Traditional Easter wine and food pairings

Easter is just around the corner, and while we won’t cover the topic of bunnies and eggs and their Easter association, we have some exciting news to spice up your festive table celebrations! 

To help you make the most of it, we handpicked our favorite traditional Easter dishes and matched them with the perfect wines to create the ultimate Easter feast!

So without further ado, let’s dive into our Wine&more traditional Easter wine and food selection!

Easter tradition

As Easter approaches fast, we are gearing up for one of the most beloved celebrations in the Catholic calendar. Croatians are known for their delectable Easter spreads that feature everything from fish on Good Friday to tasty ham, eggs, and poultry or lamb on Easter Sunday.

Wine is traditionally served, especially considering that late breakfast usually lasts long enough to turn into a full-course lunch.

As Good Friday approaches, Croatians prepare for a day of penance through fasting, with fish taking center stage on the menu. The traditional tables will be meat-free, as locals opt for lighter meals.

This is the time to bring white and refreshing whites to the table, as the choice of seafood tends to be light in flavors, so it won’t overwhelm the wine.

With white fish, lighter Pošip, Maraština, or Debit, with oily fish you can also use lighter red ones, such as Plavina, or lighter Babić, with river fish, we recommend Graševina.

Easter breakfast wine and food pairing

As the sun rises on this festive occasion, tables are adorned with the most magnificent breakfast spread. But what sets Easter breakfast in Croatia apart? It’s not just the epic proportions of food but the bold pairing of wine with breakfast. 

We know that pairing wine with breakfast may seem odd, but let’s be honest – we usually start breakfast around 11-12, so we usually won’t skip a glass of wine.

Ham is usually cooked or sometimes baked in bread. Side dishes include many fresh vegetables, scallions, radishes, tomatoes, and more. Of course, ham cannot go without eggs and horseradish. Everything is followed by “Pinca,” a sweet bread prepared for Easter morning. 

All these flavors add up to finding the right combination to pair with wine. We have salty ham, spicy horseradish, and sweet “Pinca” bread. Although every component alone requires a different style of wine, if you go with a lighter red, not too bold but with enough character, you could be on the right track.

In this case, we suggest Plavina – a red grape variety from Dalmatia, medium in body and alcohol content. 

The Ante Sladić winery that produces it is a family winery located in Plastovo, one of the most specific micro-climates in Dalmatia. The nights are cooler, and a significant continental influence enhances preserved freshness in Plavina wine.

If you’ve decided to enjoy white wine, another wine producer from the same wine-growing region in Skradin may suit your pairing. The Bibich winery is also located in Skradin, reflecting much of the specific climate conditions that are present there. 

In a bottle of Bibich R5 blend, native Croatian white varieties such as Maraština, Debit, and Pošip dominate.

Very intriguing wine, aged in new and used oak, where you’ll find butter and almond flavors, but most significantly, the Mediterranean herbs and spices. Since we have bold foods with many flavors, here’s a wine that can keep up with them all.

The Bibich R5 pairs well with lunch, especially if you have roasted poultry, duck, or, surprisingly, even lamb.

Easter lunch wine and food pairing

Although we haven’t recovered from the overwhelming breakfast, new food is being served at the table. At celebrations like Easter, everything revolves around food, family, and wine, to top it off!

Usually, roasted meat, poultry, duck, or lamb is served for lunch. There’s an excellent opportunity to serve those bold red wines we saved for the afternoon hours.

Native Croatian reds, such as Teran, full-bodied Babić, and softer and more mature Plavac Mali, work well with salty roasted meats (saltiness in food goes great with most of the bold, dry wines, making them feel more tender and gentle), especially if you have a flavourful and spicy sauce to go with the meat.

You can try lighter red wines when discussing poultry like duck or turkey with side dishes since the meat is more tender and has more gentle flavors. Crunchy acidity found in lighter red wines is perfect for creamy and fatty parts such as duck breasts or turkey legs that are darker.

We are especially fond of a family-owned Grabovac winery from Imotski, which makes red wine from a red variety called – Trnjak. 

It is almost impossible to explain how to read this name if you aren’t from Croatia – but if you get it for your Easter pairing, it will speak for itself.

Testament The Dalmatian dog is light, mineral organic red wine with a lot of cherries on the nose, made from the native Babić variety. 

It’s a straightforward, well-crafted wine and will be a great companion to your Easter meal. This wine offers excellent value for money, so you must get extra bottles for this special occasion.

Any place left for Eastern dessert wine and food pairing?

If yes, congratulations! You are almost like a genuine Croat – with a large appetite for good food paired with amazing wines. When pairing sweet food with wine, be careful to adjust the sweetness levels in food with the sweetness in wines accordingly.

The sweeter the food, the sweeter the wine should be! The Muscats from Momnjan have a reputation of their own. This Muscat Momjanski from the Kozlović winery has a scent full of those enjoyable Muscat aromas of grapes, lemons, ripe pears, apples, and flowers. You’ll absolutely fall in love with it!

It’s not sweet but a medium-sweet wine, so it will go with medium-sweet desserts. It has an exceptionally creamy texture that will balance well with creamy cakes.

A lovely wine that isn’t a sugar bomb, and you will probably enjoy it even after you’ve finished your dessert.

We hope you’ll all spend these holidays with great meals and some new favorite bottles of Croatian wines we suggested in our Easter selection!

Happy Easter from the Wine&more team!