Monda's menu: Easter celebration feast

Set your table with the perfect springtime meal

By Monda Rosenberg

Updated November 2, 2012

•	Spinach-and-smoked salmon rolled soufflé
•	Lemony asparagus bundles
•	Fresh herb-and-feta-stuffed leg of lamb
•	Lemon meringue trifle

* Make this meal a Cook for the cure event.

Wine match

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Certain elements in this delicious meal, such as the asparagus and black olives, are a challenge for wine matching. So too is spinach, which can make an inexpensive tannic red taste like rust. Lamb, on the other hand, is a great match with a good Cabernet Sauvignon. One solution is to find a red that's both ripe in fruit and soft in tannin. Canyon Road Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 ($14) from California has a soft elegance and ripe, rich chocolatey-berry flavour with hints of mint that will pick up some of the flavouring in the lamb stuffing. Also from California, Wente Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 ($14) has spiced berry with herbs and mint in the taste and nose. From Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, Peller Estates Heritage Series Cabernet 2000 ($11) has a forward berry bouquet with some herbs and bell pepper in its otherwise sweet, soft fruity taste. From B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, Mission Hill Private Reserve Cabernet Merlot ($13) is built for lamb, with herby fruit and ripe plum, blackcurrant and vanilla flavours.

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Another possibility is to focus on matching the flavours of the soufflé, asparagus, feta stuffing and white wine used to baste the lamb. In this case, a dry unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc would be the answer. From France, Mâcon-Lugny Saint Pierre 1999 ($13) is pleasant and fruity with a refreshing apple flavour and supple texture. The Okanagan's Mission Hill Private Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 1999 ($12) has purity and lots of grapefruit, herbs and citrus zing in a silky body.

--Margaret Swaine

* Prices are approximate and depend on the level of taxation in your province. Some of the wines we've listed may be out of stock at your local liquor store--ask an employee to suggest the same type of wine by another producer.

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