Easter sips to get you through the long weekend

Easter is a time to join with friends and family to enjoy a good meal with wine, beer ... or vodka, writes Yvonne Lorkin. Photo / 123rf

When Easter eggs and hot cross buns burst on the scene back in January, we collectively lost our minds at the audacity of it. “Heaven’s sake, we’ve still got our Christmas tree up!” we grizzled. “Summer’s gonna kick in any second!” But a few weeks, some floods, a cyclone and no summer to speak of later, it’s April and Easter already.

Personally, I’m eager to turn all that water into wine and I’m also seriously ready for a resurrection in the happiness stakes, that’s for sure. I’m also itching to forget the past few months by burying myself in delicious foody treats.

Easter’s the time when it’s completely acceptable to eat hot cross buns and hollow bunnies for breakfast, lunch and dinner, yet it’s also a time when finding something sippable to complement all those carbs and cocoa can sometimes feel a bit too-hard-basket. But fret not. Here are my holy holiday picks to see you through solo moments and family gatherings alike.

To sip with long weekend breakfasts:

Tohu Rewa Vintage Rosé Méthode Traditionnelle 2017 ($35)

This is sensational to serve with buttery croissants, perky pancakes or chunky fruit salad at that Easter brekkie or brunch. Named after Aotearoa’s native honeysuckle tree (rewarewa), this ballet shoe-hued bubbly is crafted from 100 per cent pinot noir and aged in bottle for 26 months on its yeast lees before disgorging. This injects soft, crazy-creamy, cherry, berry and nutty niceness to its lemony brioche and toasted hazelnut layers. Finely tuned and seriously stylish, please get some in your fridge pronto! Thegoodwine.co.nz

To sip with Easter chocolate:

Brockenchack Great Scott Eden Valley Sparkling Shiraz NV ($26)

Sparkling shiraz is the ULTIMATE wine style to sip with chocolate and, hands down, this is one of the most delicious examples I’ve ever tasted. A tribute to young Scott Pollock, the late son-in-law of Trevor and Marilyn Harch, owners of Brockenchack who was taken from his young wife and kids far too early, but this sparkling shiraz was his favourite wine and they think of him every time they raise a glass. Finally available in New Zealand, it charges your glass with bright pink effervescence and bursts into life with a raspberry and cinnamon spritz then releases a deliciously dry wave of pepper, black currant and plum on the palate with dark chocolate flavours on the finish. Brockenchack.nz

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Francesca 2016 ($90)

When you’re after a cockle-warmer to sip on these cool, autumn nights, this luxuriously lovely, spicy, nutty, plummy, port-style wine is wickedly lovely. Seven years on from harvest, it’s really hitting its caramelised, concentrated straps. Crafted from fruit grown on a few vines of Portuguese variety Touriga Francesa on Trinity Hill’s property, this wine was fermented and fortified then traditionally aged for 20 months in small oak casks. Intense magenta-black in the glass, with lifted, spicy plum and blackcurrant aromas and a palate bursting with dark sultana, spice and nutty complexity, this port has an incredibly luxurious, smoke-laced mouthfeel. It’s also vegan-friendly and dangerously delicious with anything chocolatey. Trinityhill.com

Liberty Brewing Prohibition Porter 330ml ($17)

Before you get all hissy and drag me on the socials, I agree there are a tonne of local beers that work brilliantly with chocolate, too many to mention actually. But this smoky, luxuriously toasty porter by the Liberty kids deserves to be singled out because it’s been crafted using rich, chocolatey brown malts and then aged for a long, sleepy time in charred oak bourbon barrels. That means it cuddles your tongue and gums with cocoa and caramel and gloriously fresh textures in every sip. If I were a chocolate bunny or a Cadbury Creme Egg, I’d be very afraid right now. Libertybrewing.co.nz

To sip with hot cross buns

Mount Brown Estates Grand Reserve North Canterbury Pinot Gris 2021 ($22)

Whether you bake your own or swing down convenience crescent and buy them from the supermarket, there’s nothing nicer to sip with a sneaky, late afternoon buttery hot cross bun than a glass of good pinot gris. The classic mixture of baking spices, sultanas, citrus peel and oozing melted butter in those buns cries out for something that’ll complement and sooth every bite. So with its generous, pear brulee perfume and sweet almond layers, this juicy, generously proportioned example from North Canterbury is it. Boasting incredible richness, freshness and spicy succulence in every sip, it’ll wake even the dullest taste buds from the dead. Mountbrown.co.nz

Gold Digger Central Otago Sparkling Pinot Gris 440ml ($14.40)

Freshen up every bite of your classic hot cross bun (and I mean “classic”, because all those newfangled “chocolate”, “cheese” or “bacon” flavoured buns can get in the bin) with a spritzy sip of this heady scented, nashi and quince-stacked sparkler from a can. Fresh, yet deeply generous in terms of spicy flavours, it has a splash of sweetness and refreshing textures to cuddle up to anyone’s warm toasty buns. Made by the team at Māori Point in Central Otago, this highly sustainable packaging just adds to its appeal. Maoripoint.co.nz

National Distillery Hot Cross Bun Vodka ($67)

Distilled in Hawke’s Bay, this limited edition hot cross bun vodka is well within its rights to say: “I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the perfect Easter martini except through me.” This exotically spiced vodka with subtle vanilla notes, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, citrus and sultana complexity is the perfect drink for late autumn afternoons. Pour a slug solo or mix with a splash of lemonade or whip into an Easter martini with dry vermouth for a holy experience. Glengarrywines.co.nz

To Sip with the Easter Roast

Ant Moore A+ Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020 ($24)

I like that this wine is labelled A+ because it’s achieving top marks for its smooth, soothing, balsamic-soaked fruitiness, it’s spiciness and cherry-saturated mid-palate. It has the soft, earthy personality that enriches the plushness of pinot noir and gives you a plump, savoury-edged impression. Each sip also reveals truth in lots of things. For example, our parents were actually right all along. The music is too loud. So pop in some earbuds, play some soothing Bon Iver and prepare yourself a roast leg of lamb with smoked aubergine. Blackmarket.co.nz

Esk Valley Artisanal Collection Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022 ($24)

Here’s a chardonnay that’ll wow the crowds and get the party started and, holy Handee Towels, is it juicy or what! With classic flavours of peach, fresh pineapple, and grapefruit alongside gorgeously balanced acidity, it’s a chardonnay crammed with citrus creamy almond meal layers and laced with a soft tug of toasty oak. Texture-wise it’s mouthwateringly succulent, beautifully proportioned and the knees of the bees with a good old roast chook clogged with herby stuffing and swimming in gravy. Advintage.co.nz

Te Mata Estate Awatea Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2021 ($40)

Awatea is affectionately known as baby Coleraine and it’s already a national icon — but this brand new release from the holy trinity of Hawke’s Bay vintages (2019, 2020, and 2021) is set to catapult it into global stardom. Smoke-laced blueberry and liquorice combine with dark plum and white pepper on the nose, while a whisper of charred oak supports a core of dark cocoa, berry, bay, and tobacco. The tannins have a fine-grained grip and velvety cling, adding to its stylish presence and making it roar with roast beef with rosemary and caramelised onion gravy. Temata.co.nz