Wines for Easter!

Wines for Easter

Did you know that wine is mentioned 521 times in the Bible? So now we know the Good Lord intended us to drink wine, we just need to decide which one or ones to choose.

Traditional Easter Menus tend to centre around roasts, leg of spring lamb (buy local!) but sometimes Chicken or Beef are preferred. This begs the question, “Which wine goes best with what?”

Wines for Lamb

Wine is a very personal thing and I would never try to force my opinion onto anyone, however you can only drink Cabernet Sauvignon with roast lamb. It’s not just because it’s my favourite grape, it’s because it works. You need red wines with decent tannin structure, big fruit concentration, minty herbaceous flavours and a finish that can endure as long as the lamb itself. The goal is to have a wine with enough fruit and acidity to handle the robust flavours of the lamb, but not overpower it in the process.

The best ones are Indomita Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile or Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia, if you prefer old world wines you could seek out a good value Red Bordeaux or quality value Rioja like Marques de Caceres Crianza.

Wines for Roast Chicken

The old favourite Roast Chicken is fairly simple to make, and fairly simple to match with wine. When roasted it tends to be quite dry, so the best thing to do is use a wee bit of the wine for the gravy. Swirl out the roasting tray with the wine burning off most of the alcohol. You’ll need a big full bodied tropical Chardonnay, bursting with melons, bananas and mangos. Lightly oaked is best to give an extra complexity to the wine.

If you’re a traditionalist try the beautiful, delicate Macon Lugny (White Burgundy) from the family owned Ropiteau estate. If you prefer the big, full-on, fresh fruit salad it’s got to be Indomita Duette Casablanca Valley Chardonnay or the multiple award winning Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay. If you need a red fix on Sunday the best for Roast Chicken is Pinot Noir. Branken Hill Marlborough Pinot Noir or Chanson Bourgogne Pinot Noir will deliver silky smooth crushed raspberry and cherry fruits, divine!

Wines for Roast Beef

Good locally reared Northern Irish Beef and all the trimmings, including Yorkshire Puds, with rich red wine and wild mushroom gravy, I can feel an afternoon nap coming on just writing about it!

What to drink? So much choice with beef, if you prefer a peppered sauce you could go for a spicy Shiraz from Australia. Merlot is superb with its plumy earthy aromas. Tempranillo can do the trick with the oaky vanilla and jammy red berry fruits. Then again you could drink Cabernet Sauvignon? Tortoise Shell Bay Shiraz, Marques de la Concordia Tempranillo or Tempus Two Merlot.

Whatever you go for remember two things, enjoy in moderation and enjoy with good friends.

“A good wine begs to be shared”

Tempus Two Merlot

Indomita Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon

Ropiteau Macon Lungy 

Marques de Caceres Crianza

 For a full list of stockists in your area please contact info@unitedwines.co.uk or visit our website for more information www.unitedwines.co.uk                       

Calorie and Unit Counting?

I wonder how many of you have broken lent already? 

Whilst conducting wine tasting’s I’m often asked the question, how many calories or how many units are in a bottle of wine?

Wine calories are a hot topic right now, especially with all of the trendy Mediterranean based diets and red wine’s resveratrol tie to healthier hearts and trimmer waistlines.

Red wines typically have slightly lower amounts of residual sugar than white wines. So if you are strictly comparing apples to apples, the calories in red wines will often be a little lower than those found in a glass of white wine. Although, most nutrition charts don't split hairs on residual sugar content and allow for both red and white wines to weigh in at 25 calories per ounce of wine.

While white wines often retain more sugar in the fermentation process, the additional caloric burden is quite negligible, unless it is a sweet dessert wine or ice wine. For your typical Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and the like, you can still count on 25 calories per ounce of white wine.

Wine and Calories, the Bottom Line

Just like all other aspects of calorie-counting, it's the portion size that really matters. Most nutrition charts have a caloric content that is based on a 4 ounce glass of wine (literally a half cup), yet most wine glasses are filled with 5-6 ounces of wine, making a realistic glass of wine more like 125-150 calories per "real world" serving.

You will have noticed over the past year more and more low alcohol wines are going on to the market. Wines from 5.5%-11.5% abv are much more common. The difference between a light Prosecco Frizzante at 10.5% (approx 8 units) and a big Aussie Chardonnay at 14.5% (approx 11 units) is huge. If you like to drink moderately throughout the week stick to low alcohol wines and you’ll avoid that groggy feeling on a Tuesday morning -  McGuigan Black Label Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect example at 11% but for those special occasions it would be hard to resist South Africa’s finest – Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon at 14%.

Quote of the month “At the first cup man drinks wine, at the second wine drinks wine, at the third wine drinks man” Japanese Proverb.