by Lily Malone

Lily’s bringing the Christmas spirits (and wine)

When it comes to Christmas, the first thing I say is: “I’ll bring the wine!” The family is happy with that (they’ve had enough of my turkey disasters.) It helps that my extended family Christmas feasts in recent years have been in both the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills in South Australia, and in Margaret River (WA), three of the great wine regions of our wide brown land. I have a lot of great wine to choose from!

So if you were to invite me for Christmas, this is what I would bring:

Seppelts Sparkling Shiraz: Yes! Red bubbles! Sparkling Shiraz on Christmas morning is such a wonderful treat. Red sparkling wine is big in South Australia. I discovered it there and it’s a Christmas Day tradition I’ve brought home to Margaret River.

The Seppelts is a favourite but I also like Shingleback ‘Black Bubbles’ and if my royalty cheque had just come in (or I’d won Lotto) I’d bring a bottle of Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz.

So with the red bubbles merrily popping in our system, it’s on to the lovely crisp whites with lunch. Turkey, ham and pork all cry out for white wine, plus the Aussie Christmas is usually so hot that red wine at lunch would put everyone to sleep. What’s that? You’re asleep already? Wake up, Nanna, I’m talking about wine!

This year I’ll be bringing Fermoy Estate wines to the Christmas table. Fermoy is an up and coming winery in Margaret River (and my hubby works there). I love their Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc (SSB for those in the know), and their Chardonnay is yummy too. All their whites are good.

Every year I also pull out another Rockford classic. It is my favourite rose wine and is lovely with ham and pork. It’s called Rockford Alicante Bouschet. Pronounced Ali can’t booshay. (Try saying that after a few glasses. It’s impossible to say booshay without dancing).

After dessert and a little bit of ‘feet up and relaxing while everyone else does the dishes (because I’ve worked so hard bring and pour the wine)’ a nice sparkling white might be called for. Yarra Burn Vintage Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier could be just the ticket to finish Christmas with a bang, not a ‘Lordy I’m so full,’ whimper.

Cheers!

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