Magnificent magnums – the ideal centrepiece for your Christmas Table
Posted by Laura on 10 Dec 2013
Magnificent magnums – the ideal centrepiece for your Christmas Table
Angela Mount
It’s Christmas time, and it’s the season to celebrate, indulge, and gather friends and family around the table – and that table is special. Bedecked with crisp linen or gold cloth, with candles, floral centerpieces, and all manner of impressive decorations, the table is at the very heart of the Christmas Day feast.
The ideal centrepiece for your Christmas Table, magnums of wonderful wine work so perfectly – call it showmanship, call it indulgence, they just look so damn good on the dining room table.
So why buy them?
You only have to open one bottle rather than two (A Magnum is the equivalent to two bottles of wine). Wine in magnums age more slowly than wine in bottles, due to the wine to oxygen ratio. It’s a simple law of physics; bigger bottles, more liquid, less air. This is one of the reasons why wines in magnum stay fresher and younger for longer. Taste the same wine, or champagne from a standard bottle and a magnum, bottled at the same time, and they will show great differences!
The team at Great Western Wine like to add to the excitement and effect of Christmas Day, which is why they’ve managed to get hold of prize bottles from some of the favourite wine producers on the list. It’s an impressive collection, with something for everyone.
There is simply no better way to impress your family and guests than bringing out a heavyweight, elegant magnum of Champagne or sparkling wine. This year, there’s;
Champagne Taittinger, Brut Réserve NV – a chardonnay based blend with a delicate elegance
Or why not have a patriotic Christmas and serve the stunning and mulit-award winning Ridgeview Millenium Blanc de Blancs 2000, with its glorious, lively complex style.
There are also 2 top notch Italian sparklers taking to the catwalk, the stylish,Chardonnay thoroughbred that is Ferrari Perle Blanc 2006
And the showily-dressed, but fantastic value Prosecco, Extra Dry FIOL, with its gentle, white flower and peach flavours.
For a white wine in magnum, seek out Chablis Premier Cru, Montee de Tonerre 2011; it’s a classic choice for Christmas and this 2011, with its complex layers of flavours , is at its peak.
Red wines are where magnums really come into their own, and it’s fascinating to see how different the wine tastes compared to the same vintage in bottle. The Great Western wine magnum list includes some very impressive older vintages, that you’d struggle to get your hands on in bottle these days, but truly showcase the quality and ageing potential of these great wines, with their youthful hue and style.
Classics include the smooth, sumptuous Rioja, Marques de Riscal Reserva 2008, and its even loftier sibling, the velvety, Rioja, Marques de Riscal Gran Reserva 2005, tasting smooth and polished.
Gilles Robin Crozes Hermitage 2005 is another classic, with its dense, brooding, black fruit spiced flavours, again, just coming into its own, due to the larger bottle size.
Lovers of top notch Italian reds, the Conterno Fantino, Barolo, Sori Ginestra 2009, is an aristocratic masterpiece, full of entrancing violet, and black fruit flavours, with a concentrated, yet silky soft texture.
There are also a couple of much loved, quirky reds available too at cracking prices.
Planeta Santa Cecilia 2008, a riot of densely sweet blackberry fruit and mocha spice, with attractive, dense richness, from the Nero d’Avola grape, one of this top Sicilian producer’s flagship wines.
And finally, from one of Spain’s newest and most exciting producers Franck Massard, there’s the ridiculously good value Massard Humilitat Priorat 2011, packed with dense, rich, black fruits and a velvety- textured concentration.
If you haven’t ventured into magnum territory before, this is a good time to start; whether you’re buying to drink this Christmas, or to hide away for a year or two. The elegant, sleek feel and look of these superstars, the ‘wow’ effect on the guests, and most of all the glorious delights inside the bottle, are well worth it… and as many lovers of wine in magnums know, there’s simply the unexplainable ‘feelgood’ factor as well!
Happy Christmas.
10th December 2013