Christmas Libations | Get Merry With These Christmas Tipples

The festive season is in full swing and these are the best Christmas drinks you need to see you through

Before we all go cold (or tepid) turkey in the new year, now is the time to indulge in a few festive drinks. Mulled wine and champagne might come to mind when you think of seasonal booze, but this year we wanted to look a little outside the box for a buzz. Whether you feel like going all-out with an outré festive tipple, keeping things classic with a modernised-but-familiar fave or want winning wines to see you through all that eating, here are our recommendations. (Christmas) Cheers!


Black Lines Oatnog

Black Lines have reimagined the classic Christmas treat with a vegan twist. Taking the egg (and dairy) out of eggnog, their signature Oatnog is fast becoming a new festive staple. It’s made with golden rum, oat milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla for a spiced, buttery finish and be served cold over ice or warmed. And with every bottle sold, Black Lines will be donating three meals to Londoners through The Felix Project. Spread the Christmas cheer in more ways than one.

blacklinesdrinks.com

These Days Bucks Spritz

If you like to start your Christmas Day (and any day during the holidays) with a Bucks Fizz, then you need a bottle of this Bucks Spritz from spritz specialists These Days. The traditional fizz has been swapped for orange wine – how 2023 – blended with white wine, bitters, freshly squeezed Natoora orange juice and soda, for juicier, modern take on the classic cocktail.

thesedaysdrinks.com

Famille Hugel, Pinot Gris Grand Cru Sporen ‘Grossi Laüe’ 2015

For Libby Brodie, of wine consultancy Bacchus & Brodie, this Pinot Gris from Famille Hugel is a must for the festive season. She says, “As soon as I tasted this I knew it was my Christmas Eve wine. Classic without being boring. Sophisticated without any snobbery. It is fresh and delicately joyful yet beautifully balanced by a complex richness. I am a huge fan of the quality, value and range The Wine Society offers and this is another exceptional example of what they do so well.”

thewinesociety.com

The Society’s Chinon 2022

This Cabernet Franc is a big Christmas fave for wine writer Hannah Crosbie and happily, it’s under a tenner a bottle so you can stock up easily. Hannah says, “It pairs so well with so much festive fare, from pigs in blankets through to turkey sandwiches, and serving it lightly chilled keeps you chipper and refreshing through the digestive marathon that is the festive season.”

thewinesociety.com

Wiston Estate Blanc de Noirs

It’s not Christmas without some fizz but if you don’t want to go down the traditional champagne route, these English sparkling wines – one award-winning Blanc de Noirs Brut and one Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut – from Wiston Estate in West Sussex are a worthy alternative. And they come in a gift box in case you’re feeling generous enough to pass them on rather than pop the bottles yourself.

wistonestate.com

Shop Cuvée Mulled Wine

If you don’t to be stood over a vat of cheap plonk you’re trying to make drinkable by chucking a load of spices in it, get someone else to do the mulling for you. Shop Cuvée have done all the work, slowly infusing a young Rioja and Sicilian white wine blend with clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, honey, frankincense, orange and lemon peel – all you have to do is heat it up.

shopcuvee.com

Domaine Bousquet Gran Malbec

There’s no better time for a glass of red than during winter, and we recommend getting your hands on this bold and complex, but smooth, bottle from Domaine Bousquet for your festivities. With notes of blackberry, damson, pepper, chocolate and spice, this one’ll go perfectly with that post-Christmas lunch cheese board.

vintageroots.co.uk

Bruno Paillard “Dosage Zero” Champagne

If you like your Champagne extra Brut, this cuvée from celebrated maison Bruno Paillard should be top of your list. It’s a multi vintage, ‘Dosage Zero’ Champagne which, as the name suggests, has no added sugar. So, it’s very dry, though still full of fruit, and creamy – we reckon it’d make for an ideal Christmas day aperitif.

wanderlustwine.co.uk

Akashi-Tai Sparkling Junmai Ginjo Sake

Fancy something a bit different on the fizz front this year? This sparkling sake from Akashi-Tai is just the thing. The sake has been bottle fermented to create natural bubbles, with the fruity notes of banana, peach, citrus and melon making it a great one for some pre-Christmas dinner toasts.

thewhiskyexchange.com

Showerings Cider

Switch up your booze pairings for your Christmas meal this year by opting for a Showerings cider, made with Somerset apples, instead of wine. The luxury triple vintage cider has enough complexity and bittersweetness to stand up to a range of festive flavours – it’d go particularly well with a honey-glazed ham – whilst still being refreshing.

showeringscider.co.uk

 La Trucha Albariño

With fruity notes of apricot, peach and pineapple, nice minerality and more richness than you’d usually find in an Albariño, La Trucha (from the Rias Baixas region of Spain) is a great bottle to have on standby during the festive season, especially if you’ve been overdoing it on sweet fizz.

jeroboams.co.uk

Champagne Castelnau Brut

This Champagne from Castelnau, a house with over a hundred years of history, offers great value for money, which is something not to be sniffed at this time of year. Made with a higher proportion of Chardonnay grapes, it’s rich and aromatic whilst also being refined and sophisticated. Get some in for Christmas and stash a couple of bottles away for New Year.

thewinesociety.com

Taylor’s LBV Port

There’s only one bottle to reach for when the Christmas cheese board comes out and that’s Taylor’s Port. The Late Bottled Vintage, produced from a single year and then aged for a further four to six in wood, has plenty of body to stand up to a range of fromage yet it’s also fruity enough to match with dark choc and desserts.

waitrose.com

Glenmorangie A Tale of Tokyo

Whisky lovers won’t want to miss out on this limited-edition bottle from Glenmorangie. Not only is the single malt whisky full of festive flavours like orange zest, almond, bitter cherries and marzipan, its ageing in Japanese Mizunara oak as well as bourbon and sherry casks imbues it with notes of incense and sweet oak. And it comes in a beaut box if you do decide to gift it.

glenmorangie.com

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