You know what, you can keep your turkey and sprouts on Christmas day!  Leave me with a nice piece of smoked salmon, some fine, local wheaten bread and butter and a good bottle of Champagne and I am a very happy girl.

Smoked salmon is a great food for wine matching. Needless to say it doesn’t really work with red wines but white wine and dry sparkling wines are nearly always winners. With white wine Burgundy is excellent – so you can go Chablis, Macon or Puligny Montrachet according to your taste and budget and each should prove a great pairing. Other successful whites are on the minerally rather than the aromatic spectrum so think Sancerre or even Albarino rather than New Zealand Sauvignon or Gewurztraminer. Riesling can work but choose something dry like the Pikes Clare Valley or the Donnhof Dry.

If, like me, you love some bubbles with your smoked salmon the main rule is to choose something dry with high acidity to cut through the oiliness of the salmon. I would suggest that the more artisan your smoked salmon, the more complex should be your wine – so if you have pushed the boat out and gone for  wild Irish artisan smoked salmon then you really should push it out a bit more and go for a great Champagne such as the Louis Roederer Brut Premier or the Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve. After all, Christmas only comes but once a year!

Billecart Salmon Nv 

Bottle Price: £35.99 / €53.50 Offer Price: £29.95 / €42.95 

Roederer Brut Nv

Bottle Price: £41.99 / €NA Offer Price: £34.95 / €NA