Wines that add sparkle

Our wine champion ViVAS - the joint venture between 3663 and Bibendum - has offered the Sell More, Save More pubs a series of ideas for food and wine matching in the run-up to the festive season. Here's what its experts had to say::

For health conscious: ​

Salmon filled with lemon cous cous matched with Spy Valley Riesling - Salmon is quite a strong flavour and the flesh has a residual oily texture which means that you need a wine which is able to cut through this and has enough flavour to stand up to the salmon. The Spy Valley Riesling is the perfect wine to match with this as it has lovely fruit flavours of citrus, peach and apricot coupled with an underlying backbone of acidity to cut through the oily salmon flesh.

For the traditional turkey:​

Turkey & trimmings matched with Thomas Mitchell Chardonnay or Bourgogne Pinot Noir- The traditional match for Turkey is always a white wine and usually a chardonnay but there is always an option at looking at a light red wine as the slightly stronger flavour profile can stand up to these sort of wines. If you are after a chardonnay then why not try the Thomas Mitchell Chardonnay. The lightly oaked style and the generous tropical fruits match well with this festive classic or if you do fancy a red then why not try the Bourgogne Pinot Noir which has sweet red fruit flavours and soft juicy tannins

For something a bit different:​

Duck and Monterra Pinot Noir - duck although technically a red meat has a much more delicate texture and flavour than its more masculine red meat cousins, so you need to look for a lighter style of wine that doesn't overpower the sweet and rich flavours, so a Pinot Noir is an obvious match. California is the perfect hunting ground for such a light but sweeter style Pinot with plenty of sun ripened red and black cherry fruit flavours

For vegetarians:​

Mediterranean vegetables & dolcelatta tart matched with Furious Boar Old Vine Zinfandel - The cheese in this tart is pretty punchy so you need to look for a wine that has the cohunes to stand up and go toe to toe with it! The Furious Boar Old Vine Zinfandel has the weight and experience to take this on with sweet blackberry fruit, soft tannins and a lovely bit of spice.

For dessert:​

Caramel Cheese Cake matched with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise - A good cheesecake is very much a blank canvas until it is combined with a flavour like this and Caramel certainly demands a strong partner. This Muscat from the Rhone region of France has the residual sugar to match the sweet caramel flavour and has enough acidity to be able to cut through the firm texture. It has lovely floral flavours of apricot and peach and has a length that just keeps on going.