Can you drink rosé with cheese?

Q: I am putting on a cheese and wine tasting for a friend but the problem is he doesn't drink dessert wine as he's diabetic and doesn't enjoy reds. I have come up with some white wine and cheese matches, but am looking for some rose and cheese pairing suggestions:

At the moment I am planning to order a Provençal rose based on grenache and an aglicanico rosé from southern italy (both from The Wine Society) but am open to other ideas

I''ve provisionally paired the Provençal rose with cheddar but also plan to try it with brie

The aglianico comes with food pairing recommendations of lamb chops and barbecue food so I wondered if it would pair/cope with a stronger cheese such as mature gouda but I'm not feeling confident about this.

Any advice would be much appreciated,

A: I can see this is a bit of a dilemma!

Personally I think cheddar is too strong for a Provencal rosé - goats cheese, which they serve a lot in the region would be my preferred pairing and possibly a brie if it’s not too strong but if he’s into cheese he probably likes it that way!

You should have more joy with the stronger aglianico rosé which I’m assuming is this one?

I’d pair that with a sheep cheese like pecorino or even a soft blue like Gorgonzola dolce.

Cheddar by the way is really good with chardonnay!

The other option you could consider is an orange wine - i.e. a white wine that is allowed to deepen in colour through leaving the juice in contact with the skins. You can read about them here on The Wine Society's website though I can’t see that they stock any at the moment.

if you want an inexpensive introduction to the category the Romanian winery Cramele Recas does one which sells on Amazon of all places (and probably elsewhere)

See also

6 of the best pairings for Brie

Top wine pairings with goat cheese

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