Wines for Christmas

By S. F. HALLGARTEN 14RISTMAS is an expansive season,

and everything takes on a greater amplitude : colours are brighter, hearts are warmer, food is richer and wine comes into its own as an agent of good will and the companion of good living.

The finer wines of the world, and especially those of France and Germany, are offered today to the connoisseur in England at more advantageous prices than to the wine-drinker in their country of origin. The vineyards of Europe, with the exception of Italy and Spain, have suffered tremendously from the cold of last winter. Under the impact of the much-reduced crop—in quantity and quality—of the 1956 vintage, prices for wines in Germany and France have doubled over the last six months. The English importers and wine merchants are still offering wines of good vintages, such as 1949, 1952 and 1953, at the old prices, having based their prices solely on the purchase price and not on replacement value.

This is a time to rejoice and to drink wine. Not only are most of the present prices in Great Britain reasonably low, but the quality of the wines is most encourag- ingly high.

The host may want to offer one wine only throughout a meal. Champagne has very often been pronounced as the only wine suitable for this. In my frank opinion, champagne is one of those wines which cannot be enjoyed throughout a meal. A dry champagne is the aperitif par excel- lence—a medium dry or even a semi-sweet champagne or sparkling wine is a reviver and helps to bring back life to a tiring company, but is never a good partner to food.

However, there are many wines which can be drunk throughout a meal with satis- faction, but never a sweet wine. A medium dry (white or rosé) wine will serve this purpose. Rose wines are available from many countries and districts (Portugal, Yugoslavia, and from all French districts). My first choice would be the Tavel Rose, a full-bodied and fruity wine.

A greater selection is offered in the range of white wines. In this class I should choose a natural Rhine-wine from the Rheingau (Rauenthaler Baiken, Rildesheimer Berg, Burgweg, Schloss Vollrads, Hallgartener Jungfer) or Rheinhessen (Niersteiner Pet- tenthal)—possibly an estate-bottled `Spaet- lese' wine of the 1952 or 1953 vintage. These wines, with their fruity acidity and fine aroma and bouquet, are always ideal partners to any dish. Another possibility is a wine from Alsace (Riesling or Traminer), or one of the fine white Burgundies, such as Meursault-Perrieres or Batard-Mon- trachet.

Let us not forget that there is also the connoisseur who drinks wines of the same district throughout the meal; for instance, starting with a Sylvaner d'Alsace, up the ladder to the Riesling, and finishing with a Gewuerztraminer Grande Reserve, with its enchanting perfume; or perhaps, start- ing with a dry Berncasteler Riesling, fol- lowed by a Spaetlese or Auslese wine from the Rheingau district (as mentioned above), to finish with the finest of all white wines, such as a Forster Jesuitengarten Trocken- beerenauslese or a Niersteiner Orbel Trockenbeerenauslese. He may choose Burgundies only : Pouilly-Fuisse, Porn- mard or Nuits St. Georges, to finish with a full-bodied, ripe and really great Batard- Montrachet.

In the same way as each dish at a banquet is different from the others, so each wine possesses its own characteristics, due to the kind of grape, way of produc- tion and origin. To serve wines in their true order, one must, therefore, know how to adapt them to the courses of a menu and to 'marry' wine and food. It is important to observe this rule, for, without it, it is impossible to obtain the maximum enjoyment from a meal. While some mar- riages thrive on complete agreement, others are successfully based on a contrast of character. For example, roast turkey is somewhat dry-fleshed, and can be matched with the dryness of a dry white wine or a good claret; or it can be contrasted with the soft fruitiness of a fine red Burgundy. Likewise the richness of a roast goose may be married to a more full-bodied wine: alternatively, the digestion may be eased by 'blending' the richness with a lightish wine of fairly high acidity.

There is an enormous scope for selection. The experts or connoisseurs will always look for natural wines, with finesse and elegance. Too many wine-drinkers look for full and 'fat' wines. One should remember that a really fine red table wine—be it a Bordeaux or a Burgundy—should have no unfermented sugar left, and should under no circumstances be sweet or sweetish; it may, however, have some natural fruitiness or softness.

The wines must be presented in an ascending scale :

(1) Light Sylvaner and Riesling wines are excellent aperitifs—wines with a low alcoholic content which will refresh you and prepare you for your meal, acting as a stimulant to the palate, and, at the same time, will pave the way for the fuller wines to come. These dry and clean light wines are, in any case, better than any cocktail or strong wine, especially before a heavy meal, when a range of wine will be offered. The light sherries, as drunk in Spain, and now also available here, prove to be an exception to this rule.

Alsace (Traminer, Riesling), wines from the Rhine and Moselle.

(3) Dry, good light red wines: Clos Fourte Chateau La Fleur Petrus, Chates Petrus, Château Pichon-Longueville.

(4) Light Burgundies: Beaujolais, Fleuri Volnay.

(5) Full-bodied Burgundies: The *rel wines of the Cdte de Nuits, combinir delicacy and magnificence, such as tk wonderful Vosne Roman& (Malcoi sorts), the Grands Echezeaux, the Richl bourg, or the Nuits St. Georg! (Vaucrains), or from the C8te 6 Beaune, the Volnay Champans, or aCorton.

Corton.

There is often more pleasure to be gaine in drinking a comparatively inexpensis wine at its peak of development, rathi than a potentially finer wine before it really ready. In this respect it is wort remembering that a Beaujolais or Fleur can be enjoyed in a younger vintage than Cote de Beaune wine, while a Chamberti or Vosne Romande will probably nee quite a few years longer in bottle.

Once one has chosen wines for tho Christmas fare, one should see that the are served at the right temperature a preferably in the right glasses. Offer flo white wines at cellar temperature, and oal chill the younger wines and the appetise

With red wines, the decanter is a gra e

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' adjunct to full enjoyment. It prevents th natural sediment coming into the glas where it can cloud the brilliance, rend the taste harsh, and negative the softne of years of maturity. Decanting a younge wine allows it to 'breathe' and develop i bouquet. An old wine needs decanting–" young wine merely benefits from it.

This can become a source of great DO

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Anjou Rosé, or a good Graves or winl from the Loire (Vouvray dry); from

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a 'parlour game.' Do not tell your guests the name and vintage of the wine and do not let them see the labels, but let them guess vintage, country of origin, district. Let them vote on whether they agree with your choice of wine as a partner to the food.

Port has been called the Englishman's wine, and a fine, mature Vintage Port, a Vintage-style Port, or fine Old Tawny will always be enjoyable at the end of a meal. But not everyone—and especially those who are not accustomed to it, can stand a fortified wine with high alcoholic content. To all those I recommend a glass of fine Sauternes (Château Rabaud), or Barsac (Château Climens, or Château Coutet), or a Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese.

With careful ,planning one can triple one's pleasure in wine : first, the prospect of enjoyment, secondly the savouring in actuality, and thirdly, in the years to come, the reminiscence of past pleasures of fine wines well served.