Photograph by Danny Kim, courtesy of Bon Appétit
The summer is officially in full swing. For us, we’ve migrated to the south from Bordeaux to Provence. Wine regions that is. (Champagne will always be king, especially Krug). With the World Cup over, feel free to change the “olé, olé olé olé!” tune to the more appropriate and clever “rosé, rosé rosé rosAAAYyyyy!” to get in the mood. This version was actually coined in the South of France a few summers ago, so it has been authenticated and free for wider use.
DineGirl Rosé Guide:
As much as we wanted to disregard the Brad+Angelina Miraval as celebrity nonsense, it’s actually one of our top choices this summer. When finances are no option, we reach for Domaines Ott. Otherwise it’s more local rosés such as Wölffer Estate and André Balazs’s rosé, guzzled down out east or during the week when the stress levels hit double digits. Rosé really is a wonderful mood lifter.
General rules of thumb:
1 – should be very cold (add a few ice cubes if necessary, à la French style)
2 – Côtes de Provence wines are lighter than Bandol rosé wines (read more here)
3 – drink the most recent vintage, rosé is not meant to be aged
4 – none of that slurping swirling nonsense… just open and enjoy!
We like to pair rose with anything from cheeses and nibbly things, burgers by the pool, or an elegant, date-night-worthy oven roasted swordfish*.
*recipe to come
