Wine with canapés: a South African pairing for every Christmas party

Canapés are awkward to match with wine because so many different things arrive at once. A tray of smoked salmon blinis comes round, then sausage rolls, then something with blue cheese in it. No single bottle suits all of that, so the easiest way to serve wine with canapés is to open a white and a red at the start and let people choose.

Below are our seven South African wines in the order we’d pour them, lightest first, with the canapés we’d put next to each one.

Quick guide

Wine	Style	Canapés to try	Price
J9 Sauvignon Blanc 2021	Fruity white	Smoked salmon blinis, prawn cocktails	£13.99
Seven Sisters Sauvignon Blanc 2021	Crisp, dry white	Prawn skewers, mini sausage rolls	£15.99
Ses’fikile Chenin Blanc Roussanne 2020	Aromatic white blend	Chicken liver pâté on toast, goat’s cheese crostini	£15.99
Compagniesdrift Chardonnay Pinot Noir	Pale white and red blend	Turkey and cranberry bites, mushroom and Gruyère tartlets	£17.99
Libby’s Pride Merlot 2021	Medium-bodied red	Mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef	£13.99
Harold’s Pinotage 2019	Modern Pinotage	Chorizo bites, spiced chicken skewers	£15.00
Compagniesdrift Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2018	Fuller red blend	Lamb koftas, blue cheese and walnut dates	£16.99

Start with the whites

J9 Sauvignon Blanc 2021, £13.99

J9 Sauvignon Blanc smells of guava and green fig leaf, with a hint of lychee underneath. At 13% it’s a good first bottle while people are still taking their coats off. Serve it well chilled.

Canapés: smoked salmon blinis, mini prawn cocktails, or caprese skewers of mozzarella, cherry tomato and basil.

Seven Sisters Sauvignon Blanc 2021, £15.99

Seven Sisters is crisp and dry, with bell pepper and green apple. It’s full bodied, and at 12% it’s the lowest in alcohol of our wines. It goes with seafood, chicken and pork.

Canapés: prawn skewers with lemon, or mini sausage rolls.

Ses’fikile Chenin Blanc Roussanne 2020, £15.99

Chenin Blanc is the most planted grape in South Africa. In Ses’fikile it’s blended with Roussanne, and you get pear, apple and honey, with balanced acidity behind the fruit. The honey is what makes it work with creamy bites.

Canapés: chicken liver pâté on toast, goat’s cheese and herb crostini, or courgette and feta fritters.

Compagniesdrift Chardonnay Pinot Noir, £17.99

This one is a blend of a white grape and a red grape. Compagniesdrift Chardonnay Pinot Noir is pale in the glass with a rose and mandarin tint, and tastes of cherry and red berry, then stone fruit. It’s a good bottle for a room where some people only drink red and others only white.

Canapés: turkey and cranberry on small toasts, smoked salmon and cream cheese on pumpernickel, or mushroom and Gruyère tartlets.

Then move on to the reds

Libby’s Pride Merlot 2021, £13.99

Libby’s Pride Merlot is medium bodied, with red and black berry fruit and a hint of mint at the end. It’s 14.5%, so pour smaller glasses.

Canapés: mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish, or cranberry and brie puff pastry bites.

Harold’s Pinotage 2019, £15.00

Pinotage was created in South Africa in 1925 by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, and most of it is still grown there. Harold’s Pinotage, from M’hudi, is a modern style: red berries and cranberry, a touch of cinnamon, something like toasted marshmallow, and soft tannins. The sweet-tasting fruit means it copes well with spice. Serve it at a cool room temperature.

Canapés: spicy chorizo bites, barbecue-glazed chicken skewers, or mini onion bhajis.

Compagniesdrift Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2018, £16.99

The fullest red we sell. Compagniesdrift Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot is dark ruby, with blackcurrant, plum and some spice, and at 14% it has the weight for lamb and strong cheese. Open it about half an hour before you pour.

Canapés: mini lamb koftas with tzatziki, or dates stuffed with blue cheese and walnut.

Tips for serving wine with canapés

• Pour the whites before the reds, roughly in the order above.
• Put delicate fish and seafood next to the whites, and beef, lamb and blue cheese next to the reds.
• If the food is spicy, reach for the Pinotage.
• Get the whites into the fridge in the morning, and open the Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot half an hour before guests arrive.

Buying for a party

Any six single bottles get 10% off, so you can pick a mix of whites and reds from the list above. If you’d rather not choose, the mixed case of six South African wines has several of them in one box, and each wine also comes as a case of six, which costs less than six single bottles.

Delivery is free on 6+ bottles or orders over £70, and UK delivery takes 1-3 working days. Order by 20 December for delivery before Christmas.

Browse all our red wines and white wines, or the whole shop. And for the meal itself, here’s what to pour with Christmas dinner, course by course.