Ordering takeaway for a Christmas gathering? Meet the top wines to pair with your Christmas party spread…
A guest blog from our friends at Virgin Wines
We’ve teamed up with the wine experts over at Virgin Wines to get your festive season off to a flying start. We’ve launched an exciting new partnership to help you make the most of your takeaway treats – and to help you get to grips with your grapes, they’ve written this blog for us and paired their top wines with your favourite festive treats…
If you’re planning a get together with family, friends or colleagues this Christmas then no doubt you’ll be starting to think about what to serve your guests. In this blog we’re going to look at a few delicious options and we’ll be recommending some wines to really bring out the best of both.
Indian starters
First up is a collection of Indian starters. All the favourites are a go here – samosas, bhajis, chicken pakoras, sheek kebabas and of course some tikka skewers will all work with the following wine choice perfectly.
Viognier was going to take the wine world by storm like Pinot Grigio did some time back, but it’s never quite happened. I think it’s quite obvious why not, Viognier has a lot of flavour and can be quite overpowering, and on the whole not an easy drinker. Therefore it often needs powerful foods to partner with it and the spice of Indian cuisine is ideal. Hope Springs Viognier is a fruit-laden South African white with apricot, peach, white flowers and a lovely fleshy texture that will pair up with these fragrant treats perfectly.
Pizza
Pizza is in the top three of takeaway choices which makes it the obvious selection for a party spread. It’s easy to share, tasty and all-round crowd pleaser. The only issues you might face are choosing which toppings to go for and then picking a wine that will work with the myriad of options out there. Well it actually doesn’t need to be that difficult. You’d normally order both a vegetarian and a meat option to keep everyone happy. The one thing that all pizzas have in common is a tomato sauce, so it’s best to choose a wine that will cut through that.
With the veggie pizza go for Vitalita Pinot Grigio from the cool hills of Veneto as it will slice the tomato sauce in two and won’t overpower the lovely onions, peppers and mushrooms. With the meat pizza the juicy black fruit of the 16 Little Black Pigs Shiraz Cabernet will work with pepperoni, salami and bbq chicken perfectly.
Turkish Meze
When you get a group of you together for a party there’s something fantastic about having a load of different little plates out. Picking away at them over the course of an evening with a glass or two of wine takes some beating. The wide variety of dishes you can choose from in a classic Turkish meze means you’ll need to pick a wine that can handle all sorts of herbs and spices.
We recommend the La Mechita Familia Zuccardi Malbec because there’s plenty of fruit and oak for the bigger dishes, and crunchy fresh berry characters that will mean your bread and dips can join the party too.
Don’t just take our word for it, try it for yourself. These wines are included in the 12 bottle Just Eat mixed case which is now 50% off – just £49.99 + P&P. Handpicked by the Virgin Wines buying team exclusively for Just Eat customers, this case includes some of their top-rated customer favourites, and boasts a huge £70. Plus you’ll receive £10 to spend on your favourite dishes too.
Order your case here or or call 0343 224 1001 and quote code VA2889.
Meet the team...
These wines were brought to you by Andrew Baker, Dave Robert and Alex Davies – Wine Buying experts at Virgin Wines. What a great bunch…
