Last year I put a short article on line about wines for Eastern. My recommendation don’t change. If you plan on having the tradition lamb, you will want to look for red wines with a spicy side.
The ideal possibility in terms of style are Southern France Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan based wines. Also, one good possibility is to be found in Italy, Piemonte with Nebbiolo. That being said, there are few wines that enter these categories at Alko. I would however try to avoid the New World wines (esp. Chile, Argentina and Australia) that will display too much ripeness to balance the flavour of the lamb. Of course, there are exceptions and the very good GSM 2010 by Rosemount Estate is one of them.
From France, you can aim at :
– Jaboulet, Côte du Rhône Parallèle 45, 11,58€
– Pech-Latt, Corbières 2011, 13,50€
– Chapoutier, Crozes-Hermitage Les Meysonniers 2010, 20,00€
– Ogier, Cornas Les Reillots 2006, 31,90€
From Italy,
– Ugo Lequio, Barbaresco Gallina 2009, 21,90€
– Luigi Einaudi, Barolo Terlo 2007, 39,00€
From Spain,
– D. de J. Palacios, Petalos 2011, 15,10€
– Muga, Reserva 2007, 17,58€
– Aalto 2008, 39,00€
From Austria,
– Trapl, Tilhofen 2009, 25,10€