With the privations of Lent coming to an end, it’s time to dial up the festivities with some great value wines (and food).
The spring lamb is in the oven and the children are slumped in a chocolate-induced slumber in front of Peppa Pig – it’s time for the chef to crack open a few bottles for the Easter weekend. We’ve selected three excellent value wines to accompany your festivities: two reds for the roast centrepiece and a white to go with fish. Whether Easter, Passover or you’re looking forward to Beltane’s more pagan Bacchanalia (or indeed none of the above), it’s an excellent time to gather round a convivial table and welcome in nature’s renewal. Raise a glass to the vine especially – it will just be breaking bud in the northern hemisphere, ready to start its yearly growth cycle once again.
A beautiful piece of organic lamb is rightly the jewel in the crown of the spring table. Roasted pink and studded with garlic, it is traditionally seasoned with robust herbs like rosemary and thyme, but also loves the freshness of mint and parsley. Mint sauce is a classic accompaniment – a simple high-acid condiment made from fresh mint, vinegar and sugar, beloved of the English and much puzzled over by everyone else. Adjust it slightly, call it salsa verde or chimichurri, and everyone’s happy.
You need a wine that can match this green, herbal, acid-savoury profile. Cabernet Sauvignon was born for the job with its robust, often slightly herbaceous palate. Your favourite Bordeaux blend (provided it is Cabernet heavy) would be great, but for something slightly different and excellent value to boot, I recommend Cabernet Sauvignon’s parent grape: Cabernet Franc. Slightly fresher in tannin and more perfumed on the palate, Cabernet Franc shares the green, herbaceous weight of its offspring, making it a prime lamb-worthy contender. It features in many a Bordeaux blend, but the Loire Valley is its second home where it makes lighter wines like Chinon and Borgueil. Both would be good choices, but I’m going instead for a wine from the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Tenute Tomasella is a lovely estate located on the borders of Veneto to the west. There, the sustainability-conscious, bee-loving folk of the winery produce a lovely un-oaked Cabernet Franc with the characteristic piquant red fruits, green bell-pepper aromas and savoury bass notes that will flatter your lamb perfectly. There’s a whiff of smoke about this wine that will go so well with roasted crust of the meat, even better if the weather allows you to call the barbecue out from its winter hibernation.
If you are looking for a kosher wine, then there are quite a few excellent Bordeaux blends that include Cabernet Franc in the mix: Domaine du Castel’s widely available La Vie Rouge du Castel is lovely, or opt for their Rosé du Castel. Both will go well with the roast and can be served chilled in honour of the warm days to come.
Duck is often an Easter treat in our household: amongst other things, it’s an excuse to raid the Pinot Noir stores. Wild duck season is now over (in the UK), so you’ll be heading for a relatively plump, less gamey farmed bird. A wonderful Gressingham duck is easy to source and of a consistently high quality but smaller free-range suppliers like Creedy Carver Farm are worth seeking out too. If you are already longing for the summer holidays in southern France, then confit duck can make a lovely alternative to a fresh bird. Serve it crisp from the oven and juicily yielding within.
If you give in to the full bean-and-sausage heft of cassoulet then go for the Cabernet Franc above, but if you’re sticking to roasting your bird, fresh or confit, then the ephemeral delights of Pinot Noir are definitely on the menu. A classic Burgundy would of course be superb here. The tartness of its red-fruited cherry and cranberry, the spiciness of its clove undercut by the gentle rhythm of mushroomy loam and pleasingly soft tannins make any duck dish sing. But, again, I am tempted away from the traditional heartlands for a breath of the new, where there’s often more value to be had into the bargain.
California’s Hollywood-led Pinot boom continues apace, much to the delight of all those who have a penchant for the grape. In the centre of the state’s long coastline lies the beautiful town of Monterey. Nearby, the Salinas River Valley funnels cool air from the bay providing an ideal environment for the grape to thrive inland. It is here that Rocklin Ranch craft their Pinot Noir into a bold single varietal with all the ripe-cherry fruits, crushed raspberry and supple tannins you would expect. There is spice and a little vanilla from oak (of course, this is California!) but it is very well integrated and will only enhance the duck. There’s a nice weight to the wine as well – not heavy but steering well clear of the pale and wan end of the Pinot market. What makes this wine really good value though is the relative complexity of its forest floor, truffly notes. There are layers to its woodland charm, details that beguile and linger like wood smoke at the edge of memory.
Fish usually features on Easter menus sometime during the festivities (Good Friday being the obvious candidate) so a white is in order too. Rather than lightly poached and sauced fayre, I tend to favour the homey comforts of a fish pie. That’s not to say a pie can’t be refined: adding some smoked haddock or salmon to the usual flakes of cod or pollack instantly turns up the interest. Monkfish and hake can make good sustainable choices too. Pop in some fleshy prawns (not small ones, they overcook), muscles or scallops and swap out the mash for a pastry topping and you’re really pushing the boat out. You could give Rick Stein’s Rather Special Fish Pie a go if the mood takes you. It’s from his seminal English Seafood Cookery and it’s a belter. Or how about our rather elegant version courtesy of Andrew McConnell, chef and owner of the Builders Arms Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. What these pies have in common is that the fish is swathed in a velouté-based sauce enriched with butter, cream and sometimes cheese. Often the likes of parsley and/or the more insistent anise of dill provide a herbal hum too. All of this makes for quite a tall order for the average white wine. But who wants average anyway; be decisive and go for something decidedly different in the shape of an Australian Semillon. It’s the same grape as Bordeaux’s Sémillon, it just lost its accent somewhere in transit.
Hunter Valley Semillon is a style all its own, and one not hugely well known in Europe. But it is one worth seeking out, particularly when handled by experts like Tyrrell’s. Hunter Valley is in New South Wales and it’s a pretty hot, humid place cooled by the odd sea breeze but otherwise intensely sunny. To make a crisp white, the local vignerons pick the Semillon early, locking in the citrus sunshine and high-acidity whilst ensuring it is pleasingly light-bodied, with refreshingly low alcohol.
Thereafter, they tend to forgo oak but age the wine instead in bottle, sometimes for quite a while. What emerges is an unusually lifted, fresh wine that also has complexity from age and added texture from lees. An altogether interesting proposition. The Tyrell’s I tried most recently was still an infant (the 2021 vintage) but it was already showing signs of maturity that, matched with a fresh zestiness, meant it could stand up to creamy sauces and cheesy gratin toppings with ease. Lighter fish-friendly wines like Albariño or Muscadet might baulk at the job, whereas more robust Chardonnays and Viogniers are apt to take the richness too high: a Hunter Valley Semillon hits the mark and makes a lovely, novel alternative. Happy feasting!
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