Christmas in the Chalet: Wine and Champagne for the Festive Fortnight
Christmas and New Year are the busiest fortnight of the ski season. The chalet is full, the family has invited friends, and the cellar has to cover two big dinners, a week of après-ski and a midnight that everyone will remember. It is also the fortnight when last-minute deliveries are hardest to arrange in the mountains. A chalet in Courchevel, Méribel, Val d’Isère or Megève that is stocked before the holidays starts the fortnight calm.
Order early, and to a date
Roads into the resorts are busy from mid-December and couriers are stretched. Place the Christmas order in November or early December, with the date the chalet opens and the name of whoever will receive it: the chalet host, the concierge or the caretaker. We ship to the French Alps by DHL from our warehouse in the South of France, and for a high-value order our own team drives it up.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
- Champagne for the morning and the aperitif. A vintage or prestige cuvée for the Christmas toast, and something lighter for the morning.
- White Burgundy for oysters, foie gras or fish: Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet for the main meal, Chablis for the starters.
- Bordeaux or Burgundy with the turkey, goose or beef: a mature claret or a premier cru red with a few years in bottle.
- Sauternes with foie gras or the cheese, and port or an old cognac to close the evening.
The week in between
The days between Christmas and New Year run on the chalet list: an everyday red and white, Savoie wines with fondue and raclette (Apremont, Chignin-Bergeron, Mondeuse), fizz for après-ski and a well-stocked bar. Our guide to stocking a chalet for the season has the quantities, and après-ski wines covers what to pour after the slopes.
New Year’s Eve
Midnight needs more champagne than anyone plans for. Allow a bottle between two guests for the evening, and put part of it in magnums or a jeroboam: one large bottle opened at midnight is the photograph everyone keeps. Have plenty of water, a considered alcohol-free option and a late bar for the guests who are still going at two.
Keep the champagne cold, not frozen
A balcony at minus ten is not a wine fridge. Bottles left outside overnight can freeze and push their corks. Keep the reserve in a cool room inside the chalet and chill what you need in ice and water.
One delivery for the fortnight
Send us the dates, the number of guests, the two big dinners and anything the family particularly drinks, and we will put the fortnight together in one order and invoice you, the family office or the chalet company, whichever you prefer. See wine delivery to your ski chalet, Courchevel and Méribel.
