So what’s in your Easter basket? Are you stuck with the hollow chocolate bunny again? One bite and all the chocolate snaps apart, cascading down your chin. A hollow chocolate bunny is such a terrific waste of perfectly good chocolate.
Or maybe this year, you’ll get something that is “good” for you. I’m thinking carob chips, dry roasted peanuts and boxes of raisins.
But maybe you’ll get a solid chocolate bunny, some Peeps, and good jellybeans. That’s what should be in your basket, anyway. Easter baskets aren’t just for kids. And here’s how the adults can wash it all down.
Let's start with Peeps, which bring out the kid in everyone. Enjoy these spongy marshmallow treats with a glass of Riondo Prosecco 2010 Punto Rosso DOC ($12).
Punto Rosso is Riondo’s first vintage Prosecco. The sparkling wine has lively fresh flavors of honeydew melon while still maintaining a dry finish. Take a bite of a Peep, a sip of the Riondo, and enjoy the sweet explosion of flavors.
There are 90 million chocolate bunnies made for Easter each year. It’s your job to find the real, solid chocolate bunnies among them. Then you have to decide: milk or dark chocolate?
Milk chocolate bunnies deserve a wine that will allow the creamy smoothness of the wine to linger in the mouth. Try the Lapostolle Canto de Apalta 2010 ($18) from Chile. Made from almost equal parts Carmenére and Merlot, the Canto de Apalta also has Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah rounding out the party. This wine is spicy with lots of black fruit and most important a chocolatey hint to make that bunny hop in your mouth.
If you delight in eating the ears off your bunny first, you’re not alone. Seventy-six percent of Americans say the ears should be eaten first. If you’re eating dark chocolate ears, then something bold, tannic and enticing is called for, like the Antica Napa Valley 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ($45). Your first thought is probably, “Who the hell spends $45 on a bottle of wine to pair with a chocolate Easter bunny?” The idea may be a little hard to swallow, but once you’ve paired the wine with dark chocolate, you’ll savor the fusion of flavors. The Antica Cabernet has berry flavors that meld with the dark chocolate and will send your dopamine levels soaring off the chart.
Jellybeans are a dilemma. There are so many flavors: purple, yellow, red, orange. Jellybean colors are flavors, not unlike the flavors of snow cones. Ask for green or red, not lime or cherry.
When snacking on jellybeans, take note of the color before trying to pair them with vino. Then swish them all down the Bodegas Bilbaínas Viña Zaco ($10-$15). This Spanish beauty can take on red, purple, even black jellybeans. Made from 100 percent Tempranillo, it tastes like red berries, licorices and spices similar to the flavors of your favorite jellybeans.
