Easter · twelve at the table · lamb
Wine for Easter lunch: the lamb, a Médoc, and eight bottles at most
Twelve at the table on Easter Sunday, a leg of lamb in the middle: five to eight bottles. That isn't an order for a wine merchant, and this page says so from the start. It gives the count, the red that goes with lamb, and the only case where a quote makes sense: when several families club together on their order.
The count for twelve
Set for 12 guests, 80% drinkers, a one-hour aperitif and lunch, with a meal three quarters red because the lamb calls for it. The calculator shows 10 bottles: it adds a 10% margin and rounds each colour up to the next bottle, the aperitif rosé included. The tight count is lower.
The real count, course by course
Twelve guests, nine or ten who drink. The aperitif takes two glasses per drinker, lunch three: around twenty glasses for the aperitif, around thirty for the meal, eight bottles in all. Without an aperitif, five are enough. Course by course:
| Moment | Wine | Bottles |
|---|---|---|
| Aperitif | Champagne or crémant, or a dry white | 2 to 3 |
| Starter: asparagus, eggs, salmon | Dry white from Graves or Entre-deux-Mers | 1 |
| Leg, rack or shoulder of lamb | Médoc 5 to 10 years old | 3 to 4 |
| Cheese | Finish the red | — |
| Dessert, chocolate | Nothing, or the leftover sparkling | — |
Lamb calls for a Médoc
The fat of the lamb softens the tannin of cabernet sauvignon: it's the safest pairing in Bordeaux, and the Easter one for as long as anyone remembers. With a pink leg of lamb, a Pauillac or a Saint-Estèphe six to ten years old; with a shoulder slow-cooked for seven hours, a Haut-Médoc four to six years old, softer, for half the price. Age matters more than appellation: too young, and the wine makes the meat seem tough. The three ways of cooking it and their wines are set out on the what wine with lamb page.
In April, the room is at 20 °C: serve the red at 16 or 17 °C, opened an hour before, and keep the rosé for the aperitif, in the garden, not with the lamb.
The verdict
You don't need us
Eight bottles is one visit to your local wine shop in Holy Week. A wine merchant becomes useful from about twenty bottles, when the sliding prices and the delivery make up for the trip; for eight, the delivery would cost the price of a bottle. The calculator says so itself below eighteen bottles.
The exception is the group order. Three families doing Easter on the same Sunday, or a family using the meal to stock up the cellar for spring: twenty-four to thirty-six bottles, one quote, one delivery, a volume price. The group buying among friends page explains how to organise it without falling out. Otherwise, the comparison of where to buy is on the page wine merchant, wine shop, supermarket or producer.
What to ask the wine shop for
- A Médoc that's ready, not the latest vintage. Five to ten years old. The young wine on display at the shop entrance will be hard with the lamb.
- Three or four bottles of the same red. With a single dish, a red that changes during the meal is noticed: better four of the same.
- A dry white for the starter. Asparagus and eggs don't like red. One bottle of Graves or Entre-deux-Mers is enough.
- A price, not a brand. Give a budget per bottle, €15 to €30 for the red with the lamb, and let the wine seller choose from what they know. No château is named here for the same reason.
How many bottles of wine for an Easter lunch for 12?
Five to eight, all colours together: five for lunch alone, eight with a one-hour aperitif. The calculator shows ten because it adds a margin and rounds each colour up to the bottle; at this scale, the tight count is enough.
What wine to serve with Easter lamb?
A Médoc red with a few years on it: Pauillac or Saint-Estèphe six to ten years old with a pink leg of lamb, Haut-Médoc four to six years old with a long-cooked shoulder. No white with the lamb itself; it has its place with the starter.
Should you go through a wine merchant for Easter?
Not for twelve at the table. A wine merchant is useful from about twenty bottles: when several families club together on their order, or when you stock up the cellar at the same time. For eight bottles, your local wine shop is better placed.
What wine budget for Easter for twelve?
Roughly €115 to €180 for the calculator's ten bottles, from the decent level to the good level, with champagne counted for the aperitif; less with crémant, or if you stick to the eight bottles of the tight count. It's the red for the lamb that deserves the budget, not the sparkling.
More of you, or several families grouping the order? The general calculator redoes the count for your numbers, and from twenty bottles, request a quote.