HERE’S TO EASTER

Try these eggcellent chocolate and vino pairings. By Douglas Blyde

As stark grapevines begin to bud, Easter waits just around the corner with the promise of chocolate eggs. But what should one drink with such ephemeral pleasures? Whether your eggs of choice are white, milk or dark in composition, I’ve got a few fantastic pairings for you.

From the Veronese winery in Pasqua (which, serendipitously, translates as ‘Easter’), try the disruptive Hey French You Could Have Made This But You Didn’t white wine (£32; harrods.co.uk) with sweet white chocolate. The sumptuous, oak-bevelled blend of three grape varieties harvested over four different vintages comes from a special, once volcanic site in Soave. With exotic almond and tropical fruit notes, like white chocolate itself, it offers drinkers a soft, generous mouth-feel.

With more traditional milk chocolate offerings, try a chilled H&H 10-Year-Old Malvasia, £22.50 (tannerswines.co.uk). With glints of redwood, the joyous, complex Madeira has notes of caramelised walnuts, coffee, then dried fruit, which dovetail the velvety nature of milk chocolate. Plus, it scores bonus points as a happy companion to Simnel cake.

When it comes to astringent dark chocolate, remember that port is for life, and not just for Christmas, so opt for a rested version in Fonseca Guimaraens 2008 (£26; thedrinkshop.com). This bottle has more than enough reward in its blushingly sweet character of blackcurrant, boozy prune and liqueur, to envelop even the most bitter dark chocolate egg.

Don’t hesitate to leave a drop of these out for the Easter Bunny — he’ll be sure to enjoy them, too.