Be a purist when it comes to Easter.
Celebrate the supernatural resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Enjoy the chocolate egg the Easter Bunny hid and you found.
Eat a scrumptious glazed ham for dinner.
And pair it all with the right wines.
Milk chocolate, which is so popular at Easter, is a tricky wine pairing.
You must choose a white wine that is slightly sweeter to complement the chocolate's sweetness and creaminess or a low-tannin red wine that won't make you pucker after eating chocolate.
Three excellent options are the lush Moselland Ars Vitis 2024 Mosel Riesling ($17) from Germany as an off-dry white, and the Liquidity 2023 Estate Pinot Noir ($35) from Okanagan Falls and Louis Latour 2023 Bourgogne Gamay ($31) from France as light, low-tannin reds.
Interesting story about the Riesling, the grape grower, Heinz Ames, also did the label art, which is a reproduction of a watercolour he did substituting the water in the paint with Riesling wine.
These three wines can serve double-duty because they are also perfect pairings for Easter ham dinner with scalloped potatoes and roasted vegetables.
Here are five other wine recommendations for your Easter ham dinner.
They'll also pair well with roast turkey, if your Easter supper is going to be bird.
As well, you can sip them on their own before dinner if you want to slip out on the patio as the sun shines.
- CedarCreek 2024 Chardonnay ($26)
Made by the Kelowna winery of grapes from Oregon and California after the cold snap of January 2024 meant no Okanagan grape harvest in the fall of 2024.
Lightly oaked and elegant, this Chard will elevate the Easter meal.
- Road 13 Select Harvest 2024 Rose ($28)
Made by the Oliver winery of grapes from a cool-climate region in California.
Easter is also synonoymous with spring and nothing kick-starts spring like a glass of pink.
- Joie 2024 Pacific Northwest Edition Un-oaked Chardonnay ($25)
Made by the Naramata Bench winery of grapes from Washington state.
Un-oaked means no fermentation or aging of the wine in oak barrels for a clean and fresh Chard with aromas and flavours of apple and lime.
- Red Barn 2025 Lost Art Semillon ($30) from Oliver
This wine is note-worthy on three fronts.
First, it's a new release from the 2025 vintage, which sees a return to Okanagan grapes after 2024's frigid weather and grape replacement program.
Second, you don't see Semillon much in the Okanagan, so this is novel, special and delicious.
Third, the wine is aged in concrete tanks for extra texture, interest, mouthfeel and minerality.
- CedarCreek 2025 Sauvignon Blanc ($25)
It's a new-release 2025, but the Kelowna winery continued to make the wine with grapes from New Zealand, the famous hallmark for New World Sauv Blanc that's herbaceous and fruity.
Happy Easter!
Winners
The 2026 Canadian Wine Industry Awards and BC Wine Industry Awards were handed out this week at the BC Wine Industry Insight Conference in Penticton.
The winners:
- Canadian Award of Distinction
The Stewart family, owners of Quails' Gate Winery in West Kelowna
- Canadian Champion Award
Miles Prodan, retired CEO of Wine Growers BC
- Karl Kaiser Canadian Winemaker Award
Andrzej Lipinski from Big Head Wines in Ontario's Niagara region
- BC Leadership Excellence Award
Rhys Pender, wine writer and educator and co-owner of Little Farm Winery in Cawston
- BC Ultimate Wine Ambassador
Brynne Dickson from CedarCreek Winery in Kelowna
- BC Master Marketer
Jenna White, ThatBCWineGirl
Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at [email protected]. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.
