The Christmas season is approaching, and with it comes the time to close another year by gathering with our loved ones, family, and friends to share quality time, laughter, and cherished memories around a good meal. In this way, the Christmas table becomes a symbol of unity, where the aromas of dishes prepared with the best ingredient (love) and wine contribute to creating that warm and welcoming atmosphere that characterizes the meals and dinners of this season.

At Bodegas Enrique Mendoza, we wanted to prepare this humble Christmas gift for you: a guide with practical tips and answers to the most common dilemmas that arise around wine and its tasting during this very special time of year.

1. Which wine to choose to surprise your guests

First question: What wine should I buy? Choosing the right wine is a key factor when it comes to surprising your guests and achieving a perfect pairing with the dishes that will make up the Christmas menu.

Far from overwhelming you with lessons on pairings (a topic on which you can discover countless combinations by reading our post post about it), Next, we recommend the best wines from our winery so that, depending on the tastes of your guests, your menu, or your budget, you can choose the one that best suits you:

• White wine: If you’re serving fish, poultry, or salads, a good white wine is the best option. Our EM Chardonnay (young or barrel-fermented) or EM La Tremenda Blanco are a safe bet to start your Christmas meal or dinner.
• Red wine: The harmony and elegance of our EM Las Quebradas, EM Santa Rosa o EM Estrecho will enhance the flavors of your red meat, pork, or lamb dishes to the highest level. On the other hand, if you prefer a more versatile wine, we recommend trying our EM Finca Xaconero.
• Rosé wine: For those who prefer the freshness and lightness of a rosé, don’t hesitate to choose our EM Rosado Monastrell to brighten up your gathering.
• Sweet wine:Of course, we can’t forget dessert! That moment when, with our stomachs full, we begin to share the first anecdotes, tell the first jokes, toast to health for the coming year, and, above all, fondly remember those who are no longer with us at the table… To sweeten this special moment, nothing better than our EM Moscatel de la Marina and EM Dolç Mendoza.

In our online shop You can find them at a very competitive price and have them delivered conveniently to your home.

2. How many bottles of wine should I buy?

Second question: How many bottles of wine should I buy? Of course, no one wants to run out of wine in the middle of the meal or dinner and have to make excuses to their guests…

At these events, the drink is important, but it should be kept in mind that, as a general rule, different wines will be served throughout the meal or dinner. In general, the calculation is to buy one bottle of each type for every four people, if a white wine will be served first, followed by a red wine, and the evening will end with a sweet or sparkling wine. If your plan is to add another wine to the menu, the ideal would be to reduce this proportion to one bottle for every 6 guests.

However, this calculation can vary depending on numerous factors: the duration of the event, the dishes on the menu, the personal preferences of your guests, the number of people who don’t drink wine, etc.

3. Wine at the ideal temperature

Next question: At what temperature should I serve the wine? The answer is simple and can be found on numerous specialized websites, wine blogs, and even on the labels of many bottles. In general, it is recommended to serve red wine between 16-18°C, while white wine and sparkling wine are best served between 6-8°C. For rosé wines, the ideal temperature usually falls between 6-10°C.

However, during this time of year, other questions about wine temperature tend to arise. And, with fridges usually full, putting several bottles of wine in the refrigerator can be quite a hassle… So, How do I chill the wine to serve it at the ideal temperature? And what if, by chance, the number of guests changes and I need to chill a couple of bottles quickly?

Our advice is to take advantage of the outdoors (patio, terrace, etc.), considering the outside temperatures, or use a bucket with cold water, ice, and a good handful of salt to submerge the entire bottle. This way, the cold will be evenly distributed throughout the liquid, and you’ll chill your bottle in about 15 minutes. The freezer is also a good option, and much more convenient in our opinion. Wrap your bottle in damp paper before putting it in, and in just 10 minutes, you’ll have your wine cold and ready to serve.

4. When to Serve the Wine

Some of the most frequently asked questions: When should I start opening the bottles? Should I let the wine breathe? Should I decant it or not?

Letting the wine breathe, an action commonly known as ‘letting it breathe,’ consists of exposing the wine to oxygen for a certain period of time before drinking it. This process allows the aromas of the wine to be released, which is especially recommended in cases where the bottles have been stored for a long time, as they might then have an uninspiring wine. In these cases, we refer to the wine as ‘closed.

The oxygenation of wine can be achieved in two ways: decanting, which means pouring the wine into a vessel called a decanter, allowing for intense oxygenation during the process of the liquid falling into the wide glass container; or simply opening the bottle, a method that obviously results in slower oxygenation.

Our practical advice for these meals or dinners where, as the host, you’ll have a thousand things on your mind, is to open the bottles directly at the table. It may happen that robust red wines are “closed” and need oxygenation. In this case, we recommend having a decanter on hand to help oxygenate the wine.

5. Choosing the ideal glasses

We come to the following question: What are the ideal glasses for serving wine?

In this case, if you already have enough glasses in your dishware, our advice is not to spend too much time or effort on this detail. What’s important is that the glasses are clean, free of odors (which are common after being stored for a long time on a wooden shelf), and ready to raise a toast for the best wishes during the evening.

However, if you want to take advantage of organizing this Christmas meal or dinner to renew your dishware, the purists would recommend the following glasses for the different types of wines:

• Red wine: Glasses with a larger bowl and a wider opening to allow the wine to breathe and release its aromas.
• White wine: Glasses with a smaller bowl and narrower opening to preserve freshness and concentrate the aromas.
• Sparkling wine: Flute glasses or glasses with a narrower shape to preserve the bubbles and highlight the flavors.
• Sweet wine: Smaller glasses, as they are served in smaller portions.

Although honestly, we prefer the versatility that a Bordeaux-style glass gives us. Our choice that never fails: Riedel, perfect for any still, fortified, sparkling, or sweet wine.

6. Be careful with the coork

No, we’re not referring to the trajectory of the cork from your sparkling wines during the evening; but rather to a question that all wine enthusiasts have asked themselves at some point: What if the cork breaks?

The first reaction, let’s be honest, is to panic a little… Especially during these times when you’ve probably been saving a special bottle for the occasion. But, once the initial shock is over, it’s time to find a solution!

In these cases, a plate corkscrew will be your best ally to gently and slowly extract the cork stuck in the neck of the bottle. However, if you only have a regular corkscrew, we offer two options: on one hand, you can try to remove the part of the cork that is stuck with another corkscrew, carefully twisting it and pulling the cork all at once, instead of continuing to twist. If this doesn’t work, then the only option left is to push the cork in and let it fall inside the bottle…

Although it’s not the ideal scenario, all is not lost! The important thing at this point is to use a fine mesh strainer to filter the wine and remove any cork particles. If there are some fine particles that manage to pass through the strainer, you can solve this by using a very fine cloth over a funnel and filtering it again that way.

7. What to do if you don’t finish the bottle

We know this advice will be very useful to you, not only for Christmas but for any gathering where the meal ends, but not the wine. Once again, the solution will depend on the type of wine.

For white or rosé wines, our advice is to store the open bottles in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days to preserve their aromas and nuances. We also recommend keeping open red wines in the fridge. Although their temperature will drop below the ideal for consumption, the cold is the best ally for preserving them as it prevents oxidation. Our recommendation is to consume your red wine within 3 days of opening the bottle.

Finally, sparkling wines are a bit special. The time they can be stored once opened depends on how long it takes for them to lose their effervescence. In short, if there are bubbles, there is joy. Our advice for sealing them properly is to use a sparkling wine stopper.

8. Wine stains… Don’t panic!

During these special times, we don’t want anything to ruin our evening. But we’re sure that everyone has a Christmas anecdote where a little wine spill has ended up staining a guest’s outfit with a recognizable Bordeaux color…

The first thing to do in this situation is to stay calm. It’s just a wine stain, nothing that can’t be fixed! Our best advice is, once the stain has dried, to treat it using some of the countless home remedies for these cases: cold or sparkling water, salt, or even, if possible, applying a mild stain remover to the fabric.

However, our most important recommendation in these cases is: don’t rub the stain! This can make the situation worse and spread it even further.

Our recommendation from experience is: “Red wine stains can be removed with white wine.”.

9. How to leave the “wine expert” relative speechless.

We can all agree on this: no Christmas table is complete without the brother-in-law, uncle, cousin… the “expert” in the world of wine. It’s true that many of you might be, or have very close, someone who is true wine experts. If that’s the case, we encourage you to learn from them during these gatherings and dive deeper into the fascinating world of wine!

Next, we leave you with some quick tips to impress your wine expert relatives… and also those who are experts at claiming they’re experts!

• Unique wine selection: If you know their preferences, you can choose one of their favorite wines exclusively for them. Another interesting option could be to surprise them with a unique local wine from the area, which in many cases may be unknown to them.
• A great story behind a great wine: Research the history behind some of the wines you serve, such as Santa Rosa, a wine inspired by love to our mother.
• Blind tasting: Organize a small blind tasting where all the guests participate and test their tasting skills, guessing the variety, region, etc.
• Personalized glasses: Taking advantage of Secret Santa, Santa Claus, or the Three Kings, gift personalized wine glasses and encourage them to use them during the meal or dinner.

10. Relax and enjoy your evening

Finally, but undoubtedly the most important: Relax and enjoy the evening!

Our wish for these holidays is that all guests, including the (usually stressed) organizer, relax and can enjoy your favorite wine creating new and happy memories with your loved ones.