My Favorite Easter Wines!

Spring usually means the arrival of Spring – fingers are still crossed on that one.  And it’s a chance to get together with people you love, enjoy the long weekend, and have some great food.  And for me, with great food, comes great wine.  Let’s take a look at a few great wines that would go with your Easter dinner.  Whether you’re having turkey, ham or some other delightful dish, there will be a wine for you here.  We’re having both turkey and ham – some big eaters in my family.

 

Now, my rule of thumb is, you can drink any wine you like with any food you like.  If you’re drinking red, for me personally it’s pretty easy – Pinot Noir.  Pinot Noir tends to be light to medium bodied, so it won’t over-power the turkey.  It’s a juicy vibrant wine which will enhance the succulence of the turkey.  And Pinot Noir is so elegant and food friendly, it goes with everything you serve with the turkey.  There are great Pinot wines that start in price from $15.  I love a Pinot from Burgundy France and Oregon in the United States are putting out first class Pinot Wines.

I love white wine with turkey.  I love a bunch of different white wines with turkey.  Turkey is like a blank canvas in the white wine world, so many options, so little turkey.   Here are a few of my favorites.  Vouvray is a Chenin Blanc based wine that’s vibrant and crisp and a perfect partner for turkey.  As is Viognier.  It’s not sparkling, but can have some effervescence which pairs divine.  And then, there’s Fume Blanc, which is Sauvignon Blanc based with some Semillion for smoothness, or a straight up Sauvignon Blanc.  This crisp white wine is known for its citrus-based flavors that can be surrounded by herb or mineral undertones, making it a prime pairing candidate for turkey and mashed potatoes.

  

There are so many options to go with ham.  Another blank slate when it comes to wine selection.  A couple of my personal favorites are Zinfandel and Merlot.  The Gnarly Head and Predator are two of my favorites.  And neither is overly expensive.  One sells for just under $20 and the other sells for just over $20.  Juicy, jammy, spicy and full of flavor.  Regular readers will know that this wine is one my favorites for BBQ foods, but it will go just delightful with Easter ham as well.

 

   

For the Merlot selection, I picked from Canada, Argentina, Chile, California and France.  Fine Merlot wines are being made around the world at very reasonable prices.  Merlot wine goes beautifully with pork.  Merlot wine is plummy, smoky with hints of cocoa flavors.   And it’s my favorite wine to go with pork.  For the same reason, it will complement your ham.

        

For my white wine drinking friends, you can have a lot of fun here.  If you’re ham has a glaze with any amount of sweetness, you can have a wine with some sweetness in it, because it will compliment the food.  The sweetness in the ham will take away from the sweetness in the wine.  I know it sounds contradictory, but trust me on this one.  Try a nice dry Riesling, the one pictured is from Gaspereau Vineyards right here in Nova Scotia, and it would be a fantastic choice for your Easter dinner.   In my opinion, and that’s what the blog is called, Gaspereau is doing a spectacular job with this Riesling.   Another great choice for white wine would be a nice Pinot Gris.  This Ara Pinot Gris from New Zealand is one of my favorites.  It will remind you of orchard fruit and with a little sweetness and crisp gorgeous acidity.

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful Easter weekend. Till next week, Cheers

Darlene