Welcome to our first edition of 12 Wines of Christmas. In this series we’re going to explore 12 wines that we think you should be drinking this Christmas. We’ll tell you why we have chosen it, the food pairings we recommend and a little bit more info on the winery/region.

So, without further ado and in no particular order, let’s introduce #1 in the 12 wines of Christmas!

WHAT IS WELCOMBE HILLS PINOT NOIR PRÉCOCE?

This wine is a fantastic bottle, made by Kieron Atkinson, founder of The English Wine Project. The English Wine Project aims to champion and support, promote and develop English and Welsh wine. The grapes were harvested from Welcombe Hills vineyard in Warwickshire, a well drained, south facing vineyard. These factors actually make it one of the most successful northerly vineyards in the world.

HOW DOES IT TASTE?

The 2014 Pinot Noir/Precose is a light red wine with vibrant red cherry aromas, however moderate bottle ageing has helped the wine develop slightly darker notes and given the wine more texture and maturity. There’s a lovely bout of acidity to this wine, common in most Pinot Noir, which makes it refreshing and well balanced.

WHAT IS PINOT NOIR PRÉCOCE?

Précoce is an early ripening strain of Pinot Noir. This makes it agreeable for cooler climate areas, such as England. Basically, only certain grapes are able to fully ripen in cool climate areas because of factors like lack of sun/lack of heat and although traditional Pinot Noir is best suited to these climates, the Précoce variety enables winemakers in the coolest of cool climate areas produce wine.

WHAT SHOULD I PAIR WELCOMBE HILLS PINOT NOIR PRÉCOCE WITH?

Christmas Turkey.

When it comes to Christmas dinner, wine pairings can be a bit difficult. This is because there’s an array of flavours and textures on the table. With this in mind, we would recommend something that’s high in acidity and low in tannin. The reason why we recommend this is because something high in tannin can overpower many of the items on the table, especially turkey. Turkey is a light meat which if not cooked properly can dry out, so you don’t want something with dry/bitter tannins ruining it.

The acidity in Welcombe Hills Pinot Noir Précoce will help accentuate the subtle flavours in the turkey, will compliment the sweetness of cranberry sauce and stand up to the salty/fatty pigs in blankets. It really is a winner!

WHERE CAN I BUY WELCOMBE HILLS PINOT NOIR PRÉCOCE?

I’m glad you asked. The 2014 Welcombe Hills is actually very rare and we are one of the only (possibly the only) retailers to still have some. It’s available in store or online for a very reasonable price of £15.99.

(10 left at the time of writing)

THANKS FOR READING OUR FIRST EDITION OF THE 12 WINES OF CHRISTMAS

We hope you enjoyed it and got a bit excited about English wine!

Lightfoot Wines is an independent wine merchant est 1989. We aim to provide you with products and a level of service not seen in regular shops. We believe that wine should be enjoyed by everyone, feel free to ask us your wine related questions and we will provide you with an answer.