The 2023 Christmas dinner guide

How to impress your guest at a Christmas dinner?

Millions of homes every year have the blessing of celebrating christmas with their loved ones. During these dinners we all want to impress our guests during christmas dinner. But what is the best way to do this? We have summarized the best tips and tricks to do just that, Prtwine.com has got your back!

Let the Invitation WOW your guests..

To get the attention of your guest, start by sending them an invitation. But not just any invitation. Send them a digital card or hardcopy invitation, where you spike their interest by mentioning that their will be a very old and rare wine presented in a way they have never seen before..

To send out a digital invitation we highly recommend you using Canva, a platform to easily create amazing content, like for example a Christmas wish card or dinner invitation.

Preparing for dinner

Now that you’ve got your guests attention, it’s time to start preparing your dinner. Of course food is the main focus of the day, but food without the right pairing of wines, is like soccer without a ball. A vital element is missing so we better get our game on and do some proper wine-paring preperations.

What kind of wines you serve during the course of the meal, is entirely up to the food that you are serving.

But if you want to surprise your guests when receiving them, we could help you out here:

Welcome drink:

Serve them a nice port wine cocktail. You can choose to server them a white port wine with some tonic and a slice of lime + mint leaves, or you can go red and create a powerful, warm looking glass of Midnight Spritz. We can help you get creative on pink port cocktails aswel. Just follow this link to our pink port blog article

Dinner

When everybody is ready to have dinner, it’s time to prepare your bottle of Vintage Port Wine for desert.

This you can do at the table, so that everybody can enjoy the proces of opening and decanting the Vintage port wine. Do take into consideration; The older the bottle the lesser the amount of decanting. See this overview to help you get the right amount of oxigen for you

• For a Vintage younger than 7 years (considered too young): allow it to breathe for 10-12 hours in advance.

• If you have a Vintage aged between 8 to 15 years: give it space to evolve by decanting 8-10 hours beforehand.

• When dealing with a Vintage spanning 16-25 years: enhance its character through a 6-8 hours decanting process.

• If your Vintage falls within the 26-35 years range: unlock its full potential with a 4-6 hours decanting period.

• A Vintage aged 36-45 years: reveal its nuances by decanting 3-5 hours in advance.

• For those lucky enough to possess a Vintage of 46-60 years: let it breathe with a 2-3 hours decanting session.

• And for a Vintage 60 years and older: a delicate 1-3 hours of decanting will unveil its true essence.

Don’t forget to the following

1. First you need to have a old bottle of your favorite port wines (preferably a vintage - they have always been bottled with a natural cork). Let’s say for example an avordable Vintage from 1985 (Calem)

2. Secondly you need to have the showmaker - A Port wine Port Tong to open up your bottle. But wait, this is not your normal corkcrew bottle opener. No, this is a piece of equipment straight out of a historical museum that kinda looks like a torturing device (we are pretty sure you could torture someone with this aswel).

But let’s not get carried away here.. It’s christmas :)

Best Port tong how-to article

Port wine is a popular fortified wine from Portugal that is known for its rich flavor and sweetness.

Often served as a dessert wine, Port wine is usually enjoyed after a meal and is a great way to end a lovely dinner. However, opening a bottle of Port wine can be a daunting task, especially if you do not have the right tools. In this article, we will discuss how to open a bottle of Port wine using a port-tong.

What is a port-tong?

A port-tong is a big, metal implement that is specifically designed to open bottles of Port wine. It is also known as a port tongs or port pliers. The tool consists of two curved arms that come together to grip the neck of the bottle. The port-tong is heated and applied to the neck of the bottle to melt the wax seal, allowing the cork to be removed without damaging the cork or the bottle.

Steps to open a bottle of Portwine using a port-tong:

1. Step 1: Gather the necessary tools

   1. To open a bottle of Port wine using a port-tong, you will need the following tools:

      1. A port tong

      2. A gas stove, fireplace or other heat source

      3. A clean cloth or napkin with some cold water or ice

      4. The bottle of Port wine (Vintage)

2. Step 2: Heat the port tong

   Place the port-tong in the flame of a fireplace or other heat source. Hold the tool in the flame until it becomes red hot (the metal). This part of the process takes most of the time as it’s hard metal that you need to really heat up.

3. Step 3: Grip the bottle

   Hold the bottle of Port wine by the base and use the port tong to grip the neck of the bottle. The two arms of the port tong should be positioned below the end of the cork, just above the liquid inside the bottle of Port wine.

4. Step 4: Heat the neck of the bottle

   Using the port tong, apply heat to the neck of the bottle, just beneath the cork. Move the tool around the neck of the bottle to heat the entire seal. The heat will make the glass heat up and preparing it for the next step.

5. Step 5: Remove the cork

   Once the glass is hot enough, use a wet towel (cold) to unlock the glass neck from the bottle. Be careful for any glass vibers - there shouldn’t be any if you do it properly.

6. Step 6: Enjoy your Portwine!

Once the neck has been removed, pour the Portwine into a caraf, with a filter, to prevent any resedue falling into the karaf. Now let the wine breath and serve at the table.

Tips for opening a bottle of Portwine with a port-tong:

• Make sure the port-tong is hot enough to so the glass will pop smoothly when holding the neck with the port tong.

• Be gentle when removing the cork to avoid breaking it or damaging the bottle.

So, opening a bottle of Portwine with a port-tong can be a fun and magical process with the right tool and techniques. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can confidently open a bottle of Portwine and enjoy its delicious flavors. And yes, this will WOW you guests, and make a lasting impression at the dinner table.

Serving you port wine

Now that you’ve successfully impressed your dinner guests at christmas dinner, you are ready to enjoy the meal, have laughs and talks and get ready for the BIG finale. Serving and drinking the decanted portwine!

As most christmas dinners take hours and hours, you will have enough time for that Vintage Port wine to fully breath and be at it’s peak, when serving them at the end of your meal - Time for Dessert!

Now there are way too many options for the port wine food paring so we will give you 5 good options to choose from (also would depend on the age of your Vintage Port Wine).

1. Vintage Port & A Rich Cheese Platter. Easy, but one of the best ways of enjoying the afterglow of your Christmas dinner is a rich cheese assortiment combined with zipping on a beautiful glass of delicious old vintage port wine. Don’t know what cheeses to choose from? Let’s get you started with our extensive Guide for Port & Cheese Paring.

2. Vintage Port & A Chocolate Tasting. This one is not a typical desert, but will most likely wow your guests. You can buy a mix of different chocolates or Bon Bon’s and serve them as a tasting. The combination of flavors and the power of the Vintage Port wine will most definitely have your guests asking for more

3. Traditional Pudding. We know that many countries have different traditional desserts, but you can’t go wrong with a pudding cake. For some amazing ideas, see this website: Delicous.com

4. The Ultimate Sticky Toffee Pudding. Now this is amazing with port wine. It’s Toffee flavor goes extremely well with a glass of Vintage Port wine.

5. Chocolate Brownies. With this desert you can’t go wrong. The texture of the brownie and the flavors match the complexity of the port wine.

That’s all for now, we hope you will be able to get your hands on a set of Port Tongs and a great bottle of Vintage Port. If you need help finding them, please contact us, or subscribe to our newsletter for updates on our new released blog ports about our most favorite wine - Port Wine.