First thing in the morning we head to my mother's place for breakfast. We are taking the eggs of course, courtesy of our bantam hens that free range in the back yard.

Then sometime late morning we will make the trip south, just 35-minutes if the motorway traffic permits, to join Neil's family for lunch. This time we are taking the wine and my name is also down for the potato salad, the melon and feta salad and the traditional Pavlova.

After about an hour of pre-feasting, a couple of hours of dedicated feasting and then an hour of post-feasting, Neil will definitely be ready to sleep it off.

But he probably won't have time to because we are heading back over the Bridge (i.e. the Auckland Harbour Bridge) for the next appointment at my sisters' place for drinks then dinner. The menu is hot ham and new season's Jersey Bennie potatoes dug out of the ground in Oamaru (near Dunedin in the South Island) just a couple of days ago. I'm taking the spuds and lots of parsley to garnish them with after they have been boiled for just the right time and smeared with butter.

I'm also taking all the ingredients for my soon to be famous melon cocktails that starred with Lindauer in my Wine of the Week a couple of weeks back and these will form a delicious drinkable entrée. Lindauer ($7.95 on special this week), is of course the wine of choice for this dish.

"There's a spare bed in the upstairs room at the girls' place so you'll be able to disappear there for a snooze", I said. "In fact I think we should plan on staying he night so we better pack the 'jarmies too".

One of the problems with the feasting that happens at Christmas is that we want to drink nice wines to accompany the food and we have to think about drinking and driving, or more correctly drinking and not driving.

So what do we want to drink on Christmas Day? Christmas is a time of generosity so there should be no skimping the pennies when it comes to the wine.

No doubt some of us will have our first tipple in church, a sip of communion wine as we remember what Christmas is all about. But for many others Champagne or a sparkling wine will start the day.

Looking around the shops the best Champagne buy seems to be Piper Heidseck Champagne Brut NV ($49.95 on special), a gold medal winner at the recent Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition and beautifully packaged with a red label, that makes it so Christmassy looking. This is a beautifully fresh wine with freshly baked brioche-like aromas and though at first dryish to the taste it becomes quite creamy with a white honey wheaty influence, just a touch of sweetness on the finish and a nuance of strawberry as it lingers.

Also with a red label No. 1 Family Estate's Cuvée Number Eight ($29.95) from Marlborough but with a Champagne connection as that is where the wine's winemaker, Daniel Le Brun, hails from. This light straw wine froths aplenty as it is poured then when the froth subsides you can smell the bready aromas and taste the flavours that are reminiscent of delicate stone fruit, citrus and brioche. It's a classy drop.

Also extremely classy is Cloudy Bay Pelorus 2000 ($42) with a slightly pink stain to its golden straw hue. It is a dry style that is ripe and full with an earthy bready backbone, a rich yeasty aftertaste and a lingering fruit sweetness reminiscent of strawberry and stonefruit.

With elevenses out of the way, it is time to put drinks on the table for lunch and Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir are my table wines of choice.

Chardonnay is essential because deep down everyone really loves it, they know what to expect and it goes with so many foods, especially foods like ham, turkey and crayfish that grace the table on Christmas Day.

There are so many good chardonnays to choose from and I can’t list them all here, but a quick regional round-up sees some likely contenders.

Pride of the north is Kumeu River Maté's Chardonnay ($47) and the vintage I'd most like to drink is the 2002. It is a very complete wine that tastes just delicious.

If you can find a bottle of the multi-gold medal and trophy winning Villa Maria Single Vineyard Keltern Chardonnay 2002 ($35), you will be drinking one of the best chardonnays to ever come out of Hawkes Bay. It is a beautiful creamy wine with a long full finish.

Also highly recommended from Hawkes Bay is Sacred Hill Rifleman's Chardonnay 2002 ($35), a trophy winner at Easter that has developed to perfection over the last few months, and Te Awa Chardonnay 2002 ($29) a flavoursome wine full of sweet ripe fruit and spicy oak flavours.

Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2003 ($38) from Martinborough is a beautifully crafted combination of fruit, oak and wild yeasts and is already delicious. It is possibly the best yet from this distinguished producer.

Also from Martinborough is the Palliser Estate Chardonnay 2003 ($28). Hot out of the winery, it has mealy, leesy, full barrel-ferment aromas with a characteristic grapefruit nuance and tropical fruit, the leesy barrel ferment flavours fill the palate with spicy vanillin oak and buttery citrus leading to a full, toasty, mellow and savoury finish. This rounded Chardonnay will have broad appeal.

Top pick from Marlborough is the Selaks Founders Reserve Chardonnay 2003 ($27), a seamless wine with ripe fruit, toasty oak and a creamy texture while it is hard to pass by the Wither Hills Chardonnay 2003 ($29), a full-bodied toasty chardonnay with creamy oak, rich fruit, caramel and spice.

You may have some of the exquisite Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay 2003 ($48) in your cellar but I would leave the current vintage there and open one that is a year or two older. Otherwise look for the Neudorf Nelson Chardonnay 2003 ($26), the second label of this respected South Island producer, it tastes almost as good and is reasonably available, so is definitely a contender for Christmas Day.

Pegasus Bay Waipara Chardonnay 2003 ($33) is a big, concentrated, full-bodied, buttery style that really needs food and the richer the food the better. Christmas food is perfect.

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2001 ($32) from Central Otago is coming into its own with just a little bottle development to add complexity. Full-bodied, rich and spicy with apricot and citrus and then a kick of polished oak, this mouthfilling wine has heaps going for it.

Riesling is great because you can choose a low alcohol Germanic style to give the driver a sense of responsibility, or a higher alcohol typically New Zealand, fruity style. Riesling is also the best wine to go with ham, especially if the wine is off-dry. I reckon it is the sweet and sour factor, the sweetness of the Riesling's fruit as well as Riesling's natural acidity that combines so well with the saltiness of the ham.

If you have Riesling in your cellar, perhaps it is time to pull out one with a little age on it. I'd go for something like Felton Road Central Otago Dry Riesling 1999 , Pegasus Bay Waipara Riesling 2000 (10.5% alcohol) or Dry River Craighall Riesling 2001. Actually the latter is the one I would most like to open.

For something new, I recommend the Daniel Schuster Waipara Riesling 2004 ($19.95) and with just 9% alcohol by volume this is the one for the responsible driver. There's plenty of sweet citrussy fruit and slightly muscatty flavours that are well balanced to the grape acidity and the texture is heading towards viscous. I'd want this wine to be served extremely well chilled.

Also delicious is the Seifried Winemakers Collection Nelson Riesling 2003, an Alsace look-alike with power and flavour. Beautifully balanced with lime, honey, beeswax and apricot, this harmonious , almost late harvest style is luscious in its sweetness with plenty of power and alcoholic weight, a dryish finish and lingering flavours of candied peel.

Pinot Noir is what we do so well and I just love a good Pinot Noir with turkey and roasted cherries on Christmas Day. The typical turkey accompaniment of cranberry sauce is also a winner with Pinot Noir.

Top pick this year is from Martinborough, the wines from the 2003 vintage look so good. Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2003 ($60) is delectable as always while Martinborough Vineyards Pinot Noir 2003 ($60) is always one of the benchmark wines. These are two wines for dinner but I think I’d like something a little lighter for lunch and so I'm picking Michelle Richardon's new wine, the Richardson Pinot Noir 2003 ($50), from Central Otago. It's not so much lighter, but so beautifully balanced with lovely vinosity and delicious strawberry and cherry-like fruit that makes it so easy and approachable. I know everyone will just love it.

Happy Christmas and drive safely, better still don’t drive at all if you are drinking.

Cheers!

© Sue Courtney
24th November 2004.