Christmas Eve · twelve at the table
Wine for Christmas Eve dinner: twelve at the table, six bottles, and the right ones
The evening of the 24th for twelve is the meal of the year and the smallest volume of the year: six to eight bottles. It isn't a wine merchant's order, and this page says so straight away. What it offers is the exact count, the wine for each dish, and the list of what to ask your wine shop for.
The count for twelve
Set for 12 guests, a one-hour aperitif and dinner, 80% drinkers. The calculator shows 10 bottles and says so itself: at this volume, you don't need a wine merchant. It rounds each colour up to the full bottle; the tight count, dish by dish, is below.
The real count, dish by dish
Twelve guests, ten who drink. The aperitif takes two flutes per drinker, dinner three glasses: five glasses per person, fifty glasses, eight bottles counting generously, six if the table is restrained. By dish:
| Moment | Wine | Bottles |
|---|---|---|
| Aperitif | Champagne, or crémant | 2 |
| Foie gras, oysters | Sauternes or Loupiac in half-bottles, or a dry white Graves | 1 to 2 |
| Capon, turkey, game | Médoc or Saint-Émilion, 6 to 12 years old | 2 to 3 |
| Cheese | Finish the red | — |
| Yule log | The remaining sparkling, or the Sauternes | 1 |
The page which wine with the Christmas menu details each pairing, and the family Christmas page builds the menu with the wine for each course.
The verdict
You don't need us
Eight bottles is a trip to your wine shop in the week of 15 December, with this page on your phone. A wine merchant becomes useful from about twenty bottles, when the sliding-scale price and delivery make up for the effort; for eight, delivery would cost the price of a bottle and December lead times are uncertain.
There are two exceptions. If there are forty of you on Christmas Eve, or you combine Christmas and New Year in a single order, the count goes over twenty bottles and a quote makes sense. And if you want an old bottle for the table, from a birth or wedding year, that is a separate search: the page which wine to give and the birth-year vintage page cover it. On the 31st, the midnight flute is added to dinner: the New Year's Eve page redoes the count for twenty.
What to ask the wine shop for
- A red ready to drink, not to keep. A Médoc or Saint-Émilion 6 to 12 years old, opened an hour before. The young vintage the shop is promoting will be harsh with the capon.
- A Sauternes in half-bottles. Twelve guests drink one glass each with the foie gras: 37.5 cl is enough, two if you have it again with the Yule log.
- The sparkling chilled at the shop. Many wine shops have a fridge cabinet: ask for the bottles cold at noon on the 24th, and you won't have to think about it again.
- A price, not a brand. Give a budget per bottle, €12 to €25 for the red, and let them choose from what they know. No château is named here for the same reason.
How many bottles of wine for a Christmas Eve dinner for 12 people?
Six to eight, all colours together: two sparkling, one or two white or sweet, two or three red, one for dessert. Ten drinkers out of twelve, five glasses each. The calculator shows ten because it rounds each colour up to the full bottle and adds a margin.
Should you go through a wine merchant for Christmas wine?
Not for twelve at the table. A wine merchant is useful from about twenty bottles, or for an old vintage you can't find in shops. For eight bottles, your wine shop is better placed: advice, bottles chilled, no delivery delay in December.
What wine budget for a Christmas Eve dinner for twelve?
€120 to €250 for eight bottles of good Bordeaux with champagne for the aperitif; €80 to €120 with crémant and a red at €12. It is the meal of the year: the time to go up a notch on the main-course red, not on the sparkling.
What to drink with capon and foie gras?
With foie gras, a Sauternes or a Loupiac in half-bottles, or a dry white Graves if the table prefers. With capon, a mature Médoc or Saint-Émilion, served at 17 °C, opened an hour before. The detail is on the Christmas menu page.
Are there more of you, or are you combining Christmas and New Year? The general calculator redoes the count for your numbers, and from twenty bottles a quote makes sense.