Christmas and New Year's: which wines with the desserts ?

With chocolate desserts
Chocolate desserts, play with cocoa notes
Rivesaltes is perfect with chocolate desserts. Full of warmth, notes of cocoa and Havana cigar, Rivesaltes brings incredible sweetness into play, offsetting the bitterness of the cocoa. For a rare delight, I would turn to a 1959 Rivesaltes from the Vila estate. And believe me, the estate still has some on hand. At approximately 30 euros the bottle, this is a great bargain, and a source of sheer joy with holiday desserts.

With winter fruits
Desserts with winter fruits - play on proximity
With a pineapple based dessert, I would immediately choose the petit manseng varietal, found in the mellow Jurançon whites. The aromas in the fruit and in the wine are clearly and interestingly close. One particular Jurançon I would recommend is the 1999 cuvée selection from Clos Lapeyre.

or on exotic notes from Greece
With a pineapple dessert I would also recommend the superb Muscat Rio Patras from Athanase Parparoussis. This small-berried Muscat is grown in the Peloponnesian region in Greece and is dried on the vine - a pure jewel of a wine. To take full advantage of this wine, be careful to serve it under 10°C. And be sure to put a bottle aside to go with the Twelfth Night cake during the month of January.