Festive Ploughman’s Lunch with Apple Cuvée: After all that rich Christmas food, why not enjoy a festive Ploughman’s Lunch, with assorted cheese, charcuterie and a glass of classic English Apple Cuvée.

with

Thatchers Family Reserve

I love Christmas and the Festive period that spans from the first Sunday in Advent though New Year to Twelfth Night; it is a time of joyous eating, giving and sharing with family and friends. But, it’s also been a very sad time for me recently, as my father passed away on the 1st December last year, but, as someone who loved this time of year, we still follow in his footsteps and observe the traditions that he and my mother created together for the family, of which eating good food and enjoying a drink are two such family traditions! Today’s post is not a recipe as such, but is all about breaking out of the box and trying something new, and also trying something English – the quintessential British Ploughman’s Lunch is a fabulous way to avoid being chained to the oven over the festive period, and makes a welcome break from all that rich food……and the best way to enjoy it is with a glass of something fizzy. As a prelude to Christmas, I tried something new the other day with my simple and quite Continental Ploughman’s Lunch, a glass of Thatchers Family Reserve Classic Cuvée, and it is now going to appear on my festive table throughout the season (and beyond), as I LOVED it!

This sparkling apple wine is so much more than a cider, it’s elegant, light, full of apply flavours with a very refined and fine perlage; it’s going to be my choice of fizz this Christmas, as it marries well with all sorts of food……we shared a bottle for lunch the other day, with my Ploughman’s Lunch, which comprised mini pork pies and charcuterie as well as cheese, bread and home-made Winter Salad Pickle – the apple wine was crisp and gently sparking with a delicate but pronounced apple flavour and paired beautifully with the Brie cheese, salami and the little pork pies, it even held its head up high when we dolloped the pickle on to the pies, and we all found it very refreshing. Think a fine “Vouvray” wine but with apples, and you will have an idea of the taste and quality…..and, it has a fine story surrounding it too; made from a rediscovered century old recipe crafted by William Thatcher, back in 1904 at the family farm in Somerset, the first gently pressed juice of the Katy apple is used to create this dry, subtle sparkling apple wine, and although I served mine in a lunchtime “bistro” style glass, it is best served chilled in a flute.

How else and what else would I serve with it? Well, it will certainly be wonderful with the roast bird this Christmas Day, as well as making a fine aperitif to accompany canapés and amuse bouche.….serve it with poached salmon for an elegant dinner party dish, or with a cheese tart or quiche; why not pair this fine Somerset Lady with some West Country cheese too, or with my “Cheesemas Tree” Cheese Board for a Christmas Eve Party…….and, it would be sublime when served as a cheeky little dessert wine with a bowl of creamy trifle too! Or, just do as I did for a festive style winter lunch, pop open a bottle of Thatchers Family Reserve, and then just assemble some cheese, pies, charcuterie and cold cuts along with crusty bread and pickles, for a simple but sophisticated lunch (or supper). It’s wonderful with food as well as being used as a toast for all those special times in your lives, and I will be raising a glass and toasting the memory of a much-loved and very much missed father this Christmas, but with happy memories of how he made Christmas special for me when I was growing up! MERRY CHRISTMAS to you ALL! Karen