christmas day
Friday, December 25, 2009
We gave up on turkey this year – well it just doesn’t go well with my choice of wine!!. It was a seafood Christmas, and it turned out to be very relaxing. It was well into the afternoon before the drinks were served which was quite an achievement. It started this year with a small glass of sherry, a dry amontillado and it soon became quite a few small glasses but who’s counting (oh yes, I am! – I think I can work it out from what’s left in the bottle).
With the meal, I served an Alsace Riesling from Paul Zinck. Superb. I have a special fondness for Alsace – it was the place where I started to fall in love with wine and it is such a fascinating blend of French and German – yet somehow greater than the sum.
The break with tradition ended after the main course. Christmas pudding, of course, is renowned as a great accompaniment to fine wine. We managed to polish off a bottle of the delicious 2001 Recioto della Valpolicella with multiple helpings of pudding. And once we moved on the Christmas cake any thought of a healthy seafood Christmas were fading fast. But I suppose I did drink a lot of anti-oxidant.