December is THE time for getting friends round and raising a glass.

We make wine pairing recommendations all day long, and cheese is one of the areas we know best. So here's a short guide for an evening of cheese and wine with friends, with our favourite pairings.

Jump to: Welcome fizz · Party wines · The cheeseboard · FAQs

Start the night with a glass of fizz

The right fizz sets the tone, but it helps to know your guests. Some people find the riper, sweeter fruit in Prosecco a bit much, and others find certain Champagnes too toasty, so a safe bet is to land somewhere in the middle. Crémant does that perfectly for me, and Cava is a great option too. A glass on arrival with some nibbles or canapés is the best way to start any celebration, because it lets everyone settle in and catch up. Always in the kitchen, however big or small yours is.

• Palazzi Durello Spumante Brut NV – £10
  Made in Veneto the same way as Prosecco, with a different grape: Durello. Dry and crisp, with apple and lemon. Kate says if you love Prosecco you'll love this, and people often prefer it. Antipasti with cured meats and cheeses suit it.
• Francesc Ricart, Cava Brut NV – £14
  Traditional-method Cava from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, just outside Barcelona. Crisp apple and lemon, a creamy mousse and a lightly biscuity finish. Manchego or a mild goat's cheese work well with it.
• Domaine Landreau, Crémant de Loire Brut NV – £17.50
  An excellent traditional-method fizz from the Loire, with fresh citrus, a touch of toasted hazelnut and soft bubbles. It's a real crowd pleaser, and lovely with the softer cheeseboard classics, such as an ash-rinded goat's cheese or a Camembert.

Browse more in our sparkling wine collection.

Choosing the party wines

For a get-together, go for the crowd pleasers. I'd avoid whites with a little residual sugar or too much oak, and reds that are very light or have big tannins, unless you know exactly what your friends like to drink.

I get asked a lot about serving wine, too. It's tempting to over chill whites, but that can dull the wine, so my advice is don't. Reds shouldn't be served too warm either, because if it's great wine you want it to show its character. Good glasses help, and you'll find a few in our glassware collection.

Whites

• Casa de Vilacetinho, Grande Escolha Vinho Verde 2024/25 – £15
  Spritzy, refreshing Vinho Verde from an estate founded in 1790. Ripe peach, plum and a hint of lemongrass, with a mineral finish. Goat's cheese is a good match.
• Pazo Cilleiro Albariño 2025 – £16
  Albariño from the Galician coast in Rías Baixas. Citrus peel and white peach with a slight salty edge, and a dry, fresh finish. A good one to have open if someone asks for a Sauvignon Blanc.

Reds

• Cantine Pirovano, Beatrice Appassimento Rosso Salento 2024 – £14.50
  From Puglia, made with Malvasia Nera. Kate calls it a hug in a glass: lush and indulgent, with soft tannins and a hint of sweetness.
• Sarrat de Goundy, Les Saisonniers Rouge 2025 – £14.50
  Grenache and Syrah from the Aude, under screwcap. Strawberry, dark cherry and black pepper, with no hard edges. It's the one for "just give me something good".

Planning the Christmas Day table as well? Our Christmas Bangers guide sorts the wines by course.

And now for the cheese

We may have gone overboard with the number of cheeses on this list. But we've put on a fair few tasting events with our friends at The Wintertarn Dairy and Chorlton Cheesemongers, and we struggled to cut any out. You can never have too much cheese around Christmas, right? As ever, we've put our favourite wine pairing next to each one.

Cheddar: Montgomery's

You can't have a complete cheeseboard without a good quality Cheddar, and there are loads out there. I've waxed lyrical about Montgomery's before, and for me it simply has to go on the table. It's worth hunting down. Any reputable cheesemonger will have it, and in the Manchester area you'll find it at both The Wintertarn Dairy in Altrincham and Chorlton Cheesemongers. Jamie Montgomery, the third generation of his family to keep the farm in South Somerset, makes it. Rich and savoury, it almost melts in the mouth.

Drink with: ALTO Rouge Red Blend 2022 – £18.50. A Stellenbosch blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, with plum, blackberry and dried fig, and plush tannins. Our tasting note for it suggests mature Cheddar.

Mature: Lincolnshire Poacher

This one blew me away. Lincolnshire Poacher comes from the Jones family's farm in Alford, Lincolnshire, and it's aged for well over a year before it's released. It's creamy and rich, and the flavour builds as you get closer to the rind, where the nutty character really shines through.

Drink with: Waterford Antigo 2021 – £23. A Cabernet Sauvignon-led Stellenbosch blend (88% Cabernet Sauvignon), with redcurrant, black cherry and silky tannins.

Sheep's: English Pecorino

I wasn't sure whether to include this, as it's notoriously difficult to get hold of. But the White Lakes Dairy English Pecorino is an utter stunner. It has a creamy, semi-hard texture with a subtle nuttiness, and the flavour just goes on and on after you've eaten it.

Drink with: Domaine Gayda, Flying Solo Red 2025 – £11.50. Youthful and fruit-forward, with red plum and blackberry fruit and a little liquorice. It'll go down a treat.

Blue: Colston Bassett Stilton

Stilton can only be made in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire or Leicestershire, and the name is regulated and protected, which sadly isn't true of other cheeses, such as Cheddar. Colston Bassett Dairy has been going for well over 100 years and is one of a handful licensed to make Stilton. Slightly sweeter than other blues, and soft and buttery.

Drink with: Niepoort, Ruby Dum Port – £22.50, or a half bottle at £11. Fresh and youthful, with red cherries and plums, and a cracking match here. There's more Niepoort in our Port and Sherry collection.

Soft: Gubbeen

A truly unique cheese from County Cork in Ireland. There's an organism native to the Gubbeen farm which influences the flavour and isn't found anywhere else in the world, believe it or not. Giana comes from a Spanish cheesemaking background, and her husband Tom is the sixth generation of his family to farm at Gubbeen. The cheese is semi-soft with an intense flavour, a slightly meaty character and real depth.

Drink with: Domaine Fournillon, Bourgogne Blanc 2023/24 – £17.50. Chardonnay from northern Burgundy, crisp and dry with green apple, citrus peel and a hint of almond. Our tasting note suggests soft cheeses.

If you're feeling a bit more adventurous, try an orange wine such as Solara Orange Wine 2024 – £14. It has quince, poire william and ripe stone fruit, with gentle tannins. More in our orange wines collection.

Cheese and wine FAQs

What wine goes with a Christmas cheeseboard?

It depends on the cheese. A Crémant suits soft goat's cheese and Camembert, and a Cabernet Sauvignon-led red works with a mature, nutty cheese like Lincolnshire Poacher. Stilton goes with ruby Port, and a soft, strong cheese like Gubbeen goes with Chardonnay or an orange wine. The pairings above cover each one.

Which Port goes with Stilton?

We pour Niepoort's Ruby Dum with Colston Bassett Stilton. There's a half bottle at £11 if you'd like less. For other cheeses, Niepoort suggests their LBV with Cheddar, Gouda and Brie, and you'll find it in our Best Christmas Wines 2026 guide.

How should I serve the wine at a party?

Don't over chill the whites, because it can dull the flavour. Don't serve the reds too warm either. And start with a glass of fizz on arrival.

Ready to host?

Start with a fizz for the welcome and a white and a red for the evening. Then add a bottle for whichever cheese you're most excited about. Most of these are in our Christmas Favourites collection, and every bottle has its own page.

Shop Christmas Favourites