Easter dinner is every bit the train wreck that Thanksgiving is, at least from the perspective of picking the perfect wine. Such abundance, such variety -- sweet stuff, tart stuff, salty stuff. No one wine will do. A forest of wine bottles would need to cover your table to accommodate pairings for the varied dishes.
So abandon all hope ye who aspire to find that “perfect” Easter wine.
What you can do is have a nice selection of what I call Goldilocks wines, not too big, not too small, not too oaky, wines that are juuust right.
I’m big on wines high in acidity. Acidic wines brighten flavors in many foods and have a refreshing, palate-cleansing quality. Acidic wines, generally speaking, are not fermented or aged in new oak barrels. Oaky wines make for tricky wine partners, and overly oaked wines can overshadow many dishes.
New Zealand sauvignon blancs are a crowd-pleasing, food-friendly choice. Some deride Kiwi sauvignon blancs as having a fruit salad quality, but when one of the Easter dinner dishes could be fruit salad (or roasted pineapple alongside a cherry-glazed ham), what could be better? If you’re having a gang over, these wines are pocketbook-friendly. You’d be hard-pressed to find one over $20. I particularly like Benchlands ($15) or Oyster Bay ($14).
A historically overlooked category for wine pairing is sparkling wine. Low in alcohol, crisply acidic and with just the right amount of celebratory spirit, bubbly makes most any dish a winner. I particularly like rose sparklers with fried foods. Southern fried chicken or fritto misto (fish or vegetable) pair nicely with brut-style pinkish bubbles. Not too long ago, I thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of H. Billiot & Fils Brut Rose ($56) from Champagne with deep-fried chicken breasts. A less-expensive option is Segura Viudas Brut Rose ($10) from Spain.
I’ve said it before and I’m briefly saying it again here: Gruner veltliner from Austria is my nominee for the most food-friendly wine in the world. My fave is the Nigl ($25). My second favorite is Domane Wachau ($17).
Lots of choices abound for red options that are nicely acidic, such as pinot noirs from cooler regions, barberas from northern Italy and garnachas/grenaches from Spain and southern France. A wine that I tried recently that defies categories (and would also make a pleasant choice for Easter dinner) is the Reserva Cabernet Franc-Carmenere from Oveja Negra ($13). Made in Chile’s Maule Valley, 200 miles south of Santiago, this medium-bodied wine goes nicely with most any dish and will put smiles on the faces of guests hankering for a cabernet sauvignon.
So, whether it’s ham, lamb or ratatouille, enjoy Easter dinner with a glass of wine and remember it is the people surrounding the table that are most important, not what’s on it.
Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator and a consultant for a metro Atlanta wine shop. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.
2010 Oveja Negra Cabernet Franc-Carmenere, Reserva,
Maule Valley, Chile
$13
Two thumbs up
Aromas of dark chocolate, black cherry and plum, with a note of black licorice and cola. Medium-plus body with juicy, tart, dark berry and cranberry fruit, with a pleasant minty, herbal note on the finish.
Note: Wines are rated on a rising scale of thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.
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