Do you drink your way around the world? I used to imagine most people did, pursuing a gloriously erratic but interesting itinerary - Italy with this evening's pasta, Chile with the chicken on Sunday, the Rhone the week after next if the neighbours come round. But two things happened recently to make me wonder.
At a dinner in Sligo before Christmas, a fellow guest indicated politely that, while he reads this column regularly, he buys only French wine. "Always French, and usually Bordeaux," he said, producing from his top pocket a print-out of his cellar contents for perusal. Awesome stuff. Not only that, but he has his francophile offspring - go-getting young professionals - into hoarding Bordeaux. At today's prices? With the world to plunder? You could have knocked me down with a Lafite label.
A couple of weeks ago, at Mullingar's fun wine fair, the opposite view emerged. During a tasting of wines from the south of France - an area of huge excitement - one person said she would never dream of buying French wine; only Australian. "French wine has had its day," said this engagingly frank enthusiast, who looked about my age. "It's for a much older generation."
It all goes to show that, despite a deluge of wines from nearly 20 countries, Irish drinkers can still be surprisingly fixed in their affiliations. Titillate the palates of one group and you make others wince with preconceived disgust. Tant pis! With Easter on the way, I'm going to suggest a brief, well-planned burst of French indulgence and risk the consequences.
The message is simple. Unless you absolutely can't bear it, clear the decks for claret. Now is the time to consider some of the bottles hyped so mercilessly before Christmas - for, while red Bordeaux does a turkey no favours, it tastes divine with Easter lamb. The weight and structure of the wine and its subtly mineral, meaty flavours are a perfect match for the traditional roast. There is often almost a saltiness about Bordeaux, along with a suspicion of herbs. What more could you want with juicy young meat that's made for rosemary and mint?
Why not Cabernet, or a Cabernet-Merlot blend, from somewhere else? Not a bad substitute. Anybody who finds claret a bit too austere may prefer the riper style that comes from the New World. But to me, the savoury restraint of Bordeaux just seems to suit lamb better than lusher Cabernets turned opulent by much sunnier climates.
What I'd propose more enthusiastically, as an alternative, is something from the south of France. Of all Europe's long-established red regions, the southern Rhone is probably the one whose wines are easiest to get into - packed with soft, juicy, berry flavours, gentle spice and more besides. Next door, Languedoc-Roussillon, the hub of so much new energy, uses similar grapes for equally tempting reds, layered with hints of a fistful of herbs. If you're planning to try John McKenna's recipe for Lamb with Caramelised Aubergine, one of these top-drawer efforts from the Midi will be magic - the rich vegetable melding with the meat and ripe, succulent wine in scrumptious harmony. In fact, any vaguely Mediterranean treatment for the meat will be rewardingly enhanced by a worthwhile bottle from the south.
Now, just in case you are mysteriously, implacably anti-French, here are a few other thoughts for the festive lunch. Spain - another country with regions on a roll - is adept at matching lamb with wines based either on Tempranillo or its local variants, or Cabernet, or both. Good reds from Rioja, Navarra, Penedes and Ribero del Duero (preferably not too block-busterish) have lovely, sweet fruit and a savoury core which fit the bill very well indeed - and taste even better if you have a weakness on a Spanish scale for garlic.
If you feel like branching out a bit, Greek Nemea sounds all the right notes - and not only in the taste department: check the shelves of Dunnes Stores for what continues to be one of the best, yet least appreciated, wine bargains in Ireland, at just £4.49. Malbec, Argentina's speciality red, is another possibility. I've heard a lot of people rave about that soft, brambly character with lamb - a sort of damson and blackberry wine substitute for traditional red-currant sauce. And for anybody who still drinks only Australian, Coonawarra Cabernet is lamb's best friend. But could you venture into La Belle France, even just this once?