Jonah’s wine expert gives his top tips for Christmas drinks and food

ONE of Sydney’s top wine experts, sommelier Luke Collard from Jonah’s at Whale Beach, offers up some advice on what you should drink with your Christmas meal — and what not to drink.

Jonah’s sommelier Luke Collard with a selection of wines from Jonah's cellar. Picture: Martin Lange

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WILL you be drinking white with seafood and red with turkey this Christmas?

Jonah’s sommelier Luke Collard, who oversees more than 6000 wines in the boutique hotel’s cellar, has done the hard work and matched festive food with wine.

Mr Collard suggests that a good all-rounder works with a range of seafood. Choose a good sparkling, and aromatic whites like pinot grigio, vermentino, or good old sauvignon blanc.

Seafood is expensive, so don’t ruin with a cheap wine, he said.

Christmas tip: Don’t ruin expensive seafood with a cheap bottle of wine, says sommelier Luke Collard. .

If you like pinot grigio or prosecco, buy Italian from the Veneto region, or Australian from the King Valley in Victoria. His choice is Pizzini, for a well-priced drop.

A good quality Clare riesling is a winner in the mid-priced range.

For something different, vermentino from the Gallura region of Sardinia, or albariño from Galicia in northwest Spain.

If you want to splash out, it has to be champagne, he said.

Bollinger special cuvée, or Bollinger rosé, which retails for around $130, will be drunk in the Collard home on Christmas Day.

Talking Christmas turkey Mr Collard said he is not a shiraz fan. Many are too heavy, and they don’t work in the hot weather, he said.

Don’t pair a traditional turkey with a heavy red like shiraz, pick a pinot noir instead.

“It is better to drink something red that doesn’t have too much tannin, so I’m going for a good pinot noir from Otago in NZ, or the Mornington Peninsula,” he said.

One inexpensive alternative is barbera, a Piedmontese variety that is now doing well in Australia.

If you do fancy a pinot noir you’ll have to pay for it, he said.

“There’s no such thing as cheap pinot noir unfortunately,” he said.

“Decent wines start at about $20, if you shop around.”

For a top quality pinot choose one from Cental Otago or Martinborough in NZ, but expect to pay $40 and upwards.

Sommelier Luke Collard at work in the wine cellar at Jonah’s. Picture: Martin Lange

Dessert lovers have several options, depending on the dessert, he said.

Something light, fruity and a little sparkling, like a moscato d’Asti from Piemonte — but not Asti Spumante — is an ideal match for a fruit-topped pavlova. Brachetto d’Acqui, the pale red version is heaven with strawberries, he said.

If your lunch finishes with traditional Christmas pudding or something rich like custard or caramel, you’ll need something more robust.

Options include something with botrytis, such as a “noble” semillon or riesling, or a fortified muscat with Christmas pudding.

“Muscats are superb wines and are one of Australia’s gifts to the wine world,” he said.

“And they taste like Christmas pudding in a glass.”

Champagne or a quality prosecco is perfect for Christmas.