Pairings | Grilled chicken
The best food pairings for rosé
Rosé was once considered a summer wine but increasingly more people are drinking it year round with almost every type of food and on any and every occasion. But what food goes with rosé?
As with white or red wine, the best pairings depends on the style of rosé you’re drinking and whether they’re dry, sweet or sparkling.
In this guide, I’ll take you through food pairings for eight distinct styles of rosé:
- Crisp Dry Rosés e.g. Provençal rosé
- Fruity Rosés, e.g. Pinot noir rosé
- Medium Dry Rosés, e.g. White zinfandel and White grenache
- Fuller-Bodied Dry Rosés, e.g. Spanish rosados from Rioja and Navarra
- Elegant, Fruity Rosés, e.g. Merlot-based Bordeaux rosé, high-end Provençal rosés like Bandol and Palette
- Full-Bodied Fruity Rosés, e.g. Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet rosés from Argentina, Australia and Chile
- Inexpensive sparkling Rosé e.g. prosecco, cava and crémant
- Rosé Champagne and champagne-style sparkling wines
For each style, I’ll share my top food pairings that bring out the best in both the wine and the dish. Whether you’re planning a casual brunch, a seafood feast, or even a spicy barbecue, there’s a rosé and a match for every occasion.
The best food pairings for 8 different styles of rosé
1) Crisp dry rosés - e.g. Most Provençal rosés fall into this category as does Italian Bardolino Chiaretto
The nearest equivalent to this style of rosé are crisp dry white wines such as Pinot Grigio and they go with similar food. Food pairings for most Provencal rosé and similar dry rosés include light salads, light pasta and rice dishes, raw or lightly cooked shellfish like oysters, grilled fish and goats’ cheeses. See also The Best Food Pairings for Provence Rose
Greek rosés are often made in this style too. See this pairing with prawns with ouzo, orzo and courgette. You can find the recipe from Marianna Leivaditaki’s book Aegean here. Photo by Elena Heatherwick
2) Fruity rosés e.g. pinot noir rosés and off-dry Loire and traditional Portuguese rosés with a touch of sweetness such as Rosé d’Anjou and Mateus Rosé
Pinot noir rosés are sweeter than Provence rosé but still dry. They a good match with salads and mildly spiced chicken or fish dishes. English rosés which are often made from pinot noir pair surprisingly well with a Thai green curry as in this pairing
Pairings for off-dry Loire and Portuguese rosés depend on your tolerance for sweetness. If you like a sweeter rosé drink them with similar food to the Provence rosés above. If you don’t try them with Indian food like tandoori chicken or a mild chicken curry.
3) Medium dry rosés - e.g. white Zinfandel or white grenache
The category that used to be called blush. Again, if this is the style you like you’ll want to drink it with all the foods mentioned in 1) above. But those who prefer this style of rosé may also find it useful with spicy food and as a dessert wine (it’s spot on with unsweetened strawberries and not oversweet strawberry tarts)
See this match of the week of strawberries and white zinfandel.
4) Fuller-bodied dry rosés e.g. Southern French (Rhône and Languedoc) and Spanish rosés from Rioja and Navarra
A hugely versatile style that will stand up to big flavours such as anchovy, olives, garlic, saffron and pimenton. So they would be the ideal style to drink with tapenade or a salade Niçoise, a paella or grilled chicken, fish or lamb with herbs. A good wine for barbecues if you don’t like your rosés as strong and sweet as 6) below. Also enjoyable with rustic pâtés and terrines, other charcuterie, ham and sheep cheese.
These rosés are also a good wine pairing for brie, camembert and other white-rinded cheeses so long as you don’t let them get too ripe and runny. Fresh figs make a good accompaniment.
5) Elegant, fruity rosés - e.g. Merlot-based Bordeaux rosé, More expensive Provençal rosés such as Bandol and Palette
These are classy rosés, designed to be drunk with food. Drink them with quality seafood such as lobster and langoustines, seared salmon and tuna, a duck salad or with delicately cooked rare lamb.
6) Full-bodied fruity rosés - e.g. Syrah, malbec and cabernet rosé from Argentina, Australia and Chile
Nearer a full-bodied red than a rosé - big, bold and bursting with fruit. Often quite high in alcohol but it tends not to show because they’re not tannic and served chilled which makes them ideal for a barbecue and for drinking with spicy food such as curries. Also good with ripe peaches. Very much the modern rosé for contemporary food.
See this rosé pairing for spaghetti with courgettes, basil and smoked almonds. Although the wine is from Bordeaux it’s made in a more full-bodied style.
7) Sparkling rosé e.g. Cava, Australian, South African and New Zealand sparkling rosé
Sparkling rosé covers a range of styles from dry to medium dry. Lighter, drier ones make ideal party drinking (Cava rosado is good wine pairing with tapas). Sweeter styles of sparkling rosé like rosé prosecco would be a good wine pairing at a tea party with macarons, cakes and fruit tarts.
8) Rosé Champagne - Again there’s a variation in style between lighter and more full-bodied champagnes or sparkling wines. The best food pairings for lighter styles of rosé champagne include canapés and the type of foods mentioned in (1) above. More substantial vintage brut rosé Champagne can take on grilled lobster and grilled or roast rare lamb or game like pigeon, pheasant or grouse.
Photo credits: Top image by Foxys Forest Manufacture at shutterstock.com. Salad nicoise by Tatiana Brainina at shutterstock.com. Brie and figs by Nati at pexels.com, Lobster by Olga Lyubkin at Fotolia.com. Thai green curry by iblinova at Adobe Stock
Best food pairings with sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon blanc is many people’s favourite wine but what type of food pairs with it best?
As with other grape varieties its style varies markedly from one part of the world to the other - from the crisp minerally whites of the Loire to the exuberant gooseberry and passionfruit flavours of sauvignons from New Zealand’s Marlborough region.
Although many are interchangeable so far as food pairings are concerned others suit specific types of dishes and ingredients
Sauvignon blanc food pairing guide
Minerally sauvignon blancs
For instance: Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé and sauvignon blanc from Tasmania
This is the style I’d pair with simple, barely seasoned ingredients such as raw and lightly cooked shellfish like oysters and shell-on prawns, fresh crab and simply grilled fish such as sea bass.
They also go well with dishes that contain raw or barely cooked tomato such as gazpacho, tomato consommé or tomato vinaigrettes and young goats’ cheeses - or salads that contain goats cheese and have an affinity with fresh herbs especially dill
And this style of sauvignon is a good wine match with Japanese dishes such as sushi and sashimi, seafood-based steamed and fried dim sum and smoked salmon, particularly if the smoke is delicate.
Citrussy sauvignon blancs
For instance: unoaked white Bordeaux, sauvignon blanc from the Adelaide Hills and Chilean sauvignon blanc.
I like this more citrussy style with grilled fish , especially oily fish such as sardines and mackerel, big garlicky prawns and chargrilled squid. They also pair well with fried fish like goujons, whitebait and fish and chips and with simply grilled chicken or lamb (without a powerful marinade)
In terms of ethnic cuisines they work well with Greek and Mexican food and other fresh-tasting dishes with avocados, tomatoes, green onions, olives and sharp cheeses like feta (though be careful not to neutralise their character with over-lemony dressings)
They also pair well with cheeses flavoured with garlic and herbs such as Le Roulé and Boursin. And this, in my view, is the best type of sauvignon blanc to drink with globe artichokes.
Aromatic/grassy/’herbaceous’ sauvignon blancs and sauvignon blends
For instance New Zealand sauvignon blanc and wines from cooler regions elsewhere such as South Africa’s Elgin region
I tend to reach for these with salads especially if they contain seafood and/or ‘grassy’ ingredients such as asparagus, pea-shoots, green peppers and herbs.
You can drink them with similar dishes to minerally sauvignon blancs but where the flavours are more pronounced e.g. seafood with south-east Asian flavours such as lime, chilli and coriander or Thai fish cakes. Try them with pea soups and dishes accompanied by pea purées too.
See also The best food matches with New Zealand sauvignon blanc
Oaked sauvignons and sauvignon/semillon blends
For instance: oaked white Bordeaux and fumé blanc styles
You can drink these where you might reach for a chardonnay or straight semillon - with white meats such as chicken or veal especially if accompanied by a creamy sauce or with spring vegetables such as asparagus and peas. Pasta dishes with spring vegetables and buttery or creamy sauces work well too.
They also suit simply grilled or pan-fried salmon, scallops and lightly smoked fish such as smoked eel and trout.
Top image © HLPhoto at fotolia.com
The best food pairings for Lambrusco (updated)
If you’re wondering why I’m devoting a post to Lambrusco you obviously haven’t tasted the real thing!
Forget the weedy, sickly-sweet lambruscos you may have tasted in your youth - most authentic lambrusco is seductively crimson, frothy and totally dry.
So what should you eat with it? Well, in Emilia-Romagna where it’s made they almost certainly go for pork as I’ve suggested before - salumi (cold meats) such as salami, prosciutto (ham), mortadella and bresaola, porchetta (rolled pork with herbs) and Italian-style sausages with fennel.
I love the idea of it as a Boxing Day wine with cold turkey and ham.
It’s fantastic with pizza (you should definitely try it with pizza!) You could even drink it with lasagne and other richly sauced pasta dishes.
But I reckon it’s also a brilliant barbecue wine - drink it lightly chilled with grilled chicken, lamb or pulled pork or even a burger or steak. It will offset fatty meats such as duck or goose - it would be great with confit duck. And there’s no reason not to drink it with meaty or oily fish such as grilled tuna or sardines.
Cheese-wise you could pair it with hard sheeps’ cheeses like pecorino and with aged cheeses such as parmigiano reggiano and grana padano - or drink it - as you would drink Beaujolais with a terrine, fromage de tête or brawn.
You can also find rosé lambruscos which again work well with salumi and other antipasti.
And sweeter (amabile) lambruscos are delicious with summer fruits, especially peaches and nectarines
Top food matches for Beaujolais (and other gamay)
Beaujolais - by which I mean red Beaujolais - is the most French of wines, the perfect wine pairing for a picnic or bistro meal.
It’s generally thought of as light and fruity, though it can also be quite full-bodied. In this post I’ll cover my favourite food pairings for specific types of Beaujolais (and other gamay). You’ll find it an enormously versatile wine.
Food-wise, it pairs with much the same ingredients and dishes as pinot noir, though gamay (the grape Beaujolais is made from) doesn’t have the best pinots’ complexity or silky, sensuous texture.
Beaujolais is almost always a winner with French charcuterie such as patés, terrines, rillettes, and saucisson sec and with white-rinded cheeses such as Brie and Camembert (provided they’re not overripe) but it’s a highly versatile wine that can easily take you through a meal where people are ordering different things.
Lighter styles of Beaujolais such as Beaujolais Nouveau, inexpensive Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, and lighter ‘cru’ (top level village) Beaujolais such as Fleurie or Chiroubles. (These wines can happily be served lightly chilled)
*Cold ham, especially the French jambon persillé (jellied ham and parsley)
*Cold turkey and chicken (Beaujolais is brilliant with Thanksgiving or Christmas Day leftovers)
*Salads, especially with chicken or bacon (think frisée with lardons) with pomegranate seeds, with berries like dried cherries or cranberries, or with goats cheese
*Seared tuna and salmon
*Fish stews like this cod pot au feu
*Sushi, if you like a red with it
*Strawberries (delicious with a young fruity Beaujolais poured over them)
More Full-bodied or More Mature Beaujolais
From riper vintages e.g. 2018, 2020 or weightier crus such as Morgon, Julienas, and Moulin à Vent
*Simply roast chicken, guineafowl, duck, or partridge
*Seared duck breast, especially with fruit like cherries or figs
*Classic French dishes in a creamy sauce like chicken with tarragon or kidneys with mustard sauce or even a retro boeuf stroganoff
*Simply grilled pork, lamb, or veal
*Toulouse or other garlicky sausages and lentils. (See also this quirky match with Toulouse sausage and prawn dumplings!)
*Steak tartare, as you can see from this post
*Bavette or hanger steak - the classic ‘steak frites’
*Confit duck
*Coq au vin or oeufs en meurette (Beaujolais makes a good red wine sauce)
*Fruity tagines like this lamb tagine with dates, prunes, and apricots
*Vegetarian dishes with butternut squash or sweet potato
See also What to Pair with Beaujolais Nouveau
There’s a more extensive list on the Beaujolais website
Photo ©jackmac34 at Pixabay.
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