Next Sunday, if you have a guest who is adamant they want to drink red wine throughout the meal, it can be done — even if you have shellfish or smoked salmon starters.
You will need the lightest of low-tannin reds, though, and that means gamay in the form of a fleurie or a delicate Italian such as a bardolino, a nerello mascalese or, my recent surprise find, Tesco Finest Frappato (€12) from Sicily, which worked well in my taste tests. Serving the smoked salmon with bread and cream cheese ameliorates the red-wine metallic clash, but adding salt and lemon juice to your food will make any wine work.
Like the whites featured last week, these reds will suit the smoked salmon and transition well to the turkey. If you follow the classic guidelines of food and wine matching, which dictate you match weight and intensity of flavour of the food and wine, then turkey must count as a light- to mid-weight food. Its mixture of white and brown meat will work well with the wines mentioned above.
But hang on, what else is on the plate? You will certainly have stuffing of some sort, probably sausage meat and chestnut, and pigs in blankets. There will be a pile of vegetables, cranberry and bread sauce, and gravy. This makes the meal more mid-weight than lightweight and that means a wider range of reds come into play.
In my own experience, and in wine books and on websites I respect, the best reds for a classic turkey dinner are moderately rich and fruity, and low on tannin. With that advice, the world is your oyster.
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Many people like to open a special bottle on the big day but I always advise against bordeaux as it is often too tannic. However, it won’t be if mellowed over time or if it has a higher merlot than cabernet content, such as right-bank wines like saint-émilion and pomerol. So maybe this is the day you open that bottle of expensive, aged claret that you’ve been saving.
Elsewhere in France, red burgundy fits the bill as do the neighbouring wines of Beaujolais such as fleurie and morgon, plus the hipsters’ favourite reds from the Jura. From Italy, barolo would be too tannic but barbera or dolcetto from Piedmont would be fine. In Chianti, as with Bordeaux, finer, older and mellower ones would match well. The best matches probably come from the south and Sicily. Primitivo works, as does Sicily’s delicate nerello mascalese.
Spanish reds are mellow almost by definition, and hard, youthful tannins are rare. I would be wary, though, of the more macho Priorat or Ribera del Duero wines as they tend to be a bit more full-on than most. Rioja reserva or Bierzo’s mencia would probably be my choices.
My favourite pocket-sized food and wine guide says Australian shiraz is a great match for the turkey dinner. I would steer clear of a Barossa behemoth, though, and find something more subtle from cooler-climate parts of Australia. Across the trench, New Zealand’s strong suit in reds is pinot noir at a range of prices, while Oregon and California make world-class, if expensive, pinot noirs.
South Africa has some great pinot noirs from Hemel en Aarde and increasingly fabulous shiraz from Swartland. The obvious choice from Argentina is the invariably smooth malbec while Chile has wonderful and affordable pinot noir and syrah.
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If you are going with goose this year you have some great choices. It is more strongly flavoured than turkey and much fattier, so fuller-flavoured reds with a bit of acidity or bite work well. Many of the reds mentioned earlier work but choose fuller-flavoured versions, so make that rioja a gran reserve or the pinot noir a premier cru burgundy. Goose also means beasts such as barolo or younger bordeaux can be opened too.
Keeping with the red theme, make sure you have a bottle of decent port for later in the day to enjoy with some blue cheese, nuts and chocolate.
Martin recommends
Chateau Tour Baladoz 2005, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, €25; SuperValu
Excellent plum and cherry fruit is joined by an age-derived savoury note and just enough tannin to give focus.
90/100
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Sancerre Rouge au Bois de L’Epine 2015, €21; Marks & Spencer
Elegant and cherry-scented with no oak, so light enough for salmon but full enough for turkey. 90/100
Exquisite Collection Fleurie 2015, €9.99; Aldi
Last year is the best beaujolais vintage in decades so wines at every price level are full of attractive, fresh raspberry-like fruit.
89/100
Paolo Caciorgna Etna Rosso ‘Guardoilvento’, €25.50; Mitchells, Sheridans
Oh, that burgundy at this price had such beautiful wild strawberry scents and tingling freshness as this Sicilian nerello mascalese.
90/100
Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2013, NSW, Australia, €27.75-€32.95; lecaveau.ie, drinkstore.ie, Mitchells
Redefine your view of shiraz with this elegant, fresh beauty grown at altitude near Canberra. 93/100
Seguin-Manuel Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru ‘Laviers’ 2014, €37; O’Briens
Lots of cherry and raspberry fruit but with enough structure and acidity to tackle brown turkey meat or fatty goose.
92/100