Wine and food: think outside the Xmas box

If ever there was an opportunity to sell a food and wine matching menu, then Christmas lunch is it. Not because you'll get fantastic pairings - Christmas lunch

probably has more clashing flavours than

any other meal - but because people don't want to have to think about it. They're far too busy having a good time and they'll always push the boat out at Christmas.

So what to drink? I tried Pimm's new Winter Cup the other day. Brandy-based and served warm with apple juice it's not a bad way to start things off, though I'd prefer a sherry. And no, sherry is not old-fashioned - not even cream sherry. Served over ice (I like Harvey's), with a big slice of orange, it's delicious and festive.

For those customers who don't have such a sweet tooth, think about the drier styles of sherry, which need a deserved push but

still offer that trademark yuletide nuttiness, such as dry Oloroso or Amontillado (both

are also great for getting the appetite going).

Sweet is no match for pudding

Now to starters. There are two wine roads you can take here: something to go with the standard Christmas entrée of smoked salmon, or something to accompany the meat, by which I mean a glorious plate of charcuterie, which is an increasingly popular alternative to the salmon for Christmas lunch.

I may very well take the second road this year (I can never have enough meat, and Christmas ain't Christmas unless I overindulge). In that case I'm looking at a red: most whites just won't cut it with charcuterie, though if you do want to go there, then something intensely aromatic such as Riesling would work well. But I'm thinking light to medium-bodied reds. The aim is to take the weight of the wine up a notch with each course and as I'm going to suggest reds with the bird then a lighter style of red with the starter is just fine.

Fatty foods need acidic wines

As we're talking salami and the rest, I'm thinking of something from France and Italy because you need more than just ripe fruit, you need acidity to cut through all that fat.

Dolcetta d'Alba from the Piedmont is always good with cold meats; so is a decent Valpolicella. And if you want bubbles, you could even go for a traditional red Lambrusco.

From France, look at Beaujolais (stick to the crus for Christmas), and reds from the Loire.For those of you taking the smoked salmon route, there are a number of options as long as the smoke is not too heavy. I've already mentioned Riesling and a Spätlese that's not too cloying works incredibly well as does dry sherry. I'm thinking Fino and Manzanilla.

Here's something a bit more unusual for you, a Grüner Veltliner from Austria - the hottest white grape in wine-savvy restaurants.

For the bird, I'm sticking with red. It's a strongly-flavoured meat at the best of times and I've tried quite a few reds with my turkey over the years. I've had good matches with Rioja and pushed the boat out with top Burgundy (both red and white, actually) or a New World Pinot (I enjoyed South African producer Bouchard Finlayson's Galpin Peak Pinot with my bird last year), and Aussie Shiraz can even cope with the evil Brussels sprouts.

I've tried so many sweet wines with Christmas pudding and most struggle to stand up. Those that do match its intense, sticky flavours, such as Aussie liqueur Muscat and PX sherry,

usually finish me off completely. Though my favourites to date are Hungarian Tokaji and Passito di Pantelleria from Italy.

But what would the country's top food and wine matching expert Fiona Beckett suggest you serve for Christmas lunch? "People who are up for anything the rest of the year seem to regress at Christmas and only seem to want the food and drink they were brought up on. In wine terms that generally means French.

"Given the variable quality of so much Bordeaux and Burgundy my choice with turkey is the Rhône - a good Côtes du Rhône Villages is hard to beat or, trading up a bit, something like a Gigondas. Other alternatives would be a gutsy new-wave red from the Languedoc - remember it's not just the turkey you're matching but the cranberry sauce and all those flavourful trimmings."

She adds: "If you're serving a starter I'd go for a modest White Burgundy like a Mâcon-Villages or a southern French Chardonnay, which would also take those drinkers who prefer white through to the turkey. And a glass of fizz to kick off never goes amiss. Pour a splash of sloe gin in the bottom of the glass for a festive kir." If you get stuck you can contact her at www.foodandwinematching.co.uk