Christmas is coming, maybe the finest feast day of the year after Thanksgiving. It's time to prowl the cellar to see which wines you want to serve, then build a holiday meal around them.

You weren't thinking of doing it the other way around, were you? Good. So here are some ideas.

• Greet your guests at the door with a warm hug and a festive glass of bubbly. Save the fancy Champagnes for New Year's Eve and serve prosecco:

Nonvintage Lamarca Prosecco, Veneto, Italy: light, lively and slightly sweet, with flavors of grapefruit and minerals; $17.

• Serve an elegant hors d'oeuvre like oysters Rockefeller, accompanied by a creamy sauvignon blanc:

2011 Tangent Sauvignon Blanc, Paragon Vineyard, Edna Valley; crisp and lively and smooth, with flavors of green pears and minerals; $13.

• Even if you're not Italian, hold a Feast of the Seven Fishes that's a Christmas Eve tradition among real Italians – everything from polpi in humido (stewed octopus) to scungilli (snail) salad, and serve a nice Italian vermentino:

2011 Ceccchi Family Estates Litorale Vermentino, Maremma, Italy: full-bodied and crisp, with white peach and lemon flavors; $17.

• Roast a chicken – simply, with only lemon and rosemary – and serve it with an all-American chardonnay:

2010 Wild Horse Chardonnay, Central Coast: hint of oak, rich and creamy, with flavors of pineapples and peaches; $17.

• Get out the fancy, once-a-year china – including those rarely used soup bowls you inherited. Make a spicy Thai orange curry soup (Google it) and serve it with a crisp rosé wine:

2011 Matchbook Rosé of Tempranillo, Dunnigan Hills: lightly sweet, with orange, peach and strawberry flavors; $10.

• Dig a hole in your yard, roast a pig and serve it with its perfect match, dry gewurztraminer:

2011 Castello di Amorosa Gewurztraminer, Anderson Valley: rich and generous, with spicy litchi flavors; $23.

• Toss a big slab of salmon in the oven to roast, and serve it with a red-wine-with-fish complement like pinot noir:

2010 Cambria Pinot Noir, Julia's Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley: rich and dry, with black cherry and bitter chocolate flavors; $25.

• Play Ebenezer Scrooge – the happy, kindhearted one from the end of the Dickens tale – and roast a whole goose for your family, and serve it with a hearty petite sirah:

2010 HandCraft Petite Sirah, California: bold tannins, hearty blueberry and black cherry flavors, powerful structure; $11.

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