8 festive wine pairing tips and sips from German winemakers Dörte and Meike Näkel

It’s no secret that the Germans excel at Christmas. Any search for the world’s best Christmas markets will land you in Germany. Here, we sit down with one of Germany’s most famous red wine pioneers to chat festive family dinners, and how to pair some of the most famous Christmas foods with wine. Following an early Christmas wine pairing dinner at Bangkok’s Restaurant Sühring, we asked Dörte and Meike Näkel of Weingut Meyer-Näkel to share their tips and sips.

In 1950, Willbald Näkel opened the Weingut Meyer-Näkel in Dernau, with only 1.5 hectares of vineyards. At the time, German wines (even red wines) were traditionally sweet, a characteristic that aligned well with the German post-war zeitgeist, but also underpinned the style of winemaking at the time. Willbald Näkel would soon change this with the introduction of dry wines, and when his son and self-taught winemaker Werner Näkel took the helms in 1982, a whole new style of German Pinot Noir was established. By the end of the 1980s, Werner Näkel was known as one of the most important personalities in German winemaking.

Today, the family vineyards take over more than 20 hectares of space in the Ahr wine region. Werner Näkel has passed the baton to his two daughters, Dörte and Meike Näkel, and the Weingut Meyer-Näkel stands proud as a German winery that is well-established and well-known for its Pinot Noirs. Elegant yet straight-forward, these red wines are characterised by a fruitiness on the one hand, and a sense of herbaceous spice and mineralogy on the other. Together, they make for a wonderful occasion wine.

Following an early Christmas wine pairing dinner at Bangkok’s renowned Sühring restaurant, we asked Dörte and Meike Näkel to inspire us with their choice of festive wines for the season, as well as a few wine pairing tips and sips. Below, find out how to pair 6 classic Christmas dishes (and two bonus German Christmas dishes).

How to pair wine with festive foods this season, according to German winemakers Dörte and Meike Näkel of Weingut Meyer-Näkel

Oysters

Champagne or sparkling wine, such as a German Sekt, goes well with oysters. Fresh and raw, they make a fabulous starter and stimulate the appetite wonderfully when combined with a sparkling wine.

Roast turkey

We prefer to combine this with Pinot Noir. This grape variety always goes well when the meat has been slowly braised and has roasted flavours. An unbeatable combination, we have Pinot Noirs such as our Kräuterberg or Sonnenberg wines.

Christmas ham

A beautiful Chardonnay from Napa or Burgundy will pair nicely with this traditional dish. A strong white wine goes well with this traditional dish. Perhaps a mature Riesling or a Chardonnay.

Fruitcake

This dish contains a lot of sweetness and intense, dried fruit flavours. A matured German Riesling with just the right balance between acidity and sweetness will be perfect.

Gingerbread cookies

A strong, dry red wine matches very well here, as it enhances the flavour of the gingerbread. If you prefer it sweeter, you can also serve port wine.

Cheeseboard

The combination of wine and cheese has a long tradition and cannot be answered in general terms. It depends on the type of cheese. Strong, mature blue cheeses go well with very sweet wines, e.g. port or Vin Doux Naturel, while soft cheeses go well with a dry Riesling or Pinot Gris. Hard cheeses go well with Pinot Noir or stronger varieties such as Cabernet or Tempranillo. Cheese and wine is a science in itself.

Bonus: What to pair with German Christmas foods, like roast goose or stollen

Very personal: mature Pinot Noir with goose and a Gewürztraminer Auslese with stollen.

This story first appeared on Prestige Online Thailand, and has been edited for length and content.