What wines for Easter? Chocolate & cheese & beyond
This is part two of our Easter special.
Part one was all about the savoury side of Easter feasting! Please click here to read the best Wines to drink at Easter.
If you are planning a get together or just something to have in the fridge in case friends drop in, you will not just need something for the main meal, but also something for cheese. Or… you simply want something to enjoy with a chocolate egg!
Read on for our recommendations!
Part 2: The cheesy, chocolatey side of Easter….
Say Cheese!
Wines to go with your cheese course, or a cheese anti-pasti platter, usually are not that different from the rest of the meal. And it really doesn’t matter what order of the event you serve your cheeses.
As a rule of thumb:
- Fresh cheeses such as goats cheese go very well with sparkling white wine and very crisp whites. Even a dry rose will work here.
It is the acidity in these fresh cheeses you need to match with an acidic wine.
- Bloomy cheese such as Brie and Camembert go very well with Champagne and sparkling white wines, lightly oaked white wines, dry rose and some pinot noirs.
It is the fattiness in these cheese that needs acid, but also they are robustly flavoured so you need a wine to match.
- Mature hard cheese such as Cheddar & Manchego will match with red wines such as Rioja, malbec or a red with some tannins.
Hard cheeses have well formed proteins which will soften tannins in wine. Because of this softening, you need wine with tannins to keep that wine balanced with the cheese.
- Blue cheese such as the English favourite Stilton always goes well with a sweet wine or a dry red wine.
Blue cheeses are saltier. Therefore, that saltiness matches really well with sweet wines and with tannic red wines. Salt softens tannins in wines.
Why not try these:
Fresh cheese recommendations:
Bloomy cheese recommendations:
Mature hard cheese recommendations:
Blue cheese recommendations:
Eggs! Glorious Eggs!
Yes, it is ok to admit you still love Easter eggs. Now, what wine to match with chocolate? A sparkling red will certainly be a good match with milk and dark chocolate eggs.
A sparkling red wine, like the d’Arenberg Peppermint Paddock, has sweetly ripe berry fruit aromas and flavours. These are classic matches to chocolate, and many other flavours. That sweetness of the ripe fruit in this case, is also balanced and smoothed with some residual sugar.
In fact, this wine will also be a good match with lamb or duck.
(Editor’s tip!!! is a good wine as an aperitif with no food at all! )
