For his preschool and kindergarten years, we enrolled our boy, Colin, at the Jewish community center near where we lived. At Purim, he dressed up as Mordecai; at Hanukkah, he got his dreidel. At home, though, we lived Catholic.
Colin loved his dual religionship.
“I get presents at Christmas and Hanukkah,” he gleefully said. “I get to hunt for Easter eggs and afikomen.”
This year, Easter and Passover occur close together, something that happens only every few years. (Passover begins at sunset April 18; Easter is Sunday April 24.) For my part, I plan to pull a “Colin” and celebrate both.
So, what does a St. John know from Passover? He knows that, at the dozens of Seder meals he’s happily attended over the years, his Jewish friends both tell a good story and eat lots of delicious food.
And each year, they drink better and better Passover wine. (That said, the original “red wine with fish” pairing is gefilte fish with Manischewitz.)
The two holidays’ togetherness this year provides ample occasion for lots of food and wine pairings. Here are some thoughts on those that will work profitably.
The Easter ham is very salty, its main danger to enjoying wine. Salt makes wines taste flat or dull, especially those low in acidity (many an American or Australian chardonnay, for example). Pick out wines high in acidity — cool-climate, low-tannin reds or crisp whites — to counterbalance the ham’s saltiness.
I believe the best match is tuned to the color dial: pink wine with pink meat, but always a rose with lots of bracing acidity.
Rich, full-on, tannic, deeply colored reds are the right pairing for roast lamb at Easter (or Pesach, should you choose it for the Seder meal). Lamb is such a sweet, fully flavored red meat, generally high in fat, that its best match for the palate is a wine that mollifies that fat and pairs up with that richness. That is, a big red.
When consumed together, red wine’s tannins erase the oleaginous impression of fat, while fat softens the astringent grip of tannin. They literally knock each other down — a great finale.
For the same reasons, a Seder brisket can benefit from a hearty red, especially a point cut or a fattier flat cut. Roast chicken or capon is delicious with a full-flavored white, although there is nothing wrong with a light red either.
Each year brings us better and better kosher wines, from many countries and especially from Israel. The Israelis have isolated those regions or sites that produce terrific wine grapes, perhaps the most promising being the Golan and Galilee overall.
Finally, a wine match for Peeps, the baleful, straight-staring, chick-shaped marshmallow product so sweet that they set the teeth to quailing. As a dessert, their only wine match can be that which is as sweet as they: a late harvest wine, to be sure, an ice wine perhaps. I found a wonderful one, from Israel too.
It’s even better with jelly beans.
Holiday pairings
Ham
2010 Cline Mourvedre Rose Contra Costa, California: Hot pink color, aromas and flavors of cranberries and strawberries — real strawberries, up there with fraises du bois — and a whisper of sweetness allayed by bracing acidity. $10
2010 Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose Coastal Region, South Africa: Aromatic and long on flavors of bright red fruits (strawberry, cherry) with hints of thyme and the minerally earth from which it comes; tight finish from great acidity. $12
Lamb
2008 Red Car Wines Syrah Box Car Sonoma Coast: In a northern Rhone (versus Central Coast) style, with fruit and earth on equal footing; tannins, rich extract, herbal-minty notes; juicy, utterly delicious. $15-$20
2007 Tre Rose Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Tuscany: Vino Nobile reminds me of lamb made into wine: The rich Sangiovese-dominated fruit is “sweet” (without, of course, any sugar, just rich concentration) and chewy, going round the mouth with flavor, grip and length; hints of smoke, blood, game, herbs and vanilla haunt in the finish. $18-$20
Brisket
2006 Galil Mountain Winery Yiron Red Blend Galilee, Israel: A mix of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, with a soupcon of syrah; dark chocolate and menthol are grace notes to the open aromas and flavors of blueberry, dark currant and blackberry; with soft, round tannins and good length. Kosher. $22
Roast chicken
2009 Joseph Drouhin Pommard Burgundy: Silky and long on the palate, with a nose of sweet cherries; a cleansing, even drying finish for its puffy tannins and whip-snap acidity. $50-$60
Peeps
2008 Yarden Heights Wine Galilee, Israel: Made of frozen gewurztraminer grapes, tasting of orange marmalade and dried apricots; stunning, electric balance between sweet and zesty. Kosher. $23 (375 milliliter bottle)
Note: If your wine store does not carry these wines, ask for one similar in style and price.
Bill St. John has been teaching and writing about wine for more than 30 years.
