Advice on picking wines for Chrismas Diner

Hi, first a short introduction as this is my first post; Daniel, live in the Netherlands and now on a wine shopping spree after favoring craft beers. My “collection” is non existing, I was just buying wine according to what I like (or what the store had on offer :wink:), could get and what is on supper that evening, so therefore this post to get some idea’s on the wine I will serve.

At Christmas well have my inlaws for diner. The backbone of the diner will be a standing rib roast which will get nothing more than a touch of salt and pepper with some rosemary and garlic cloves stuffed into it. Only if I understood right what I red about serving such a roast you should not get a tannin rich wine, there is quite some fat in the meat which will “coat” your mouth, drinking tannine rich wine will spoil the taste. Some suggested a at least 8 to 10 year old Bordeaux style wine.

The main course wine dilemma will be the side dishes. The beef roast will be served with roast potatoes with Provençal herbs, sauté brussels sprouts with a hint of smoked paprika and chestnut mushrooms. So to me earthy and sweeter (the sprouts) flavors overall… Would these choices or any side dish change your pick of wine? Or is the backbone of your meal the factor you will pick your wine? Personally I would try to match the entire palette to the wine, but maybe I’m unrealistic.

The entrée will be a parsnip and apple soup garnished with some blue cheesed croutons. Again earthy flavors with some sweet tones from the apple and “fungy” from the cheese. I guess this will be a fatty chardonnay, but I suppose I could be wrong again!

Thanks for your time ready my Christmas dinner rand and recommendations!

In no particular order, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese…

Honestly, you have prepared such a red wine friendly meal that it is difficult to go wrong. While people argue Syrah/N. Rhone vs. Cabernet/Bordeaux as the best match for lamb (I’m in the latter camp) I don’t think anyone would claim that the other wasn’t a superb choice or that a multitude of other reds couldn’t work really well.

The soup is harder. Not sure what, if anything, I’d recommend. Blue cheese makes it complicated.

Edited: I somehow misread rib roast as rack of lamb. I don’t see how that’s possible but I did it. Nonetheless, my opinion stands :slight_smile:

As above - pretty much any medium to fuller bodied red wine will go nicely with a standing rib roast. Beef is friendly. Just make sure it has some acid to work alongside the fat. I would choose something that is not too intellectual, and will be easily enjoyed without fuss - to me, that means medium age, balanced and without hard edges. Sides are always more difficult, and you won’t find one wine that is the perfect foil for all of them, so just choose something you are going to love drinking and that has good balance, not too much of any one element.

I wouldn’t try to pair anything with the soup. Wine with soup is weird to me in the first place, and those flavors are going to be tough. Choose something you feel like drinking or keep going with whatever you were drinking before dinner started and don’t worry too much about it.

Don’t over think it - the meal sounds delicious, I trust your wine will be, too.

I would go with champagne to start (richer, grand marque or bdn), krug mv ~163 would be perfect.

I’d go with southern Rhône for the meat course; 2016 beaucastel or 2017 Clos des papes would be good if you’re buying current releases.

So we had a wonderfull diner. Prime Rib was delicious, nice fatty and tender. Prepared it low and slow and reverse seared it in the oven with a “wet” rub of corse mustard, a lot of garlic and rosemary. I ended up with a '07 ‘Selectus’ Finca los Abijes, recommended and ordered online. I thought of was a great match and suited my expectations nicely, besides I thought of was a bargain for 13 euro’s! Theres also a topic on this wine on the forum.

The soup was great, but wine with it was meh… the wine disappeared with the flavour of the soup , while I had a glass prior to diner and it was great…

Thanks for all the advise!