The holiday season can get so busy with parties and events! And while I love a festive night out, it’s always nice to take a break and schedule a cozy Christmas night in. And last Sunday, I did just that! I put on my favourite Christmas movies, set up a delicious charcuterie board and poured the wine. The Tarapaca Gran Reserva wines are the perfect bottles to open for a cozy night in – big, full and smooth! Here’s how I planned a cozy Christmas night in with Tarapaca wines.
1. Open & Decant your Tarapaca Gran Reserva Wines
For my cozy Christmas night in, I opened the Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon and the Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Carmenere. Both are full-bodied premium red wines from Chile. The Carmenere will keep you nice and cozy with it’s flavours of chocolate, cassis and a hint of wood smoke. The Cabernet Sauvignon is going to taste best when opened up by decanting – after 30 minutes you are going to have the perfect accompaniment to your charcuterie board. Which brings us to the next steps…
2. Display your Meats on a Wooden Board
I wanted to keep my cozy Christmas night in as simple as possible, so I didn’t go overboard with my charcuterie meats. I recently tried the Skorski mini kabanos and they are so good! They’re wood smoked dried beef sausages that can be cut into bite size pieces to easily display and enjoy on your board. And even when it’s just myself for a cozy night in, I still like everything to look nicely displayed on a beautiful board!
3. Add your Cheese and Cheese Knives
In keeping with simplicity, I only added one cheese to my charcuterie board. But it was one amazing cheese! I had the Emma Parmigiano Reggiano, which is a hard cheese with lovely fruit and nut flavours. Let me tell you, this cheese did not last long at all. I used a beautiful wood cheese knife I was recently gifted – don’t save the good stuff, you deserve it!
4. Garnish with Nuts and Crackers
A cozy night in is not complete with some garnishes on your charcuteries board! My go-to cracker has always been Carrs, especially their water crackers. The light Carrs water cracker really lets the flavours of your board’s cheese shine through! For nuts, I added classic cashews and almonds from a Toronto company, The Roasted Nut. The freshness and quality of their nuts is amazing!
5. Pour a Glass of Tarapaca Wine and Enjoy!
And now to the final and best step…pour yourself a glass of Tarapaca wine! On my cozy Christmas night in I enjoyed a glass of the Carmenere first while I set up by charcuterie board. Once the Cabernet Sauvignon had decanted for 30 minutes, I then enjoyed a glass with my beautiful charcuterie board. And yes, I did have two bottles, because these premium Chilean red wines are only $17.95 each at the LCBO!
I hope you enjoy all the holiday festivities this season, but do make sure to take some quality time with yourself. Follow these 5 easy steps to enjoy a cozy Christmas night in with Tarapaca wines!
Cheers!~GDW
Girl Drinks Wine 