5 Festive Wines For Christmas Dinner

Christmas meals vary widely from household to household. It's not like Thanksgiving where turkeys are standard operating procedure for lunch or dinner. No matter what food is on your table, I have some drink ideas. Here are 5 festive wines for Christmas Dinner and Wine Wednesday.

My family does Italian for Christmas. It started with my grandmother and has continued now that she is no longer with us. So I'm starting my holiday wine recommendations with two selections from Italy that are versatile enough to go with more than cuisine from that country.

Let's start with bubbles. Sparkling wine should always be on a holiday table in my opinion. Not just because we are celebrating the season, although that is an important reason. But also because the crisp, dry notes and fresh fruit found in bottles like this one are great with salty, fatty foods.

For red wine lovers, I just tried this one with a sausage and pepper sandwich as seen below and man did it hit the spot. It's got great fruit and the right amount of acid to compliment the food.

I love how this bottle looks on a holiday table. It's produced by the famous Baron Pilippe de Rothschild family in Bordeaux, France. They make this one with a more modern approach. It is an easy drinker and fairly easy to find.

This one comes from the historic Biltmore Estates in North Carolina although the grapes were grown in Virginia. Talk about all-American.

Think about adding a dessert wine to your menu this year. This one comes from Ontario. I tend to like these wines with cheese. However, if you are serving a fruit dessert this would work. Also try it with crème Brulé and crème caramel; or panacotta with fruit like pineapple.