No need to fret about it, because there is a way you can settle the score by serving terrific Easter Brunch wines.  How’s that you ask?  Well, while you are rapturing away over the beautiful aromatics and fruit intensity your wines display, the kids are stuck with orange juice.  It will take years for them to figure out what’s going on.

To be sure, Italy offers some beautiful wines that would be great with the usual brunch fare, or even unusual, depending on how creative you are.  For example, a good Prosecco, from the Valdobbiadene region just north of Venice, is a great match with an omelet.  Its fairly soft, delicate sparkling personality and apple/pear like fruit work very well with a fluffy egg.  I know first-hand because we had Prosecco with omelets while looking out at the Grand Canal, and no, it wasn’t just the scenery that made it taste so good.  But what about something slightly sweet to go with the strawberries and other fresh fruit?  You know,  something even Grandma will like.  For that, a spritzy Moscato d’Asti comes to mind with its floral and often pit fruit (peach/apricot) aromatics and flavors, delicate texture and lively fruit intensity.  And, if you are one of those “I only drink red wine” types, I highly suggest a Brachetto, a slightly sweet, slightly spritzy very aromatic red from the Piemonte region.  Just think of freshly picked berries in a bottle and you’ve got the right idea.  And, like the Moscato d’Asti; these wines are very low in alcohol, around 5%, so they won’t ruin your tennis game that afternoon.  Although, if you play like me, they could make you feel like you just won Wimbledon!

We have a number of these wines that are very good, but here are a few I particularly recommend:

Sorelle Bronca, “Particella 68,” Prosecco at $19.99.  The “68” refers to the number of a plot within the larger vineyards.  They believe that the fruit is so exceptional from this site that it is bottled separately.  Try it, and I think you will agree.

2011 Massolino Moscato D’Asti at $19.99.  This has been one of our top selling Moscatos over the last several years.  It has a beautiful rich texture, but not heavy or syrupy, with delicate, nuanced fruit.

2011 Ca’ Rossa “Birbet” Brachetto at $19.99.  This wine is so delicious you have to be careful not to drink it all before you sit down at the table!  Bright and fresh dark berry fruit abounds, but not in a dense, jammy way.

As always, let me know if you try any of these, garym@beltramos.com.

Oh yes, I am sure some of you reading this don’t have kids, or they’re all grown up and gone away.  You no longer care about Easter eggs or chocolate bunnies, and probably don’t want to fuss with making a brunch.  Okay fine, but while you’re reading the paper and having a Bloody Mary, couldn’t you at least put an egg in it?

Happy Easter, everyone!

Gary M., Beltramo’s Wine Consultant

PANIC!

Men, we can watch numerous commercials, view bill-boards, read the print ads and yet, February 14^th will catch us unaware, scrambling to purchase cards, flowers and gifts on the way home from work. Restaurant reservations? Who are we kidding, they were booked months ago. Dinner?  Oops, order take-out from that cute Italian place you went to last summer. Plans for the evening?  Oh no, you’re in TROUBLE.

Help is at hand my friends. You can create your own tasting experience at home with an appropriately themed subject: alcoholic libations and chocolate.  You can choose from wine, beer or spirits or any combination thereof. I write this to aid my fellow man and prove once again, the staff at Beltramo’s will go the extra mile to help our customers.

The pairing of wine and chocolate is a contentious subject amongst those in the wine profession. I hold firmly to the ideal that most wine does not pair with cocoa, but I offer you solutions to that conundrum.

We shall have 3 courses tonight. To begin the night’s festivities we shall start with sparkling wines move through to some English beers and finish with two fortified wines.  If time and your constitution permit try all of my recommendations; this will greatly enhance your evening.

Sparkling Wines

I recommend serving milk chocolate with these.

2010 Saracco Moscato D’Asti    $13.99 

The nose reveals pit fruits, vibrant apricots and peaches. The wine is sweet yet balanced and exhibits a fine bubble structure and a silky finish.

 Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco Centenario Amibile Grasparossa di Castelvetro    $10.99 

This is a frizzante wine. A delicious foamy mousse begins and is followed by dark, dark raspberries. Rich and sumptuous, a mouth full of sweet berries. A rich finish.

 Beers

A dark chocolate will work here: one that is around 65% cocoa.

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout    ($3.79 available in-store)

A very dark beer, sweet but not too sweet, with a creamy, milk chocolate flavor and hints of coffee on the finish, nicely balanced.

Samuel Smiths Taddy Porter    ($3.49 available in-store)

Intense flavors of roasted barley, dry and tangy with a slight smoky quality, followed with delicious notes of coffee and caramel.

Fortified Wines

A dark, bittersweet chocolate for this course.

2009 M. Chapoutier Banyuls    $21.99 

From the South of France, abutting the Spanish border comes the world famous Banyuls.  The wine is rich and full-bodied yet delicate and with great acidic balance. Black plums and Bing cherries on the nose with orange rind and raisons on the mid-palate followed with espresso on the finish.

Meyer Family Port NV    $29.99 

Baked plums and cooking spices, mace, cinnamon and allspice on the front. A mid-palate of lush cherries and cassis and a long, lingering finish.

James DB,  Beltramo’s Wine Consultant