Easter is just around the corner. With that in mind, I considered suggesting wines to go with chocolate, but I can’t help thinking that is a bad idea.

Sure, you can match LBV Port and the ilk with dark chocolate desserts, but I would stop short of pairing wines with chocolate eggs.

Some insist that dark chocolate washed down with a suitable red wine is a marriage made in heaven – I’m not one of them. I would much rather keep the two entirely separate. And I wouldn’t even dream of putting wine and milk chocolate together and nor should you, ever.

Instead, pick a wine to go with the roast lamb on Easter Sunday. I’ve chosen three reds which are on offer until April 26, so there is ample opportunity to stock up for the holiday period.

Sainsbury’s has its own label Taste The Difference Priorat 2007 at the knock down price of £7.49. A big and spicy blend of mazuela (carignan) and grenache from Catalonia, it’s made for the supermarket by Cellers Unió. Expect bramble and blueberries, with dark chocolate, hints of almond, minerality and structure.

Staying with the Iberian theme, Waitrose has Arco de Esporão 2008. It’s blended by Australian winemaker David Baverstock at the Esporão estate in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal.

The wonderful touriga nacional grape figures in the mix, as do a host of other indigenous varietals and some syrah. Quite New World in style, as you might expect given the Aussie influence, it’s juicy stuff and brimming with ripe brambles, cassis, chocolate, black pepper and toasty oak notes.

If you are feeling flush, however, splash out on a cracking pinot noir from California.

Velvety and richly flavoured, Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007 shows balance and complexity but is approachable too. With long flavours of cherry, raspberry, cinnamon, clove and vanilla, like all good pinot noir it evolves beautifully in the glass.

• Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Priorat 2007, £7.49 down from £9.99 at Sainsbury’s 16/20.

• Arco de Esporão 2008, Alentejo, £7.99 down from £9.99 at Waitrose 17/20.

• Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007, £15.99 down from £20.99 at Ocado (ocado.com) 18/20.