What to drink at Easter

At this time of year I am often asked what wines to have with food at Easter, in particular Easter Sunday lunch or dinner.  My response, frustratingly for people, is “what are you going to be eating”?

My rule of thumb is to match the wine with the dominant tastes of the dish/meal.  The dominant taste is often in the sauce rather than the meat.

What am I going to be drinking? 

For Easter Sunday I am going to be having a lamb roast infused with garlic and rosemary, and with roast potatoes and pumpkin.  Some green stuff, like beans, may also appear.  My go-to with lamb, garlic and rosemary is not a red wine but a nice (and unfortunately expensive) Grand Cru Riesling from Alsace.  A match made in heaven! This wine has body and presence and also is great with potato.  It doesn’t matter if the wine is off-dry as this adds to its presence and matches the intensity of the dish.  A good, aged, off-dry German Riesling would also work.  Another thought is an Arneis from Piemonte, given the roundness in this wine.

If I am not going with the Riesling from Alsace, my next pick is a Rosato from Italy.  I find that the Italian Rosatos generally have more intensity than Róses from Provence and therefore would pair better with my garlic and rosemary infused lamb.

If I am wedded to tradition and insist on drinking red wine with my roast lamb, I would choose a lighter-bodied red such as a Pinot Noir or a light Italian red wine such as a Frappato.

Lastly, if I needed to have a wine to accompany my hot cross buns, I would move head to the sweeter and more intense end of the scale such as a Vin Santo from Tuscany, a Sauternes, or a late harvest/botrytised wine – something that screams of some ‘baking spices’.