Holiday Wines
Some pairing and gift suggestions
One of the highlights of this year for me has been the release of the book, En Accord, which I wrote with my bf and bff, Jean Aubry. The book is called En Accord, and it’s in French. Will it be translated to English? Well, I guess that all depends how well it does in French! Jean and I live together, which means we do a lot of eating and drinking together and we get to taste a lot of different dishes with different wines. Jean has a substack called Du Vin dans l’Encrier, in French, and he just posted his lists of recommended wines for the holidays. I asked him if he’d share his list with y beloved Substack readers and he agreed! So here you grand if you read French have a look at Jean’s substack, and there’s still plenty of time to order our book for a fabulous Christmas gift — even better with one of his recommended wines. Or how about a gift subscription to my Substack?
Now take it away Jean! (this is translated from his French text)
Family meals or friendly gatherings are often ceremonial affairs, ceremonies hopefully orchestrated to perfection, where everyone finds their place between the niece and the brother-in-law or the canapés and dessert.
The ritual has barely changed over the centuries. Remember the 1987 film Babette’s Feast, where actress Stéphane Audran, playing the former chef of a prestigious Paris restaurant, decides to cook for a dozen Lutheran guests in Denmark during the rather austere and moribund late 19th century? The lady succeeds so well in sharing her world that throughout the progression of the meal and the emancipation of everyone’s moods, an elevation of the soul emerges, reaching its apex in enhanced human fraternity. A ray of light on a planet that, in 2025, remains too often obscured by a distressing lack of empathy, respect, and generosity.
This year, Lesley Chesterman and I published En Accord, a gourmet guide with 36 recipes, 12 grape varieties, anecdotes, and friendly debates. We enjoyed the process of writing the book with the intention of inviting readers to our table to share what has become for us a necessary routine where good wine meets beautiful food—without fuss or ceremony, yet somehow aiming for the same heights Babette bestowed upon her guests.
Here are some suggested beverages to achieve this sort of culinary nirvana.
Finally, as we like to emphasize every year without an ounce of morality: the upcoming festivities should always encourage you to take to the couch — rather than the wheel — post boozy meal.
(In brackets you will see the price, the SAQ reference code, the suggested ageing potential, followed by Jean’s star rating)
Apéro!
Shrimp cocktail, oysters, snow crab, cheese straws, chips...
Sumarroca Brut Nature Gran Reserva Cava, Spain ($20.85 – 13408929 – (5) ***)
Els Vinyerons Pregadéu Cava, Spain – NATURE – ($24.10 - 15441440 – (5) ***1/2)
L’Orpailleur Brut, Quebec ($31.50 - 12685625 – (5) ***)
Domaine Baud Génération 9, Brut S - Crémant du Jura, France, Jura – ORGANIC - ($34.75 - 12100316 – (5) ***1/2)
Juve y Camps Reserva 2020, Cava, Spain – ORGANIC – ($37.75 - 14462994 – (5+) ***1/2)
Ca’Del Bosco, Cuvée Prestige, Franciacorta Extra Brut, Italy, Lombardy – ORGANIC - ($48 -11008024 – (5+) ****)
Champagne Nominé Renard Brut Blanc de Blancs, France ($61.75 - 15226926 – (5) ***1/2) and, for $10 less, Nominé Renard Brut ($51.75 - 15223021 – (5) ***)
Louis Roederer, Collection 243 Brut, France, Champagne, France ($98.75 - 268771 – (5+) ****)
Starters
Smoked salmon or trout, consommé, sushi, quiche…
