Wines of the week: Terry Kirby selects the best bottles for Easter Day
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Your support makes all the difference.Easter Day wines can be a problem if you neglected to buy in advance – large stores are closed, leaving just smaller supermarkets and independent dealers. But don't despair – here are three bottles you might, with a little perseverance, track down today for a family meal…
For fish
Greywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012
The much-praised rival to the celebrated Cloudy Bay is well worth searching out – amazingly vibrant, luscious flavours of gooseberry, kiwi, grapefruit and green peppers coupled with palate-tingling freshness. Sensational with shellfish or crustacea. £14.95, thewinesociety.com; £16, highburyvintners.co.uk; £16.99, martinez.co.uk
For chicken or lamb
Domaine Les Grandes Costes Pic Saint Loup 2009
The rocky outcrop of Pic Saint Loup is home to some of the finest wines of the Languedoc. Old, low-yield vines and long hot summers produce wines of terrific power and concentration using typical blends of Syrah and Grenache, as here, resulting in a generous mouthful of dark-black fruits and mountain herbs, undercut with spiciness. Available in about 440 Co-op fine wine stores, many of which are open today. £12.99, Co-op
For dessert
Blandys Duke of Clarence Madeira
At Easter, dessert really has to be based around chocolate, one of the most difficult foodstuffs to match with wine. Some ports and sherries suffice, but what about Portugal's other fortified wine, Madeira? Rich, ripe, nutty, fruity and warming, it has the required clean, dry finish to cut through anything too sweet and cloying. Wine Rack stores, one of the few remaining off-licence chains, are open; other independents may also stock this. £11.99, Wine Rack
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