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

 

The best pairings for fino and manzanilla sherry

Manzanilla, as you probably know, is a fino sherry made in the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda rather than in the cities of Jerez or Puerto de Santa Maria which gives it its characteristic salty tang.

Like fino it needs to be served chilled and drunk fresh so always buy from a shop or online retailer that has a good turnover of bottles

From a food point of view the two are very similar though I would tend to go more for manzanila with seafood and fino with meat and cheese. What both have in common is that they can handle strong flavours like garlic and chilli and tricky to pair ingredients such as asparagus and artichokes.

Both are obviously very good with Spanish cuisine (especially tapas) but lend themselves well to other dishes such as smoked salmon, fish and chips and sushi. Treat the suggestions below as just that - suggestions - and don’t be afraid to swop them around:

Food matches for manzanilla

All kinds of seafood including:

grilled and fried squid

octopus and octopus salad

mussels, especially with chorizo

anchovies

oysters

raw fish such as sashimi or tartares

fried fish (and chips)

fried soft-shell crab

fish soups

feta cheese (such as this dish of beetroot borani from Morito)

pickled fish such as mackerel en escabeche

grilled fish, especially oily fish like sardines

garlicky prawns or shrimp

smoked salmon

smoked mussels

smoked dried beef

Food pairings for fino

nuts, especially almonds

olives and olive pastes like tapenade

jamon/ham

grilled or preserved artichokes

hard sheeps’ cheeses such as Manchego

chorizo

tortilla

grilled asparagus or leeks with romesco sauce

white asparagus

pimientos de padron

clams cooked with sherry

cider-battered onions (from my good friends Dan and Elly of The Basement supper club

croquetas

tandoori salmon and teriyaki salmon

smoked eel

white gazpacho

sushi, sashimi, tempura and any kind of Japanese food where you would drink sake

Food matches for 'en rama' styles

These are unpasteurised versions of either fino or manzanilla which have a limited shelf-life but a more intense flavour and texture

richer, hot or sauced fish dishes

grilled tuna

black rice with cuttlefish arroz negro

deep-fried sweetbreads

hake with allioli (garlic mayonnaise)

Japanese food generally

 

More food and sherry matches:

• The best food pairings for dry oloroso sherry
• The best food pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry
• The best food pairings for sweet oloroso and PX sherry

 

 

Top photograph © delarue - Fotolia.com