Rosé is a wonderful wine style. Not only is it delicious on its own, chilled at a poolside party, but it also has immense versatility at the table. If you want to hone your wine and food pairing skills, rosé will open a world of possibilities for you to experiment with all types of food on all occasions.
Rosé might be less popular than red and white wine, although most of the times it’s produced by the same acclaimed winemakers in some of the most illustrious wine regions. The pink category has also and excellent quality-price ratio. No other wine style delivers so much pleasure for the price, making it a smart buy, no matter the wine’s country of origin or grape variety.
Rosé is also more than one type of wine. Many factors influence the wine style — rosé is a category as complex and sophisticated as the more prevalent red and white wines, and that goes for the category’s food pairing possibilities as well. Here are five rosé wine pairings you want to try Tonight. Rosé will undoubtedly become your favourite ace to have up your sleeve for all occasions. How to pair rosé with food? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Rosé de Provence & Mediterranean Cuisine
The French region of Provence makes astounding rosé, it’s the region’s specialty, and producers here set the bar high to anyone attempting to make a pink wine anywhere else in the world. The warm Southern French climate and the fresh Mediterranean breeze influence the unique wine; it offers tart cherries, cranberries and sometimes cooking herbs on the nose over a mineral, quite savoury palate for an instantly appealing, chic and elegant wine style.
Let’s just say we can call this one a classic style of rosé, and it is in its own category. These wines are fantastic with Mediterranean food, of course, from land and sea. A rich bouillabaisse seafood stew, for example, is great with Provencal rosé. The same goes for olive oil tapenade, sardines, colourful ratatouille, anything served with aioli, and goat cheese or chèvre.
There are plenty of rosés from all around the world that nicely emulate the Provencal wine style. Whenever you find a bottle of pink wine with a pale salmon hue, tart red fruit aromas, and an attractive minerality, pair it with food just like you would with an authentic Provençal wine.
Pair with: Goat cheese and other types of fresh cheese, olives, capers, white fish, shellfish, herbs de Provence, vegetarian dishes, hummus, food cooked in olive oil and hearty salads.
Wine to try:
Rameau d’Or Golden Bough Provence Rosé 2020
Château Riotor Cote de Provence Rosé 2018
2. Warm Weather Rosé & White Meat
Rosé is a noble wine style that reflects like a mirror the terroir or ‘sense of place’ of where the grapes were grown. This is particularly true for grapes grown in warmer regions, as they ripen better, gaining sugar and aromatic complexity.
Tasting a bolder rosé from a warm wine region against a milder, more acidic Provençal rosé is the best way to understand the wine style’s differences. Rosé from the warm, arid flatlands in Spain, the hot, inland regions in Australia or sunny California is a distinctive style of pink wine — warm weather rosé.
This unique wine style offers ripe red fruit aromas, a weightier palate and a more robust alcoholic warmth, making it suitable for pairing with richer foods. From roasted poultry to pork, white meat has an affinity for warm weather rosé, and so do cranberry and cream-based sauces. This is white wine territory, but warm weather rosé plays the role to perfection. You’ll find this type of rosé in the Rhône Valley, South Australia, Spain, Southern Italy and warm New World wine regions.
Pair with: Semi-hard cheese, rotisserie chicken, roast turkey, pork roast, baked ham, chicken casseroles and pies, oily fish, food cooked in butter, creamy pasta, charcuterie, pâté and fried food.
Wine to try:
Paul Jaboulet-Aine Côtes du Rhône ‘Par. 45’ Rosé 2017
3. Saignée Rosé
To make rosé, winemakers must either macerate the grape juice extracted from red grapes with the grapes’ skins for a few hours to gain colour or by the saignée method. Meaning ‘bled’ wine, saignée rosé is a by-product of red winemaking, as producers bleed out some of the wine from the vat before it gains a bolder red colour, remaining somewhat pink.
Saignée rosé is often much darker than regular rosé, a product of short macerations. They’re heavier and more fruit-forward as well. These are the big boys in the world of rosé; therefore, they can tackle bolder flavours and richer food. You can often source saignée rosé from wine regions specialising in red wine, like Bordeaux in France, Rioja in Spain or Barossa in Australia. Sometimes called claret, saignée rose shares many similarities with young, fruity red wine, but it’s still a rosé in its own right.
Pair with: Sticky pork ribs, sausages, meat pies, pulled pork, barbecue, tomato sauces, meat stews, Asian stir-fries, grilled vegetables and plant-based meat.
Wine to try:
Clarendelle Rose 2016 (12 bottle case)
Langmeil Bella Rouge Rosé (Cabernet Sauvignon) 2020
4. Sparkling Rosé
Rosé is versatile, but sparkling wine is even more so. Bubbly wine has a piercing acidity, making it an extraordinary partner at the table. Still, most fizzy wine has a touch of sweetness to balance its tartness. Sparkling rosé is the best of both worlds. Refreshing and palate-cleansing, and with subtle red fruit aromas on the nose, this is one of the most appealing wine styles in the world.
Of course, not all sparkling rosés are the same. Some are made with the traditional Champagne method, and others are fermented clean in stainless-steel tanks. In other words, some sparkling rosé wines are rich, and creamy, others are crisp and fruity.
When it comes to sweetness, there’s also a wide range available to choose from. You can pair dry sparkling rosé much like Provencal pink wine. Off-dry and sweet examples are in their own category.
Pair dry sparkling rosé with: Goat cheese and other fresh cheese, olives, capers, white fish, shellfish, herbs de Provence, vegetarian dishes, hummus, food cooked in olive oil and hearty salads.
Pair sweet sparkling rosé with: Fresh fruit, berries, whipped cream, custards, meringues, white chocolate, caramel, vanilla, biscuits, fruit tarts, pavlova and burnt cream.
Wine to Try:
Forget-Brimont Grand Cru Brut Rosé NV
Maison Varichon & Clerc Rosé Brut NV
Veuve D’Argent Cuvée Prestige Brut Rosé NV
5. Sweet Rosé
Finally, we have truly sweet rosé, authentic dessert wines with high sugar levels. These are often much sweeter than demi-sec sparkling rosé and are pretty pleasing for wine connoisseurs and amateur enthusiasts alike. Sweet pink wine is in vogue, and it’s easy to see why — fruity red scents and an attractive sweetness on the palate balanced by mouth-watering acidity make this type of wine easy to enjoy on its own.
The perfect summer wine, sweet rosé, can be paired with the same types of food compatible with sweet sparkling wine, although the most luscious can overpower mildly sweet desserts. You’ll find this wine style from almost every wine-producing region in the world, so it’s not a hard find. What’s hard is not pouring yourself a second glass of that sweet pink nectar. It’s that good!
As for grape varieties, French producers use Gamay or Grolleau for their sweet rosé wines, and Italian winemakers have quite an impressive repertoire of suitable red grapes. Still, most of the sweet rosé in the market is made with the versatile Pink Moscato. You’ll find sweet pink wine made with any other varietal, including Cabernet, so find the one that sings to you.
Pair with: Fresh fruit, berries, whipped cream, custards, meringues, white chocolate, caramel, vanilla, biscuits, fruit tarts, pavlova and burnt cream.
Wine to Try:
Pizzini Brachetto Moscato-Style Rose 2020
There’s Nothing Rosé Can’t Do
Sure, you might not be able to pair a thick, fatty steak with rosé (although you might want to try it), but you can surely agree rosé is more versatile than you thought. The thrilling pink wine category is trending — now you know why. Rosé is hard not to love.
At World Wine, we have a lovely collection of rosé in all wine styles from the most representative wine-producing countries from every corner of the earth. From contemplative bottles worthy of the most memorable long tablecloth dinner parties to thirst-quenching crowd-pleasers to enjoy at a pool party or backyard grilling get-together. The best part about rosé in all its varieties? You don’t have to choose. There’s one pink wine for every occasion.
Enjoy your favourite bottle of rosé with friends and family and give it a place on the table. If there’s something we can all agree on, it is that rosé is universally appealing. Rosé and wine pairings have never been so exciting! Let’s show some love to the blush category!