- Food Pairings
Celebrate with these Easter drinks and food pairings
Hunting for Easter lunch ideas? This guide will help you find the best drinks to serve alongside your favourite Easter Sunday dishes.
For many of us, Easter Sunday lunch or dinner is every bit as exciting as the big Christmas do. A melt-in-the-mouth roast with all the trimmings, buttered hot cross buns and indulgent chocolate desserts are traditions worth keeping, teamed with relaxed entertaining that makes the most of the beautiful autumn weather.
It’s a great time to bring the whole family together over a wonderful meal. Get cracking on your Easter lunch menu plan then treat your guests to the perfect drink pairings for every dish.
Appetisers with an Aperol cocktail
The perfect way to start your celebrations is with an aperitivo. A bittersweet spirit like Aperol will get guests in the mood for a feast and it pairs perfectly with salty, moreish finger foods like olives, charcuterie, arancini balls and smoked salmon.
The festive bright orange of this spirit echoes its citrusy flavour hit. Play it up with a simple Aperol grapefruit soda spritz that’s as refreshing as it looks. Combine Aperol Aperitivo in a glass with ice, pour over Fever-Tree Pink Grapefruit Soda and garnish with ruby red grapefruit wedge. Voila!
Cheese and sour beers
If you’re planning on serving a few of your favourite soft cheeses before or after the main event, put aside what you know about how to match wine with cheese and consider pouring a sour beer to go with them.
Many sour beers, such as the classic Berliner Weisse style, are made using lactic fermentation and the result is not dissimilar to wine in acidity, body and complexity, so they’re a great choice for a cheese pairing.
Soft-ripened cheeses like camembert, brie and goat cheese have buttery, creamy, grassy flavours and a lush, oozy texture that’s a natural fit for the funky, slightly sweet and fruity edge of a sour. We love the Innate Very Cherry Berliner Weisse craft brew with a gooey soft cheese
Hot cross buns and hazy pale ales
It’s not Easter without a hot cross bun! Bursting with fruit, lightly spiced, and always drenched in butter, these traditional treats are delightful as a snack or a dessert.
What drink to pair with your bun? Consider this a great opportunity to think outside the bread basket. With malty sweetness and a juicy, fruity flavour profile, a golden, hazy craft beer can be magic alongside a hot cross bun.
The bold, bitter hops of a hazy deliver citrus notes that work perfectly with the tart sweetness and fragrant spices in a good hot cross bun, while the brew’s malt undertones play up the wholesome flavours of the bread. Serve the bun toasted and slathered in butter for an extra textural experience.
Young Henry’s Hazy Pale Ale combines oats, wheat and malted grains to create a smooth brew with bright citrus and pine flavours – delicious with a toasted hot cross bun. We also like the Bright Brewery White Out Hazy IPA.
Roast lamb and rosé
If you’re planning to centre your Easter lunch around a spectacular lamb dish, you’re onto a winner. Easter is synonymous with delicious lamb roasts, whether you go for a delicate, blushing-pink rack of lamb or an unctuous slow-cooked leg or shoulder.
You’ll need a great wine to set off the distinct flavour of lamb. While a hearty red like an Australian shiraz or cab sav is a safe bet, a dry and fruity rosé also makes an excellent accompaniment. The berry notes and tangy acidity of rosé are a fantastic foil for the garlic and herb flavours and rich fattiness of lamb. It also pairs beautifully with the traditional trimmings: crispy roast potatoes, steamed, buttered greens and salads.
With creamy berry flavours, a dry palate and a lightly spiced finish, the Thistledown Gorgeous Grenache Rose is, well, gorgeous with lamb, or other light meats like roast chicken or pork.
Whole roast or stuffed veg with pinot noir
If you’re vegetarian or just love making the most of Australia’s fantastic seasonal produce, you’ll want a standout vegetable dish on your Easter lunch menu. A whole roast cauliflower, stuffed field mushrooms or a stuffed and baked pumpkin can be every bit as jaw-dropping as roasted meats. The perfect wine match? A light, silky red like pinot noir.
Pinot noir’s spicy, cherry notes bring out the earthy flavours of autumnal veg dishes like mushrooms drenched in garlic butter and sprinkled with a crunchy breadcrumb topping, nutty roast cauliflower with warming spices, or a whole pumpkin stuffed with barley and cranberries. If you’re serving up one of these showstoppers, the bright cherry and red plum notes of 6ft6 Pinot Noir would be a brilliant match.
Pinot noir is a foodie all-rounder that’s ideal for an Easter feast, so go ahead and open a bottle for the table if you’re serving a veggie centrepiece alongside roast lamb, duck or even a fillet of beef.
Chocolate with whisky… or rum
There’s no such thing as too much chocolate at Easter, from piles of gorgeously wrapped eggs to indulgent desserts like chocolate mousse, tart or truffles.
A rich chocolate tart makes for an elegant finish to your Easter feast, especially if you allow the bitter notes of dark chocolate to shine. Pair it with a nip of Morris Signature Australian Single Malt Whisky and enjoy the biscuit aromas and warming caramel and marzipan flavours with the silky chocolate filling.
The Flor de Caña 12 Year Old Rum is a semi-sweet, slow-aged dark rum with delicious nougat, almond and butter flavours on the palate. It’s ideal served neat alongside a decadent chocolate mousse or your favourite dark chocolate Easter egg.
Products featured are available from 06/03/23 to 11/04/23, while stocks last. Some products or varieties featured may not be available in all stores.
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