Is Prosecco good for Christmas?
The short answer
Prosecco can be a lovely Christmas welcome drink, toast or gift for someone who enjoys sparkling wine. Choose the style for the people and food, rather than expecting one bottle to cover every course. Christmas already asks enough of the oven; the wine can have a simpler job.
Answered by Michael Goldstein · Founder, Bella Principessa
Updated on
The full answer
Prosecco can be a lovely Christmas welcome drink, toast or gift for someone who enjoys sparkling wine. Choose the style for the people and food, rather than expecting one bottle to cover every course. Christmas already asks enough of the oven; the wine can have a simpler job.
Christmas lunch has a timetable, even if nobody has written it down. The potatoes need the oven. Someone is asking when to arrive. A pudding has claimed a shelf in the fridge until further notice.
Give the wine a specific part to play. A welcome drink, a toast or a gift is a manageable decision. Finding one bottle that must suit every dish and every person is a much less useful assignment.
Decide when you want to pour it
If Prosecco is the welcome drink, choose for the people arriving and the food you will offer with it. Bella Principessa white Prosecco DOC Brut and DOC Rosé Brut provide two expressions to consider.
For a toast, plan a defined pour and count the people who want it. There is no need to open all the bottles at once just because they have gathered in the kitchen.
Let the food have some say
The finished dish matters. Salt, acidity, fat, sweetness and chili can change how you perceive the wine. Our Prosecco food pairings guide offers practical starting points.
Do not give rosé the dessert course solely because pink looks festive. A very sweet pudding can make a dry wine seem different alongside it. Try the combination you intend to serve rather than relying on a seasonal rule.
A thoughtful welcome includes a choice
Have water and an alcohol-free option ready and easy to request. You can make both feel considered. Guests should be able to choose a drink without having to explain their evening to the room.
Keep the wine chilled and open bottles as needed. That leaves fewer half-finished bottles to deal with when lunch is over and the kitchen has moved on to its next negotiation.
See serving Prosecco at Christmas for preparation and bottles of Prosecco per guest for the arithmetic. If the bottle is a present rather than part of lunch, our Prosecco gifting guide covers choosing it for the recipient.
Source
WSET food and wine pairing principles.
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