Family Christmas with Nederburg
Family Christmas with Nederburg
The Boney M is blaring out in malls, the holly and the ivy are festooned in every shop window and all I can think about is Christmas. For most people, Christmas is a time for families and I’m certainly no exception, even though most of my family is approximately 11,000km away in the chilly UK. If they were here, they would no doubt be gathered around a braai, all talking their heads off at the same time, all eating far too much of my mom’s delicious food and all with a glass of their favourite wine in hand – a different one for each person. Wine makes a fabulous gift for anyone, the key is to make sure you match the right bottle to the right person so here’s what would work for my family – perhaps it will work for yours as well!!
Holding the family together, as always, is my mother. Normally her Christmas Day begins early – she’s up with the larks to get the turkey in the oven, do the veggies, prep the puddings and all before 9am so she can go to church. By the time that’s done, she’s definitely earned her glass of fizz before she heads back into the kitchen for last minute cooking and Nederburg Premiere Cuvee Brut would fit the bill to perfection with its frothy bubbles, and clean lemony freshness – a celebratory glass for the most important person to celebrate with on Christmas Day.
My uncle has worn the same Christmas jumper with a reindeer knitted on the front for as long as I can remember. He’s also told the same terrible Christmas joke for so long, that the entire family now choruses the punchline with him and every year, he looks amazed that we knew the answer (How did Darth Vader know what Luke Skywalker got for Christmas? He felt his presents). But what would Christmas be without these traditions? A sadder occasion that’s for sure, so I would reward my uncle with a glass of everyone’s traditional favourite red – the Nederburg Baronne. Soft, juicy, ripe and fruity – it’s a genuine crowd-pleaser, even if you can’t say the same about the jokes!
Of course, not everyone always wants to stick around family at Christmas and that certainly includes my cousin! His aim in life is to travel as fast and far as he possibly can so we don’t always manage to pin him down to a family affair but when we do, I’d serve him the Nederburg Heritage Heroes Young Airhawk Sauvignon Blanc. This is a racy, spritzy, lively little number with plenty of get-up and go and it has a tiny tweak of oak which makes it a little unusual and far more interesting than your everyday Sauvvie – just like my cousin in fact!
My sister also yearns for something more exotic than a family braai at Christmas but in her case, she’s all about the bright lights, big cities and her dream is to spend the festive season in New York or London. If we can persuade her to go the family route, her reward would be a glass of the elegant, sophisticated Nederburg Ingenuity White. I love this wine with its layers and layers of flavour, complex and subtle, mysterious and alluring – it’s like a Chanel dress in a glass, and if anything could tempt my sister to forgo the bright lights, this would be the wine.
What would Christmas be without a few generations of your family joining you round the table? It’s always a special day when my Grandma comes round – even if she is prone to falling asleep after dinner then waking up to vehemently deny that she even closed her eyes! I’d give her a glass of the delicious Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest to sip on whilst she puts the family to rights because it’s so like her – a combination of sweet, perfumed, soft ripe fruit balanced by a feisty acidity which keeps it fresh and young. Happy Christmas Grandma and may you be around for many more Christmases to come!
** Please note this article has been commissioned by Nederburg Wines **