What a beautiful picture Rosé Wines make. True to their name, Rosé wines vary from light pink to rich ruby colors. And the flavors vary too depending on the varietal from which they were made.
Our Rosé garden for tonight's dinner included:
1. 2013 La Grenouille Rougante Pink from Napa Valley bottled by Frog's Leap winery. It is made with 59% Valdigue and 41% Zinfandel grapes.
2. 2014 Villa Des Anges from Southern France is made with 100% Cinsault grapes.
3. 2013 Sancerre La Metairie Rouge is from the Loire Valley of France. Sancerre rosé are made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes.
4. Back to the 2014 Villa Des Anges
5. 2014 Penya Cotes Catalanes is from Southern France. This rose was a blend of Grenache noir (96%) and Syrah grapes offering red cherries, raspberries and melon flavors.
6. 2013 Chateau De Segries Tavel is also from France. The wine is made from a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Clairette, and a bit of Syrah creating a deep raspberry color, with ripe black cherries, lavender and melon like aromas and flavors.
7. Next was a beautiful wine from Monterey County CA, Sofia Rosé. It is a blend of Syrah and Pinot Noir varietals. The flavors begin with red fruit and finish with a little spice.
8. The last wine for the evening was a 2014 Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Rosé, a very well balanced, soft and fruity wine. Sancerre is in the Loire Valley wine region situated along the Loire River in north central France.
The La Grenouille Rougante was paired with an antipasto plate including olives, blue cheese, and goat cheeses (drunken goat and naked goat cheese- I bet you can imagine the fun we had with this :o).
It was amazing that the delicate floral aromas and fresh fruit flavors in this Provencal style rosé would pair with olives but it did. The bright, natural acid and low alcohol make this wine an excellent food wine.
The Villa Des Anges was paired with two very different dishes. First a delightful Smoked trout salad with creamy cucumber, scallions and dill crostini was served as a make it yourself appetizer, by spooning the cucumber mixture on sourdough bread then topping it with the smoked trout. Smoked trout salad with creamy cucumber, scallions and dill
The wine is intensely crisp, balanced with strawberry fruit flavors and acid making it a great pairing with this fresh tasting dish.
The second dish paired with the Villa Des Anges was smoked turkey kabobs, showing how you can push the envelop for food pairing with rosé wines. Usually smoked food is not an easy food for wine pairing. The turkey was served with a slightly spicy Thai sauce. The smoky and slightly sweet and spicy flavors created layers of flavors with the Villa Des Anges rose. It was proof that smoked foods hold up to Rosé wines, fabulous.
Can you believe it, next was split pea soup cooked with a ham bone, that was rich and complex with flavors. The soup was topped with celery, scallions, ham and crème fraiche. It was paired with the Sancerre La Metairie Rouge, a wine with fresh aromas of strawberry and peach and tart citrus flavors of pink grapefruit, orange and lemon with a huge burst of acidity finished with white pepper and ginger. This was a very good pairing, more proof that a Rosé is an excellent choice with food.
Next we took a poll to see what was the best, the sausage and sundried tomato pizza or the sundried tomato and pesto pizza. And just to make it interesting we had to pick which of two wines, the Penya or the Tavel went with the two pizzas. We all agreed that both pizzas went with both wines. Pretty diplomatic wouldn't you agree.
Our next dish presented a little bit of a unique sequence for food but I love a good salad anytime. The Sofia wine was paired with a fresh, crisp iceberg lettuce wedge with real bacon bits, blue cheese and sliced cherry tomatoes. The dressing was a creamy blue cheese. The acid in the wine cut through the creamy blue cheese and the spice in the wine added just the right amount to create a great pairing.
Last but not least was our Italian Dip. I guess it was the dessert since we really didn't have a dessert and I would rather have cheese any day. The herbs in the dip went very well with the Pascal Jolivet flavors and the acidity was exactly what was needed to balance the creamy cheese.