As we head into the festive season and the smell of barbecues and pavlova fills the air, we asked our team what they’ll be bringing to their Christmas tables this year. Along with their picks, they’ve shared a little snippet of how they’ll be celebrating – whether they’re soaking up the sun on a holiday, or celebrating at home.
Being part of the CellarHand family means we’re spoilt for choice – and it’s no surprise that our lineup spans the breadth of our incredible portfolio. We’re ready to pop some corks, relive cherished traditions and share these special bottles with our loved ones.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, from our family – to yours!
Christmas Day will start with corks popping off 2017 Stefano Lubiana Brut Rose. I love good sparkling rose and was blown away when we tried this on release in October. I loved the crunchy red berries and cranberry notes, lovely shortbread and brioche. Steve is an amazing craftsman when it comes to sparkling wine and the 2017 Sparkling Rose is no exception. Sparkling Rose matches with seafood and heavier dishes, it’s an aperitif, it’s fun, it’s refreshing, it’s tasty. The packaging is on-point & that pretty pale rose colour – it looks like the party glass of sparkling!! 
My family is flying down from Hong Kong and London this Christmas, and it would be rude not to open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate the occasion! My mum LOVES rosé Champagne and I know she’s going to soak up the Thierry Fournier Rosé. It’s crunchy, fresh and deliciously layered, with notes of wild strawberries, roses, wisteria, fleshy apple and a toasty finish. And let’s not forget to mention it’s my favourite colour – PINK!
Check out our Instagram to see what Patrick is drinking this Christmas!
For the Xmas’s that I don’t travel home to NZ for, we hold an Orphan’s Xmas Celebration. So any friends or family or extended Frends and Family are always welcome to share Christmas with us. Each year it gets bigger and bigger and is a great gathering of people from many different countries and ethnic backgrounds!
I’m going to be drinking the Chalmers Col Fondo. It’s bright and fresh with a delicate fizz and notes of citrus, dominated by Ruby Grapefruit. A great Summer drink that will leave you wanting more. To follow, I’m going to open up a bottle of TWR Toru. It’s got an intriguing nose with notes of ripe mango, fresh citrus, white florals and exotic spices. Great fruit concentration with a creamy texture. A great match for your favourite Spicy Asian dish!
This Christmas, I’ll be drinking Chalmers Vermentino. Seafood is king on our family Christmas lunch so what a better wine than this one to elevate the different seafood flavours? A versatile wine that perfectly match with the seafood pasta but also a white fish main course. Cin Cin!!
Christmas in Australia is a celebration like no other – the relentless hum of cicadas; the pool just a little too warm to be refreshing; Santa rocking board shorts and sunglasses; Paul Kelly. It’s the perfect moment to follow Steve Pannell’s lead and celebrate the warm climate by raising a glass of 2024 Koomilya Rosé in honour of the sun-soaked season. I was lucky enough to first experience this wine in-situ, surrounded by the vines of Koomilya’s Upper Tintara vineyard at brunchtime. There’s no shortage of praise for this wine that hails from the most special of places – Huon Hooke called it a model Rosé – but what truly captivated me from the very first sip was how effortlessly it charmed everyone around me. With five family Christmases to navigate between Christmas Eve knock-off and Boxing Day bedtime, I know Koomilya Rosé will be the bewitching crowd-pleaser I can count on to bring everyone together.
This year our family Christmas will be in Queensland, expecting a Dew point over 20 degrees so think the 2024 Stoney Rise Savagnin should be a great start to the day. It’s such an interesting wine with texture, great acid and a little bit of oxidation. Then, I’ll crack open the 2022 Burn Cottage Moonlight Race Pinot Noir. It’s a delicious blend of 3 different sites, savoury with layers of flavour and juicy tannins. It’s super versatile and sure to be a hit!
Christmas Day is a mega day of driving all over South East Queensland to eat what on any other day of the year would be considered a disgusting amount of food and to try and make as many memories with the extended family network as possible. Boxing day is where my own gluttonous nature really gets to shine though as I’ll be settled in by the Maroochy River surrounded by family and friends gorging on left overs with a thoughtfully planned out lineup of a 2018 Adrien Bergere Les Clos, 2021 Georg Breuer Terra Montosa Riesling, Wittmann Estate Riesling, Corymbia Chenin Blanc and Gunderloch Sylvaner before settling in to an afternoon of Protero Aromatico‘s and backyard cricket (and maybe a few sneaky Mangoes). Might even share some of the wine.
Seen as I will be spending Christmas in sunny Nelson, NZ this year, it be rude not to open a bottle of TWR Pinot Gris to celebrate the occasion, followed by a glass or 3 of TWR Toru (see what I did there haha Toru is Maori for 3 😉 ) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I am a Christmas tragic. And I think I am because 96% (yes, I worked it out) of my Christmas Days have been spent at my parents’ house at the foot of the Adelaide Hills, a good amount of that time spent in prawn-peeling competitions and debates over ham glazing technique with my darling Dad. We’re spending Christmas Day in Sydney this year, so I need to bring a bit of ‘The Hills’ to the Inner West.
So, Nebbiolo grown at Protero in Gumeracha and brought to life via Mr Stephen Pannell by, in his words, “making wine that tastes like where it comes from” will be just the ticket. And, it’s got to be the 2019 Capo for that Christmas Ham (done my way, Dad…). But before that, the Chardonnay tragic in me will be savouring every sip of Geoff Weaver’s 2022 Chardonnay from his stunning Lenswood vineyard, alongside a heap of prawns that I will no doubt purchase by venturing to the Sydney Fish Market at a time that I should be sleeping – because it feels more festive that way!
I love Christmas Day with my extended family, it’s always a great day filled with great food and good banter, but more importantly with sensational wine! We always start with Champagne and seafood, so one can’t go past the super fresh and delicious JM Seleque Solessence to get the party started. With the turkey and ham et al, its Chardy all the way, and who better than Joe Holyman with his Holyman Chardonnay to cater for our needs. Stunning wine!
It’ll be once again another Xmas of trying to convince the parents that not all Riesling is sweet. I’ll be having the 22 Dr Loosen Urziger Wurtzgarten GG not long after all the pressies get opened and the BBQ is lit up. I’ll be happily drinking it way too cold however I cant think of anything better. Exotic Riesling, Family, Presents, BBQ. Happy days.
This Christmas, I’m going down to see the family, so they can babysit while I drink Theirry Fournier Reserve and Ansgar Clusserath Spatlese. Sounds pretty good to me!
There have been two bottles sitting in my fridge for the past few weeks that I cannot wait to open on Christmas day. The first is the Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett, and the other is the Ansgar Clusserath Trittenheimer Apotheke Spatlese. The last 6 months have been at full steam, and I can’t wait to lay back, relax and drink some German Rieslings!
2024 has been a roller coaster of a year that I’m sure many of us are looking forward to seeing in the rear view mirror so going out with a bang is the modus operandi in the Jappy household this year. As always, there will be bucket loads of Kabinett Riesling on hand for emergency moments when a sobering drink is required, but the focus is going to be on the slightly weird but definitely wonderful for me.
Think things like wines from Burgenland legends Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer in the form of their CellarHand classic the 2023 Pittnauer ‘Konig’ Blaufrankisch Rose. It looks good. It tastes good. It is uber refreshing but with a lick of savoury complexity helping to keep things interesting for those winey people in the room…….some might say it is the perfect all rounder and made by 2 of the most wonderful humans I have ever met.
There will also be something light and red for those moments of contemplation and even if it is a slightly more serious rendition than it has been in the past, thanks to older vines and a greater understanding of site, it is tough to look past the 2023 Punt Road Gamay from our close friends in the Yarra. Gamay used to be a bit of a IYKYK type thing but is slowly creeping into the consciousness of more & more drinkers and that is in part due to the team at Punt Road being early on the scene and releasing wines that are not only true to the variety but also the Punt Road site and ethos. This is pure joy in a glass, and we all need more of that in our lives, and this ripper of a wine will go as well on the Chrissi table in a big glass as it will lounging around on the couch tucking through leftovers on boxing day. There will be plenty more fallen soldiers I am sure but tough to look past these two classics to enjoy over the festivities that is for sure!
23 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Riesling is hands down one of the best Riesling being produced year in year out but the 23 is just that little bit extra! A lot of wise heads recon its one of the best growing seasons in recent memory. I love the whiff of florals, tangerine and grapefruit. Beautifully structured and balanced wine with so much energy , crack out the BBQ’d prawns with sambal and garlic the roast chicken.
Each year I think which wine will help me sustain my glazed Christmas ham love affair and I’ve landed on this little beauty – the 2019 Heartland ‘Directors Cut’ Cabernet. I unashamedly love drinking cabernet there is so much always to offer aromatically and in the mouth. Langhorne creek sometime is much maligned, but we forget its one of the oldest and most diverse wine regions in Australia. This is a beautiful partnership of the Potts Family that nurture the grapes to harvest and then the steady hand of Ben Glaezter that gets it to bottle. Dark fruited with a big fistful of spice, deep rich mouthfeel with some good tannin . Give me all the glazed ham and picked cherries I can get my hands on and let the party begin.
I’ll be bringing the 2022 Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Syrah to the Christmas table this year. This wine is so pretty and lifted but seriously dark and deep, it has layers upon layers of flavour and structure… so if you want to wine geek out on it, you can, but so delicious you can just drink it’s for pure yumminess. Should be an absolute hit on the Christmas table.
This Christmas, I’m going to be drinking a bottle of Onannon’s Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir! It’s the perfect food companion and will be a real crowd pleaser this year.
I’m a complete sucker when it comes to stickys with Christmas pudding, and the Velich Beerauslese 2017 is a cracker – juicy, full bodied with great acidity – what could go wrong!
