Curious about what wine to serve on your Passover or Easter feast?

Photo: Adam Baker

What wine will you serve for your Sunday feast? Easter and Passover signify tradition, spring, renewal, and entertaining!

Once you’ve figured out your menu for either a brunch or dinner, then you might be thinking of which wine to pair with which food! 

You might think about providing a welcome drink – a bubbly

 to begin the celebration.

The La Burgondie Brut Reserve is often found at Trader Joe’s. This is one of my favourite French sparkling wines that sells for about $10. As it’s Brut, that means that it’s dry. This is an easy sipper and I notice a citrus flavour with a bit of acidity and lovely bubbles. 

Another choice for a welcome drink would be the Roederer Estate Brut Rosé. Here is what Jim Gordon of The Wine Enthusiast says about this wine “This is an assertive, flavorful and robust wine, with a medium to full body, a mouthfilling texture and fine-beaded bubbles. A creamy viscosity and wonderful layers of butter, apple, vanilla and ginger make for a delicious palate.” This California wine sells for about $30.

Did you know that in the Passover Seder dinner tradition, each person drinks four cups of wine? This is to represent freedom from the four exiles.

Often for Passover, a kosher wine is served. That means the wine production is under the supervision of Rabbis. You will see a letter U or K in a circle with a P in superscript.

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When I was in the grocery store, I heard someone asking for Kosher wine. He got pointed to the very popular wine for Passover – Manischewitz.

When I asked a friend what she wines she was serving for her Passover, she said she is featuring Unorthodox Kosher wines from South Africa.  In her words – she will serve the crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc and their beautiful Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Both of these wines retail for about $20. Check out the labels!

As often there is a wide selection of foods with the Passover Seder, you may want to have a range of wine to accommodate each type of food and personal preference. 

To get some other ideas you might want to check out the Best Kosher Wines under $20.

The tradition of serving wine at Easter possibly came from the Last Supper. Wine is considered to represent the blood of Christ in Holy Communion.

Here are some ideas of which wine to pair with each type of food. If you are serving a glazed ham, you will want to pair a sweet wine with it. Lamb has a stronger flavour so you want to pair this with a full bodied wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz. A dry rosé will work as well with some of these dishes, and rosé is a great spring wine! Enjoy your celebration, and let me know which wines you enjoyed!

Type of Food Suggested Whites Suggested Reds
Roast Chicken Chardonnay Lighter red such as a Pinot Noir
Glazed Ham Vouvray, Riesling Pinot Noir
Lamb   Cabernet Sauvignon or a Shiraz
Salmon Riesling  
Roasted Vegetables Grüner Veltliner or Albariño  
Roast Beef   Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot or Red Blend
 Apple Pie  Riesling