Easter Dinner Wines

With the two big turkey holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) behind us, the question is: will it be ham, lamb, pork or fish, and which wines should you be drinking?

Today, I wanted to explore some of the classic wine and food matches of Easter, and provide just a touch of practical theory behind the pairings. I should confess I firmly believe that there are no rules any more when it comes to pairing food and wine, but there are sensible boundaries to consider. Mothers have often emphatically asked, "If your friends jump off the top of a mountain, would you do it too?" Decades down the road, I now know my mom was pre-paring me for the nightmare scenarios of people drinking shiraz with halibut and caber-net with sushi because someone once told them that drinking red wine is good for you.

There may not be any wine pairing rules in the new world of wine but common sense and years of experience have taught me some wines are better with certain foods than others. We explore that thought as we pre-pare for Easter dinner with the relatives.

One of Easter's problematic matches is that handsomely glazed ham awash in sugar (pineapple) and salt. Both ingredients tend to bring out the bitterness and tannins in wine. The pairing is not insurmountable as long as you think about fruity, lighter structure reds with supple tannins. In this case Grenache or a Grenache blend fits the bill and or a similar structured Pinot Grigio/Gris would be equally acceptable.

Our red wine pairing is the Delas Saint Esprit Côtes du Rhône 2009, a spicy savoury, smoky blend of Grenache and Syrah. The attack is smooth with fresh acidity, light tannins and easy sipping, black cherry, licorice, chocolate and thyme flavours. The fruit and acidity makes it a fine match for the ham and its sweet glaze. It's good value too.

My white suggestion is the locally produced Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2010. This wine is consistent from year to year, bringing a dash of colour and rich red apple, pink grapefruit, mineral aromas. The entry is welcoming with a touch of Alsace character and citrus, honey, melon flavours that finish with a twist of spice. Love the balance here, and it will work with ham.

Lamb is more of a slam dunk pairing for Syrah or Shiraz. A roasted leg of lamb allows for plenty of manoeuvring room with red wine, but the classic match is Syrah/Shiraz. Plenty of minty, lamb flavours call for an equally intense red to tame them and you get that with shiraz/Syrah. To that point try the Katnook Founder's Block Shiraz 2008, from Coonawarra, South Australia. Typically savoury and more on the cool side, you can expect a smooth, round, fresh palate with light tannins and gamy, peppery, blueberry, black olive, smoky tobacco coffee flavours. There's good fruit and complexity on the finish, and the price is fair. Surely this will melt every mouthful of lamb.

The delicate flavour of pork makes it an ideal candidate for citrus-based marinades and you can choose red or white wine for the match. The blancs, Sauvignon or Chenin are no-brainers as are most rosés and if you are using oranges as part of the recipe think Viognier.

Our pick for Easter is the highly appealing Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2010 - a fresh blend of cinsault, Grenache and Syrah that sells for a mere $14. It has a highly appealing, eye of the partridge colour to accompany a fresh, floral fruity nose. The entry is dry with fine acidity and citrus strawberry fruits, all with a crisp clean finish. Agree-ably round yet crisp, with the perfect touch of sweetness, it will easily tame the pork.

Let's see - all that leaves is the salmon. B.C.'s signature fish is a welcome sight at most meals and as we have come to expect, it can be prepared in a number of ways. In its simplest form, the pre-meal smoked salmon (and cream cheese) can be a delight to share with your dinner guests. In this case I'm sticking to a young, gulp-able Riesling. The almost opulent textures and smoke of this dish will be perfectly balanced by a fresh, fruity, zesty Riesling. Think local for this match and grab yourself a bottle of Cedar Creek Riesling 2010. The style is fresh with a little less upfront sweetness, and more mid-palate citrus and limy notes. Juicy, fun to sip and solid value in a simple straight-forward affordable Riesling.

If salmon is the main course, you may want to consider the classic B.C. presentation of cedar-planked salmon. In this case the dense "meaty" oily fish with its smoky flavours is often excellent with Pinot Noir. In this case I'm recommending Domaine Faiveley Mer-curey 2009, a fresh, round, elegant style Pinot with cedar, raspberry, strawberry jam, peppery, herbal, gamy flavours that will easily subdue the fish with-out overpowering its flavours.

That should settle any food and wine questions for dinner. Whether or not you jump off any mountains when the relatives arrive is completely up to you. Happy Easter.

Delas Saint Esprit Côtes du Rhône 2009, Rhone Valley, France

Price: $18

UPC: 00123215729938

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Expect delicious black cherry, peppery, licorice, savoury, thyme flavours.

Gray Monk Pinot Gris 2010, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

Price: $17

UPC: 778829110209

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Enjoy the citrus, honey, melon flavours with your ham.

Katnook Founder's Block Shiraz 2008, Coonawarra, South Australia, Australia

Price: $20

UPC: 636662042623

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Fine fruit and complexity reflecting its cooler region. Good value.

Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2009, Côtes-du-Ventoux, Rhone Valley, France

Price: $13

UPC: 03430560001693

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Dry with fine acidity and citrus strawberry fruits, all with a crisp, clean finish.

Cedar Creek Riesling 2010, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

Price: $18

UPC: 778913020025

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Juicy, fun to sip and perfect for the smoked salmon.

Domaine Faiveley Mercurey 2009, Mercurey, Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy, France

Price: $29

UPC: 003351002890913

Score: 87/100

Remarks: Gamy, raspberry, barnyard, licorice strawberry jam flavours.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Foolproof+pairings+Easter/6425106/story.html#ixzz1rZFMyZcn