by Mary Bailey
What to serve with Easter dinner or brunch can be a conundrum—so many flavours on the table and so many different tastes to take into account. What’s a good host to do? Keep it simple. Offer wines that are home grown, of fantastic quality, a little unusual. Sparkling Gamay or a Pet Nat anyone?
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2020 Bella Sparkling Gamay Rosé
(Okanagan Valley, Canada). Not only is Bella a delightful glug, it’s made in such a wonderful lo-fi way—bottle-fermented, hand-riddled, hand-disgorged—here’s to non-intervention. A half bottle sets up brunch for two in the best possible way, $31.
2019 Blue Mountain Chardonnay
(Okanagan Valley, Canada). Lovely clementine and lemony citrus notes, kiss of toast, medium body, and it’s quite zippy with a long finish. Have with first course mussels or drink right through the meal. It would be delicious with quiche for brunch as well as the usual suspects for Easter dinner. Don’t serve this too cold, the substantial flavours and aromas will open up in the glass. With a limited production, even for a Canadian wine, Blue Mountain can’t be found everywhere, but you can usually find this bottling ($30), the Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and their exceptional bubbly at Color de Vino.
2018 Tantalus Old Vines Riesling
(Okanagan Valley, Canada). Made from vines planted in 1978, the OV has all the hallmarks of great Riesling—elegance, texture, complexity—layered with stunningly gorgeous fruit, lime and tangelo, yellow fruits, green herbs and a finish as long as time. Tantalus’ sublime Rieslings possess an uncompromising ribbon of acidity as fine as a Japanese blade, one of the elements that makes them so exciting and long lived, $37.
2019 Averill Creek Pinot Noir
(Cowichan Valley, Canada). Evanescent aromas of woods and berry evolve into concentrated flavours. Graceful and appealing, with lovely tension, and the firm acidity and ripe tannins provide the ideal structure to have with turkey or ham. This is top notch Pinot from one of Canada’s most interesting estates, $45.
2021 Trail Estate Pet Nat
(Prince Edward County, Canada). Pet Nat, short for pétillant naturellement, is, in a nutshell, a wine that is bottled during fermentation, creating a wine with a gentle carbonation, some sediment perhaps and a certain friendly rusticity. This fun bottling, made with Riesling, Baco Noir and Cabernet Franc, tastes of fresh berries warm from the sun, cloves, anise, along with a meaty earthy quality. Super drinkable at 10.5 per cent alcohol, it will get the party started, $39.
2020 Tawse Riesling
(Niagara Peninsula, Canada). News of the senseless death of Tawse winemaker Paul Pender brought this wonderful wine to mind. The first in the Riesling series from Tawse, made from fruit sourced around the peninsula, it’s just a terrific bottle of wine. Easy-going, off dry, beautifully balanced as well as refreshing, great value and delicious. When you drink it, make a toast to Paul. We have lost a wonderful human being, $23.
Find at better wine shops.