[In song] On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a serious red to drink with turkey!
If you’re looking for tradition and nostalgia this Christmas then Claret (aka red Bordeaux) is the serve of choice with your Turkey. Luckily though a taste of the past doesn’t have to mean chewy, watery, leathery claret like it used to be. No, luckily châteaux like Cantin have made great strides to blend the traditional with modern wine tastes and their Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2009* is the perfect composition of the two.
It’s every bit as good as a Grand Cru from Saint-Emilion should be but unless you know the château and the quality of the vintage then they can be tricky to determine whether they’re to your taste or in fact whether they’re ready to drink. This one is earthy, with charcoal, dried herbs and some floral notes too. The palate is rich, and fruit forward in a New World sort of way, with chocolate cherry cake and spiced plums on a mouthful that’s Old World in complexity on the finish.
So you see, you can get the best of both worlds. You just have to be prepared to pay for it!
* Available at Waitrose, £23.99
