Wines for the Easter Meal: Our Selection to Celebrate with Elegance

Easter is one of those occasions where the table is set with care, where guests deserve the very best and where wine becomes an integral part of the ritual. Whether it’s an aperitif with family, a roast lamb dinner or a leisurely Sunday among friends, here is a selection of wines carefully chosen to elevate your Easter weekend — from the most prestigious bubbles to wines of character, by way of luminous whites and charming rosés. Here are our selection of wines for the Easter meal.

Champagne: The Art of Celebrating with Panache

Easter invariably begins with a flute. It may as well be the right one. Here are five cuvées that embody the finest Champagne has to offer — from the aperitif pour to the cellar masterpiece.

Bollinger Special Cuvée

If there is one Champagne that truly embodies the gentleman, it is Bollinger. A family-owned, independent house founded in 1829, Bollinger vinifies in oak barrels — a rarity in Reims. The Special Cuvée presents a deep golden robe, a nose of ripe apple, brioche and toasted hazelnut, with that warm, vinous signature that immediately sets the house apart. A Champagne for the table as much as the aperitif, perfectly suited to salmon en croûte, lobster or roast poultry. Sovereign.

Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec agency: Sélections ŒNO

• SAQ code: 384529 (750 ml)
• SAQ code: 10351808 (1.5 L)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 384529 (750 ml)
• LCBO code: 490482 (1.5 L)
• LCBO code: 20002 (3.0 L)

Bollinger Rosé

From the same house, this non-vintage rosé is a statement. An assemblage of reserve wines vinified in oak barrels — the hallmark of Bollinger — it presents a luminous salmon robe, a nose of wild strawberry, cherry and a characteristic brioche note. On the palate, the structure is present, the freshness assured, with that vinous generosity that immediately distinguishes the house. A Champagne rosé to open the Easter festivities with panache. Sovereign.

Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec agency: Sélections ŒNO

• SAQ code: 10955741 (750 ml)
• SAQ code: 12102303 (1.5 L)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 100503 (750 ml)

Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé

Founded in 1818 and remaining in the same family for over two centuries, Billecart-Salmon is one of the rare great Champagne houses to remain entirely independent. Its Brut Rosé is a world reference: a salmon robe of absolute delicacy, a nose of fresh raspberry and white flowers, an airy palate of remarkable precision. A rosé that opens festivities with incomparable grace and carries through to dessert. Radiant.

Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

Availability: Please contact the Canadian agent, Sélect Vins

Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill consumed several cases of Pol Roger each year until his death in 1965. The house paid tribute to him in 1984 with this prestige cuvée bearing his name — the finest expression of their craft. Powerful, vinous, complex, with notes of beeswax, dried fruits, blonde tobacco and a chalky tension that makes you want to wait just a few more years. A Champagne of character, for gentlemen who understand that great things deserve time. Legendary.

Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Vins Balthazard

• SAQ code: 15229799 (750 ml)

Krug Grande Cuvée — The exceptional cuvée

There is Champagne, and then there is Krug. The Grande Cuvée is the result of an assemblage of over 120 wines drawn from ten different vintages, aged a minimum of six years in the cellar before release. The result is of a staggering complexity: toasted bread, acacia honey, candied citrus, hazelnut, and an effervescence of absolute finesse. Each edition is numbered — a collector’s bottle by nature. Reserve it for the most solemn moment of the Easter weekend. To learn more about the house, discover our article dedicated to Krug. Transcendent.

Grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Canadian Agency: Charton-Hobbs

• SAQ code: 15152226 (375 ml)
• SAQ code: 727453 (750 ml)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 34451 (750 ml)

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The Whites: Light and Minerality to get started

To accompany starters, fish and the early courses of the Easter meal, three whites from Europe with distinct and complementary personalities.

Vietti Roero Arneis

The Vietti estate was founded over 150 years ago in the heart of the Langhe, that historic region of Piedmont inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, where Nebbiolo reigns supreme in red. Their vineyard is planted on steep cliffside slopes. This sumptuous white presents a pale straw robe with silver highlights, an inviting nose of fresh pear. On the palate, fresh apple, melon and Meyer lemon intertwine with a delicate herbal note. Four months of lees ageing lend it almond and fine amplitude, before a saline, tonic finish. Try the regional pairing: vitello tonnato, raw fish or pasta in a creamy mushroom sauce. Vibrant.

Grape variety: 100% Arneis

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Noble Sélection

• SAQ code: 14556114 (750 ml)

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses

Les Preuses is one of Chablis’ seven Grand Crus — an exceptional terroir on Kimmeridgian soils where Chardonnay reaches a striking mineral expression. At William Fèvre, the appellation’s absolute reference, it reveals itself with remarkable purity: chalk, candied lemon, vine blossom, with that chalky tension and length that sets great Chablis apart from ordinary Chardonnay. A gastronomic white in every sense of the term, ideal with oysters, scallops or fresh Quebec snow crab. Irreducible.

Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Sylvestre Vins et Spiritueux

• SAQ code: 15407372 (750 ml)

Hidden Bench Riesling Beamsville Bench

The Beamsville Bench, on the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario, is one of Canada’s most promising terroirs — its clay and limestone soils, tempered by Lake Ontario, offer ideal conditions for Riesling. Hidden Bench Estate Winery, farmed biodynamically, delivers a beautifully precise interpretation: fresh citrus, white peach, a floral touch and that taut minerality characteristic of the finest Rieslings. The palate is lively and balanced, with a persistent saline finish. A wine that elegantly proves Canada has earned its place at the world’s great tables. Pair with oysters, salmon gravlax, a poultry terrine or sole amandine. Revelatory.

Grape variety: 100% Riesling

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Le Maître de Chai

• SAQ code: 14963094 (750 ml)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 183491 (750 ml)

At the estate: Hidden Bench

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The Rosés: spring’s guest of honour in the selection of Wines for the Easter Meal

Rosé is to spring what Champagne is to celebration — a natural choice. Three interpretations, from classic Provence to a Bandol of character.

Château d’Esclans Whispering Angel

Having become the world’s reference rosé within a decade, Whispering Angel lives up to its reputation — and justifies it with every glass. From the vines of Château d’Esclans in the Var, this crystalline Côtes de Provence unfolds aromas of grapefruit, white peach and orange blossom, with a palate that is simultaneously silky and taut. A rosé for the terrace as much as the table, perfect with tapas, tuna tartare or a simple tomato and burrata. The gentleman’s rosé for those who don’t wish to complicate things. Radiant.

Grape varieties: Grenache, Rolle, Cinsault

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Canadian Agency: Southern Glazer’s Wine

• SAQ code: 15505837 (375 ml)
• SAQ code: 11416984 (750 ml)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 19509 (375 ml)
• LCBO code: 325076 (750 ml)
• LCBO code: 491019 (1.5 L)

Miraval Rosé — Famille Perrin

Entrusted to the Perrin family — winemakers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for five generations — Domaine Miraval produces one of Provence’s most accomplished rosés. More understated than its neighbour from Esclans, it distinguishes itself through superior depth and aromatic complexity: dried flowers, citrus, a mineral note and lovely persistence. Organic, precise, elegant — a rosé chosen to impress the connoisseurs. Pair with bouillabaisse, herb-roasted chicken or a selection of aged cheeses. Distinguished.

Grape varieties: Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle, Syrah

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Canadian Agency: Charton-Hobbs

• SAQ code: 15509619 (375 ml)
• SAQ code: 12296988 (750 ml)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 342584 (750 ml)

Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé

Bandol is the appellation that proves rosé can achieve the complexity of a great white. Domaine Tempier, farmed biodynamically, represents its most noble expression: a deep coral robe, an astonishingly rich aromatic nose — vineyard peach, wild flowers, fresh almond and a spiced note characteristic of Mourvèdre. On the palate, the structure is present, the tension too, with a length that leaves one quite simply speechless for a rosé. At table with a roast Easter lamb, ratatouille confit or a sea bass in salt crust. A revelation for those yet to discover Bandol. Essential.

Grape varieties: Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Oenopole

• SAQ code: 15411371 (750 ml)
• SAQ code: 15411339 (1.5 L)

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The Reds: Wines for the Easter Meal at the Head Table

Roast lamb, rack of veal, aged cheeses — the Easter red deserves to be equal to the feast. Three bottles that will disappoint no one.

Torres Mas La Plana — Penedès

In 1979, at the Gault & Millau Wine Olympics held in Paris, Mas La Plana bested the greatest Cabernets in the world. A legend was born. This emblematic wine from Penedès, south of Barcelona, still earns scores of 92 to 97 from the most demanding critics. Ripe dark fruits, plum, refined elegance and subtly oaked — a symphony on the palate that never grows old. Decanting will give it wings. Grilled beef, garlic-studded lamb — obvious and unforgettable pairings. Exhilarating.

Grape variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Canadian Agency: Dandurand Vins et Spiritueux

• SAQ code: 12663282 (750 ml)

Pio Cesare Nebbiolo Langhe

In the heart of the Piedmontese Langhe, Pio Cesare has upheld the tradition of great Nebbiolo for over a century. This Langhe is a sovereign introduction to Piedmont’s reigning grape — before the Barolo and Barbaresco that represent its ultimate expression. On the nose, a seductive bouquet of vivid red fruits, dried rose and gentle spice. The structure is present, with silky tannins and a cellaring potential of fifteen years or more. Magnificent with arancini in sausage and tomato sauce or a fine grilled veal chop. Seductive.

Grape variety: 100% Nebbiolo

Availability:
Available at the SAQ | Québec Agency: Elixirs, Vins et Spiritueux

• SAQ code: 544973 (750 ml)

Château Pichon Baron — Pauillac

A Second Grand Cru Classé of Pauillac, Pichon Baron is one of the most consistent and desirable châteaux on the Médoc’s left bank. Dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, it deploys the classic Médoc architecture that Bordeaux lovers expect: blackcurrant, cedar, Havana tobacco, with precise tannins and an exemplary length on the finish. A cellar-worthy wine par excellence, yet already magnificent alongside a herb-crusted Easter rack of lamb, duck magret or a selection of hard cheeses. Princely.

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

Availability:
Available at the SAQ

• SAQ code: 15054440 (750 ml) 2021
• SAQ code: 15200865 (1.5 L)

Available at the LCBO

• LCBO code: 45291 (750 ml) 2019
• LCBO code: 44915 (750 ml) 2020

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Happy Easter — may your table be worthy of the wines that grace it.

This article has been enriched and updated by the Gentologie editorial team. Several original tasting notes were written by Claude Boileau, certified sommelier WSET3, former contributor to Gentologie.