Bottles under €20 for budget-friendly Christmas cheer

This week, a range of drinks to enjoy with your festive feast, all costing under €20, in keeping with a more modest approach to Christmas expenditure. A glass of sparkling wine will always create a sense of anticipation and excitement. The Santa Tresa rosé featured here is a delightful wine and a superior alternative to prosecco. Do serve a few canapés or nibbles of some sort as sparkling wine is absorbed much more quickly into the system than still wine is. If you have guests who aren’t drinking, the Thomson and Scott non-alcoholic wine can be enjoyed before and during your festive feast.

If you prefer white wines, I recommend going for a richer style, one with sufficient fruit and power to stand up to turkey and more importantly the powerful trimmings. I would usually drink white wine with cauliflower dishes, so with Lilly Higgins’s cauliflower en croute, the same white wines will cover both options. The white wines here will also go very well with seafood starters. You could also consider a semillon, chenin blanc or chardonnay (including really good white burgundy), an oaky white rioja or a rich southern Rhône.

When it comes to red wine, many Irish consumers go unerringly for a rioja reserva to drink alongside their turkey. This is not a bad choice. Gráinne O’Keefe’s recipe today uses the turkey leg, which has much more flavour than the white meat, so don’t be afraid to go for something with a bit of power, such as a smooth, rich Australian grenache, southern Rhône or Spanish garnacha.

If you prefer lighter wines a fruit-filled beaujolais would do nicely. However, I usually find myself choosing a good red burgundy. If you prefer New World pinot, the O’Briens Viña Leyda Las Brisas pinot noir is very well-priced at €15.95. Another bargain I came across recently is the unoaked organic rioja joven (€15) from Marypawlewine.com.

If you are on a tight budget, the Aldi roussanne (€8.99) or the Alsace Jean Cornelius riesling (€9.99 from Lidl) will keep white wine drinkers happy. For a red wine, Dunnes has the Visan côtes du Rhône (€10.12) and Aldi the lighter Specially Selected fleurie (€9.99).

If you have a craft beer drinker at the table, serve a full-bodied IPA with your turkey, or the featured Mescan Westport Extra. A saison or lighter IPA would go nicely with cauliflower and roast root vegetables. Another option is craft cider, which matches very well with a wide variety of foods, including turkey.

To finish on a sweet note, Aldi has a their LBV Port for €14.99 which would go nicely with Christmas pudding, as would the San Felice vin santo (€17.95 half bottle) from O’Briens.