As usual many folk turn to traditional spring lamb at Easter – But what to drink with this traditional roast?
I’m no stickler for food and wine matching but Shiraz or Syrah has a reputation for complementing not just lamb but most roasts.
Shiraz and Syrah are one and the same, and it’s a grape with a long tradition. One popular myth is that its origins were 1000s of years ago in vineyards around Shiraz, Persia, and the Phoenicians took it to their Mediterranean colonies in Southern France from whence it migrated North up the Rhone to the slopes of Hermitage, and prospered.
Several thousand years later (1830s) early wine pioneer, Scotsman James Busby, transported various grape vines to Australia, including Syrah he had gathered in the Northern Rhone.
Here it was originally a workhorse, producing good yields of soft swigging reds. In the 80s Australian wine renaissance winemakers began to create premium wines from low yielding 100 year old bush vines and its reputation soared.
These premium reds from France and Aus would be the perfect foil to Easter lamb. Every single one.
WB
Wackus Bacchus tastes the Easter wine selection…
Côtes du Rhone 2012 E Guigal Majestic £12.99, Mix 6 £10.99
Deep ruby red, quite a developed savoury nose. A rich full bodied red with lashings of sweet ripe fruit. Soft mellow finish. Delicious.
Crozes-Hermitage 2015 M&S, £13
Deep, youthful crimson, hint of black olive and raspberry on the nose. Bright young fruit on the palate, a powerful, peppery wine with lovely texture, and smooth grainy tannins.
Saint-Joseph 2013 St Desirat, Waitrose, £14.99
Deep ruby, lovely complex aromas, fruit and spice on the palate and an extraordinary elegance for such a big, concentrated red. Spot-on typicity.
The Hedonist Shiraz, McLaren Vale Aus. Waitrose, £13.99
Very dark and brooding, amazingly herbal and minty bouquet. Very rich attack on the palate, chocolate and vanilla, long sweet ripe finish.
Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Shiraz Clare Valley Aus 2014, Majestic £14.99, Mix 6 £12.99
Deep ruby. More menthol and spice on the nose, delicate and elegance on the palate, belying its 14% alcohol. With a graceful, fine tannic finish.
Ebenezer & Seppeltsfield Shiraz Barossa Valley, M&S, £15
Darkly dense red, superbly delicate and complex aromas, yet a very rich powerful attack, sweet ripe fruit in the mid-palate, overlaid with a hint of tobacco and a lick of vanilla. Gorgeous.