A quick wine pairing guide for the Easter weekend

Lamb, salmon, asparagus, Easter eggs . . . it's all here!.

Photo by Tatjana Baibakova at shutterstock.com

Easter isn’t as big an occasion for entertaining as Christmas but there may well be feasts with family and friends for which you’re wondering what wine to choose.

As you probably know I’m a bit of a food and wine pairing geek with a website called matchingfoodandwine.com which I started back in 2004

There’s a regular free Match of the Week on a Monday but because the key recommendations are based on over 20 years research (and I haven’t written them for the benefit of Chat GPT) most of the content is now behind a paywall including the guide to Easter wine pairings on which this post is based.

(The way it works is that you buy a bundle of credits and can then access the articles you need. There’s no time limit for using your credits and once you’ve paid for an article you can always go back to it.

As usual it’s cheaper pro rata to take out an annual sub though if it’s specific wine pairings you’re after you can buy 10 credits for as little as £6.

Paying subscribers to Eat This, Drink That also get a 50% discount off an annual subscription. Let me know if you’d like to take advantage of this and I’ll send you the code!

Anyway given it’s Easter I thought I’d share a free version of the post just to give you a flavour of what’s on the site with some links to longer paywalled posts if you’d like a few more options.

Photo by Mironov Vladimir at shutterstock.com

Lamb
Despite what I said about its lack of popularity the other day, lamb, particularly roast lamb is still THE meat of choice for an Easter feast and the good news is that practically any red wine you care to think of goes with it. Red Bordeaux (or similar cabernet/merlot blends) and Rioja reserve would be the traditional go-to but at this time of year (springtime in the northern hemisphere) I’d be more inclined to pour a pinot noir.

4 tips to bear in mind when pairing Easter lamb

Roast chicken (or turkey)
Pinot noir would also be perfect with a roast chicken or Easter turkey but a rich chardonnay with a lick of oak might appeal more to white wine drinkers. You could even put a bottle of each on the table.

8 great wine (and other) matches for roast chicken

Roast duck
Yup - duck goes with pinot too, especially when it’s served with peas. Yes, I know that sounds odd but it works. Trust me!

9 great wine pairings with duck

Roast or baked ham
Likely to be less rich and treacly than a Christmas ham and you might even have salads on the side. Personally I love Beaujolais with ham but a fruity grenache would also work well.

Six of the best pairings for roast or baked ham

Salmon

Photo by YARUNIV Studio at shutterstock.com

Another popular centrepiece for the Easter table, especially cooked whole and accompanied by seasonal Jersey Royal potatoes and asparagus.

Salmon pretty well always works with chardonnay - it just depends whether it’s served hot with a hollandaise (think richer styles) or cold in which case I’d go for an unoaked version. Chenin blanc and oaked white Bordeaux would be good too.

(If you’re serving smoked salmon as a starter try sauvignon blanc rather than the usual fizz)

12 great wine pairings with salmon

Fish pie
Maybe you’re planning a fish pie for Good Friday? Again chardonnay is a reliable match - in this instance I’d go for a Chablis - or an albariño from Spain

For other fish pie pairings see here

Salt cod
Traditional fare on Good Friday, especially in Spain and Portugal. I particularly like it with white wines from the Douro region especially when it’s served as a creamy potato bake but alvarinho or albariño would also be good.

The best wine matches for salt cod

Torta di Pasqua (Italian spinach and ricotta pie)

A great veggie option for Easter Day. Given it’s Italian I’d go for an Italian white such as a Soave, Gavi di Gavi or vermentino. Rachel Roddy has a good recipe here which I made a couple of years ago (see above)

Asparagus
Could be a side or - equally likely at this time of year - a dish in its own right It’s generally held to be a bit of a wine killer but I don’t generally find it a problem. If it’s served with butter or a buttery sauce go for chardonnay (especially with salmon or chicken). If it’s dressed with oil almost any crisp white will do (try Austria’s grüner veltliner). With a salad, particularly one that includes goats cheese, I’d go for a sauvignon blanc like a Sauvignon de Touraine.

Top wine pairings with asparagus

Scrambled eggs, eggs Benedict or other Easter brunch dishes
I don’t think you can beat sparkling wine with eggs. Champagne - preferably blanc de blancs - if you feel like splashing out, crémant (similar sparkling wines that are made elsewhere in France) if you don’t have a champagne budget. Better than Prosecco which is too sweet for eggs IMHO.

Which wines pair best with eggs

Colomba Pasquale

However prosecco is perfect with Colomba Pasquale, the traditional Italian Easter version of panettone. Look for the description ‘extra dry’ on the label which is perversely a slightly sweeter style that works really well with cakes and biscuits

Hot cross buns
Unlikely I know you’re going to be having anything other than a cuppa or a coffee but if you fancy a drink with one try a nip of sweet (dolce) marsala.

Easter eggs
If you’re scoffing the remains of the kids’ Easter eggs the sweet, gently sparkling Italian red Brachetto d’Aqui is hard to beat. Also hard to find, unfortunately though Weavers of Nottingham have it online for £20.95. If you’re stumped try a rosé prosecco or a pale cream sherry!

What wine goes with Easter eggs

Photo By Africa Studio at shutterstock.com

Hope that helps. Any other Easter dishes you’d like to ask me about? Do share your favourite pairings

If you enjoyed this post and found it useful It would be great if you’d give it a ❤️