Easter is celebrated around the world, and each country and culture has traditional dishes passed down from generation to generation. With the grand diversity of it all, choosing a wine that fits with everything can seem more than challenging, but take heart: the key is to choose wines that are versatile enough to pair with the variety of foods. Aligra has a great selection of suitable wines to cover every menu. Of course, some wines will be more suited than others, and that’s what this list is all about. I’ve chosen wines that will match with the more traditional menu items, and there’s enough flexibility on this list to mix and match. My analogy is a baseball game. You’re trying to first of all stay on the playing field and trying not to strike out. You want to get hits; it doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s a single, a double, or a triple. If you hit a homer, great, but you just want to stay in the game! The list of wine is a ‘low-high’, except for the rosés and my choice for the starter: these are so friendly they will go along with most menu choices.  As for the whites and reds, if you want a great wine for not too much cash outlay, then go for the low. If you want to splurge a bit, go for the high. Either way, the price points aren’t too extreme in either direction. I haven’t chosen the most inexpensive, nor the most expensive. Let’s get started!

To Start

You’re all set for the big dinner. Friends and family are arriving, and you’ve got appies to tide them over until the main event. You need a versatile wine that’s not going to break the bank and that will accommodate whatever nibblies you’ve prepared.

The wine:

Riunite Lambrusco Frizzante IGT Emilia, Italy. $13.98. This wine was wildly popular in the 1980’s, so much so that various unscrupulous entities riffed on the name and made some rather un-Lambrusco-like concoctions. As a result, it could be said that Lambrusco is one of the most scorned and least understood wines in the global market today. This expression is ebullient, expressive and entirely quaffable. It has almost vibrating magenta and scarlet tones, with a nose of bing cherry, bumbleberry, and vanilla cola. The palate is frothy, with an explosion of blackberry, sour cherry jam, and vanilla notes. Light and lively with a nice dry, clean finish.

It will pair with a whole range of appies, from savory to spicy.

Rosé

These rosé wines will pair very nicely with about anything on your dinner menu, including some of those very tricky vegetable dishes (think asparagus). They will be best suited to fowl, pork, and lamb.

• Gerard Bertrand Cote des Rosés Grenache/Syrah/Morvedre Languedoc, France,  2017 $26.99
• Spier Signature Collection Rosé Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2018 Stellenbosch, South Africa $15.99
• Dirty Laundry Hush Blush VQA Okanagan Valley 2018 $27.99

   

   

   

   

  White

  The whites listed are geared for Easter fair: roasted fowl (mainly turkey, but not excluding richer options like duck or goose), and accompanying vegetable dishes. They will also take on glazed hams, and even rack of lamb. The bubblies I’ve listed (one a vin mousseaux, the other a full champagne) are the perfect Easter breakfast wine, to accompany your egg dishes, and all the other fixin’s you’ve got planned. They’re also great to have around for any time all day!!

   

Red

We’re going for reds that can tackle not only the roasted fowl, ham and lamb, but will also take on beef or game dishes, roasted or grilled.

So there you have it. The wines listed will get you through the Easter festivities; if you want to explore different options, then use the list as a starting point. Either way, on behalf of everyone here at Aligra, here’s wishing you and all your loved ones a happy, blessed Easter!