The long, four-day Easter break is the perfect time to celebrate with family and friends. Read on for my food and wine for Easter top tips.
Although fashions and budgets vary, the adventurous epicurean can procure excellent food and wine for Easter. Whether vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eater, feast on seasonal food and imbibe delicious drops. Look at the vegetables on display at your local farm shop; they're colourful, dynamic, and delicious. The same applies for wines. The latest releases of firm favourites or delectable new discoveries are there to be sniffed, swirled, and sipped.
Goodbye cold and wet winter, hello spring! New life and new vintages are firmly upon us.
Let's start with seafood
As an island nation, we are blessed with an abundance of fish and shellfish. Visit www.call4fish.com to find your local fishmonger. Fresh local oysters, native or pacific, are one of my favourites. They are brilliant raw (just add raspberry vinaigrette), or gently grilled. If you're a novice ask your fishmonger to demonstrate how to shuck the oysters, a task best done just before devouring!
Mussels and clams are another welcome choice. Classic Moules Mariniére is an easy and popular dish. When storing fresh molluscs don't immerse them in a tub of water, instead wrap them in wet newspaper and place them in the fridge. Then cook quickly with onion, garlic, parsley, white wine and cream.
A crisp and fresh wine, rather than something complex, is the best wine for Easter pairing with seafood. Muscadet is always a star, as is Picpoul de Pinet. Both styles are made by the coast and thus love to partner with all and any shellfish.
Domaine de la Combe Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie offers inimitable freshness and vitality, with its trademark tingle on the tongue.
Domaine de la Combe Muscadet Sèvre & Maine Sur Lie 2022
£15.50
Classic fresh and zesty, clean and lean Muscadet. Domaine de la Combe (formerly Domaine les Grands Presbytères) in the village of Saint-Fiâcre, is nestled in...… read more
Zoom south from the Loire Atlantique to the balmy Mediterranean. In the commune of Pinet, on the banks of the Bassin de Thau, oysters are king. The surrounding vineyards are planted with Piquepoul Blanc and slope gently away from the saltwater lagoon. Florensac Picpoul de Pinet ‘Soleil’ has strident citrus acidity and a gentle saline or seaside note.
Florensac Picpoul de Pinet "Soleil" 2022, Languedoc
£12.50
Winner of a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole Paris. A limpid, pale yellow colour with bright green reflections. Lively and fresh on the...… read more
Next, seasonal vegetable dishes
The beauty of spicy roast cauliflower, root vegetable Korma or Ratatouille Nicoise, demand a full-bodied white or rosé. These characterful vegetarian dishes will stand-up to boisterous wines.
The excellent La Loupe Grenache Blanc offers a mineral and textured white of real weight and distinction.
La Loupe Grenache Blanc 2022, Languedoc
£12.00
This French white wine is a hidden gem from this rarely encountered single varietal. La Loupe has a lovely dry and richly textured palate, it...… read more
For something more unexpected, Tavel is a powerful, fruit-driven rosé. Approach this deeply-coloured wine, from one of France’s great rosé only appellations, as if a light red. Sited in the southern Rhone its terroir of galets is similar to Chateauneuf du Pape, its illustrious neighbour.
Domaine Maby Prima Donna is a distinctive blend of Grenache and Cinsault. Tasting of crushed red fruit it belies its 14% ABV as freshness is its hallmark.
Domaine Maby "Prima Donna" 2023, Tavel
£19.50
Tavel is renowned as a deeply coloured rosé from the Southern Rhône. The antithesis of pale Provence rosé, this is a fruit forward, full-bodied, age-worthy...… read more
On to the main course
Lamb is a traditional Easter treat, especially if you are able to source local spring lamb. But my preference is for hogget - an animal into its second or third season. Grazed on different grasses it makes for a grand, tasty treat.
I like to bone and roll a leg or shoulder and season well. I pierce the skin and then stud with sprigs of young rosemary, bruised garlic, and drained anchovy fillets.
Next, I slow roast, adding a splash of wine or vermouth towards the end - trust me and try it!
The milieu of strong flavours demands an equally powerful partner wine for Easter. Rather than opt for the obvious, how about trying a wine which will be new to many.
The fabulously rich A Growers Touch Durif is made with the dark-skinned grape Durif (known as Petit Syrah in the USA). It brazenly shows blackberry and plum notes with gentle spice, robed in oak. Decant and rest for an hour or so to coax out its myriad flavours.
A Growers Touch Durif 2022, New South Wales
£12.20
A Growers Touch is all about "terroir". It showcases local fruit and the uniqueness of the growers and their vineyards. Each bottle features pictures of...… read more
Equally sumptuous is the Peter Falke Signature Alani Syrah from Stellenbosch in South Africa. It is both robust and elegant with notes of cranberries, cherries and vanilla.
Peter Falke Signature "Alani" Syrah 2018, Stellenbosch
£33.00
The bouquet of this elegant red wine from the Peter Falke Signature collection reveals intense notes of cranberries, cherry, white pepper and hints of vanilla....… read more
Or maybe lighter red is your quarry. Plump for Sharpham Pinot Noir. Experience a Pinot Noir grown in the ancient soils on the banks of the River Dart near Totnes. Although young, this wine is now showing deft perfume and a touch of forest floor. Serve slightly cool for a perfectly patriotic Easter wine pairing.
Sharpham Pinot Noir 2021, Devon
£27.50
Sharpham have been producing superb English wines for forty years. Using grapes from carefully selected varieties grown on their sheltered slopes overlooking the River Dart....… read more
And finally
An English celebratory supper generally concludes with dessert, followed by cheese. As an Easter alternative try both on the table together.
I'm talking Pears Poached in Red wine served with Blue Cheese, a delicious finale to any meal. As host you can choose whichever wine you wish - as so many will match! My personal recommendation is Smalltown Vineyards ‘Rag and Bone’ Riesling.
"Blimey," some of you might say, "a Riesling?"
Yes, a Riesling!
This comes from a corner of South Australia that produces wonderful stuff. Wines that tingle and thrill, even after a substantial supper! The fresh acidity and floral notes are a great match for the combination of fruity pears and salty blue cheese. And, it will certainly be a talking point with which to end the feast.
Smalltown Vineyards "Rag & Bone" Riesling 2020, Eden Valley
£16.50
The nose on this Australian white wine classically expresses the vineyard it's like a fresh lime crushed gently over minerals, literally lime on the rocks....… read more
I hope my selections will encourage you to be bold in your food and wine for Easter selections!
Happy dining.
