast poultry with porcini mushrooms, sautéed mushrooms, or marbled ham.
This Grand Cru comes from a 19-acre parcel that the Maillard family cultivates with the utmost respect for the terroir. This fresh vintage displays all the delicacy you’d expect from a fine Burgundy wine. With only 900 bottles produced each year, this is a coveted gem.
iDealwine’s gift selection
Vin de France Orange – Château Lafitte 2019
€51 per bottle (750 ml)
How about a great and unusual wine as a gift? This orange wine, aged in amphora, is produced in the Jurançon region of southwestern France. The white grapes are left to macerate for 21 days, imparting colour, richness and complexity to the wine. This wine’s slightly tannic character lends itself perfectly to food pairings (braised poultry with spices, veal chop with golden chanterelles, pumpkin parmentier, etc.).
Sauternes Premier Grand Cru Classé – Château Rieussec 2019
€110 per bottle (750 ml)
The Rothschild family has gone off the beaten track with a deliberately unconventional bottle for this sweet wine, which should be enjoyed from an early age to fully appreciate its intensity and energy. This Sauternes, delicious as an aperitif, bears the signature of the new generation at the head of Château Lafite with panache.
Tawny Port 10-Year-Old Quinta da Gaivosa
€23.90 per bottle (750 ml) or €21.51 per bottle when buying 2
This Port is the result of a traditional method. It is a blend of the best wines from the Quinta region, combining some 30 indigenous grape varieties, aged in oak casks for around a decade. Perfect for complementing blue cheeses or chocolate desserts at the end of a meal.
iDealwine Festive cases (wooden case)
An exclusive new iDealwine wooden case: a gift box containing three or six exceptional bottles. Champagnes. These are perfect for anyone just getting into wine or for person in your life who likes wine but you never know what to get them. There are seven options to choose from:
- A case of three non-vintage Champagnes
- A case of three non-vintage Champagnes
- A case of three red Burgundies
- A case of three white Burgundies
- A case of three white Bordeaux
- A case of three red Bordeaux
- A case of six red Bordeaux
Rhum Zacapa 23-Year-Old Solera
€64
This solera-aged Guatemalan rum bursting with flavours and aromas comes in a stylish box. Produced from first-press sugar cane juice, it stands out from other rums made from molasses. Perfect at the end of a meal with a rum baba, or simply savoured on its own.
Whisky Johnnie Walker Blue Label – with 2 glasses
€190
A unique contemplative nectar from one of the world’s most famous whisky brands, tinged with complex hints of spice, vanilla and smoke. A superb classic for Scotch whisky devotees.
iDealwine tailor-made services
Need more ideas? Not quite sure what your family and friends like? Then let them choose the wine of their dreams! With just a few clicks, the iDealwine e-gift card entitles them to a voucher they can spend on anything they wish on the iDealwine website. All you have to do is determine the amount you’d like to gift them, and the lucky recipients will do the rest.
Need advice or looking for something special such as a unique and personalised gift?
Whether you’re looking for a business gift or a way to spoil your family and friends, don’t hesitate to contact our team to help you find THE bottle that will make all the difference. We’ll design a personalised gift box with you, help you find that special anniversary vintage, unearth a gargantuan format, or even put together a whole cellar for the lucky recipient of your generosity.
Just get in touch, and our team of enthusiasts will be delighted to help you with this made-to-measure service.
By email: info@idealwine.com or by phone +33 (0)1 56 05 86 10
Everyone at iDealwine wishes you a very happy festive season!
