The end of year festivities are approaching and the moment in which the traditional Christmas traditional desserts are brought to the table. Panettone, born in Milan and Pandoro from Verona, have now become national sweets and a true symbol of Christmas. There is no Christmas lunch or New Year's dinner that does not end with the cutting of a Panettone or a Pandoro. The two desserts, although different from each other, share a production process based on long leavening, a rich, soft dough and a not excessive sweetness. They are particular sweets and their characteristics must be enhanced and enhanced with the right combination. In the past it was customary to accompany Panettone and Pandoro by uncorking a bottle of Champagne or Spumante Metodo Classico Brut. It was a custom based on the image of these wines linked to moments of celebration and joy. A combination based only on the desire to combine two excellences by virtue of their prestige and their symbolic value. In reality Panettone and Pandoro, like all desserts, should be paired with sweet wines and not dry wines. The sweetness collides with the dry and acidic profile of the Brut, creating a real gustatory shock on the palate, which penalizes the characteristics of Panettone and Pandoro. Once this general rule has been established, the question remains which sweet wines to choose.

The wine to be combined with a dessert should have a sweetness similar to the dessert, so as not to cover its aroma and taste. We will therefore discard all the raisins. These wines are too sugary, evolved and complex for leavened desserts with a rather simple and delicate flavor. But then what to choose? The solution is simple. At Christmas, with Panettone or Pandoro we will open one of the largest and most historic dessert wines of the Piedmontese tradition: a Moscato d'Asti satin cap , the sparkling version, closed with a normal cork stopper. A wine certainly less precious and prestigious than Champagne, but which marries beautifully with Christmas sweets. The bouquet releases delicate aromas of orange blossom, citrus and white peach. Its sip, enlivened by a creamy and subtle foam, with a harmonious mouth center with a soft fruity sweetness, perfectly balanced by a pleasantly fresh finish, is enhanced with the leavened. The low alcohol content of Moscato d'Asti will be particularly appreciated at the end of a lunch or dinner in which several bottles have already been uncorked. Moscato d'Asti is also an inexpensive wine, so you can focus on the highest quality and choose the best labels on the market without passing out. If instead you want an original alternative, then bring to the table a Moscadello di Montalcino , the oldest wine produced on the famous Tuscan hill, also produced with the white muscat grape.