Sweet treats and cheese can provide matches made in heaven or completely the opposite if you get them wrong. Here are a couple of go-classic pairings that will elevate your festive hosting game!
Blue cheese with sweet white wine
Salty, blue cheeses like stilton or roquefort have traditionally been matched with sweet reds like Port but actually, a sweet white provides a more zingy, fresher match at the end of a meal or as a course in itself. Look for late harvest wines, ice wines or wines with Noble Rot (botrytis) like Sauternes or Tokaji and you’ll never look back!
In the glass: Castelnau de Suduiraut Sauternes 2014, £12.99 mix 6 price Majestic
On the plate: Paxton & Whitfield Stilton, via Ocado
Chocolate log or pudding with fortified red wine
Chocolate and wine is a notoriously hard pairing as the fat in the chocolate tends to strip out the fruit in wine and leave it tasting metallic. The best way around that, especially with milk chocolate and cakes rather than very dark chocolate, is to go for something richer and sweeter. Port and other fortified red wines are perfect for this. Also, try Banyuls or Maury from France or fortified Malbec that is now coming out of Argentina.
In the glass: Niepoort Ruby Dum Port, £17.25 from The Whisky Exchange
On the plate: Irresistible Yule Log, £5 from Coop
Mince pies or Christmas cake with PX Sherry
For all those spirity, dried fruit and candied peel notes in mince pies and Christmas cake, there is nothing better than a heavier style of sherry. If you prefer it dry and saline, then a darker, Oloroso style is perfect whereas if you like a touch of sweetness (but not the Bristol cream style your nan drinks), look for a PX or Pedro Ximenez. It’s figgy, chocolatey and baking spicy. Yes, that’s a thing.
In the glass: Nectar Pedro Ximenez from Gonzalez Byass from The Whisky Exchange on offer for £15.25.
On the plate: Christmas cake