Wine with Leslie: The best wines to go with Easter meals
Pic: iStock
Easter in our house brings a couple of certainties - lamb and chocolate. Not together I hasten to add, but I don’t think I have ever not cooked lamb for Easter Sunday. Whether a rack of lamb with a French trim, sweet young spring lamb served pink, or slow-cooked lamb shoulder.
Madhur Jaffrey’s Lamb Raan Masaldar marinated in yoghurt and lots of spices then cooked for four hours is another favourite (worth a Google search), but this Easter we will be going traditional, so that means red Bordeaux to match - Left Bank or Right Bank will depend on my mood.
Of course in Spain they might serve Rioja or Ribera del Duero; in Italy, they might serve Brunello, Chianti or Barbera; and in New Zealand probably Pinot Noir. Lamb is flexible and any wine-producing region that also has lamb matches a local red wine.
The other flavour of Easter is of course chocolate. Cork is blessed to have the Chocolate Shop in the English Market which stocks some of the very best chocolate in the world such as Akesson, Michel Cluizel, Valrhona and Wilkies.Â
I have a soft spot for Skelligs solid Easter Eggs, Grá, Lorge and Bon among others — it is hard to choose.
To match chocolate I often serve young LBV Port from the likes of Grahams, Taylors and Kopke and I’m also partial to rich Pedro Ximinez Sherry.Â
But for the best match for chocolate, we need to look to Recioto della Valpolicella and to fortified Grenache-based Banyuls and Maury in Roussillon. These are rare delicious wines but worth seeking out — see below.
My Bordeaux suggestion is a bargain from Aldi who have an Easter promotion with 20% off wines, and the Saint Émilion below was one of my favourites from their recent portfolio tasting.
Bordeaux and lamb are a natural fit and this is a bit of a bargain (reduced from €15). Classic cedar and red berry fruits on the nose, juicy, ripe and supple on the palate with some clove and spice hints, lingering dark fruits, and with good weighty fruits balanced by tannins and acidity.
A delicious chocolatey, fortified Grenache wine from near Perpignan - a match for both dark and milk chocolate this Easter. Creamy blackberry and blackcurrant fruit aromas and flavours, raisins and dark plums coming through on the mid-palate, and a supple rich mouth-feel. A French Classic. Also try their sweet Muscat.
I first tried this sumptuous wine in London's River Café with their legendary Chocolate Nemesis dessert. It was divine. From Corvina, Rondinella and Oseleta grapes with a stopped fermentation to preserve sugars. Bold dark cherry fruits with a touch of spice, creamy and velvety with dried berry richness.
Midleton is 40 years old and a special 40th Edition finished in Ruby Port casks in a Waterford Crystal bottle is just out. At 53.1% ABV it costs €20,000. I had a tiny taste — dark berry and herbal aromas, baked fruit flavours, toasted oak and earth — nutty and fruity with lingering spice.
The regular 2024 MVR is as smooth as ever with perhaps more floral notes. Vanilla, boiled sweets and apple aromas - butter and vanilla-caramel flavours with dried berries, sweet lemon, and peppery prickle.
