How to Find the Ideal Food and Beverage Pairing for Holiday Parties

Around the holidays, everyone is either hosting a party, attending a holiday party, or just having family gatherings, and is looking for the perfect food and beverage match to serve. Finding delicious food and wine pairings - or food and beer pairings - for holiday festivities is not difficult with a little understanding of what aspects of the drinks best complement the food.

Excellent Wine Pairings

Take advantage of the yearly Beaujolis Nouveau release on the third Thursday of the month for holiday wine pours. Beaujolis Nouveau is an easy to drink, slightly fruity red wine that is made through a fast fermentation process of just three weeks. Beaujolis Nouveau complements traditional holiday foods like turkey, grilled meats, and even pumpkin pie. Because of its light body, most drinkers will enjoy Beaujolis Nouveau and hosts will like the price which is typically around $10/bottle.

Serve Pinot Noir with dinner. This varietal gained fame after the 2004 film Sideways, and for good reason. Sophisticated wine drinkers like to say they drink Pinot Noir, but in reality it is a versatile wine for a broad audience and a delicious wine pairing for holiday meals.

Pinot Noir is a food-friendly red wine because of its low tannin levels and higher acidity that serves as a counterbalance for multiple flavors and seasonings. The wine pairs well with stuffing, turkey, herbs and spices, and even pork. However, Pinot Noir is a varietal worth spending a little more per bottle to avoid a highly grapey flavor and $20/bottle such as for Laetitia is a worthy splurge.