ShelfLife Special Tasting: Spring into wine

ShelfLife's resident wine expert, Helen Coburn, suggests wines to complement the Easter favourites of lamb and turkey, not to mention chocolate!

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With the budget gone and Easter late enough to bring on thoughts of summer, retailers can hopefully look forward to some extra wine sales and it’s worth highlighting some seasonal food and wine matches to help things along. A late Easter means well priced lamb in the shops and, in recent years, more people have also been choosing turkey. Both meats go well with robust white wines and with reds that stop short of the heaviest styles. With lamb, it’s best to choose wine with sufficient acidity to cut the fattiness. Turkey is adaptable stuff but very tannic reds are sometimes not a successful match. There are some matches which we think work well. When it comes to after dinner, chocolate is pretty much the byword, so we have a few suggestions for that as well. Prices approximately retail.

Whites

Moret-Nomine Meursault Sous la Velle 2008 (Liberty €38). Let’s just start at the top, shall we? Good chardonnay should give you the acidity you need with lamb and enough body to cope with the richness of the meat as well. It’s also a natural for turkey. This special treat from Burgundy has flavours of toast, lemon and cream and good weight and length, if you can stand the price.

Redbank Long Paddock Victoria Chardonnay 2008 (Cassidy €12.50). And if the Meursault’s too pricey, this is a great alternative. Subtle baked bread notes add to dry lemon flavours and perfectly balanced acidity; great with turkey and chicken and will survive the lamb.

Chateau Bel Air Bordeaux Blanc 2007 (Barry Fitzwilliam €17). This is sauvignon blanc and semillon and it’s perfect for turkey and chicken. Fresh green fruit is smoothly underpinned with a slightly nutty, ripe lemon streak – worth splashing out on.

Rosé

Chateau de Sours Bordeaux Rosé 2010 (Gleeson Gilbey €15). Provided it doesn’t have a load of residual sugar, rosé can work very well with lamb and it can be good with turkey as well. This one is dry, nicely concentrated, with agreeable fruit and well balanced acidity. A rosé worth its premium price.

Red

Cycles Gladiator California Pinot Noir 2008 (Bubble Bros €16). Very decent varietal character for the price, with enough body and acidity for lamb and not too much tannin for the turkey. Good all rounder.

Carmen Reserva Chile Pinot Noir 2009 (Dillons €11.19). Great value and perfect turkey match, but the red berry flavours really complement lamb as well.

Velenosi Rosso Piceno Superiore 2007 (Searson €13). This Italian has that fresh berry flavour that’s perfect with lamb, yet isn’t too tannic for turkey or chicken. Elegant stuff that tastes more than its price.

Principe de Viana Crianza Navarra 2006 (Febvre €13). Has that touch of greenness that seems to compliment lamb, but there’s plenty of tasty berry fruit as well and a hint of spice. 

Loma Larga Casablanca Chile Cabernet Franc 2005 (Gleeson Gilbey €18). Cabernet franc and lamb are generally a good match, thanks to the acidity in the grape which survives even in hot climates. This has fresh yet ripe berry flavours which go perfectly with red meat. It could be a bit structured for turkey but if you’ve got lots of gravy and trimmings, go ahead.

Domaine Mabileau Nicolas de Bourgueil 2009 (Searson €16). This time it’s a French cabernet franc and another great lamb match.

With Chocolate…

Quady Starboard Batch nv (James Nicholson €13.50). This is a Californian made from port grapes and it’s a sort of sticky toffee pudding in a glass. Great with chocolate sweets or rich choc desserts.

Valdivia Pedro Ximenez nv (Febvre €16). Lush raisins and toffee make up this palate and a spoonful of creamy, chocolate dessert really rounds things out. Alternatively, it’s delicious spooned over ice cream.

Pieropan Colombare Recioto di Soave 2006 (Liberty €19). This has more acidity than the others so it’s best with fruit desserts but can work well with white chocolate, cakes and mousses.

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