August is National Rose Month which makes sense. It’s the hottest month of the year and cool refreshing pink wine is right on time. Hence the designation of Rose all day for Wine Wednesday, which happens to be the last Wine Wednesday of the month.
Adding to things, I’m known for having a rose all day party during the summer months. It began one year when I had a stock pile of rose and no idea how I would taste them all, without a little help from my friends.
Most of the bottles were sent to me for review for my various wine columns published in newspapers, magazines and online.
What better way to taste them all and enjoy some fellowship with friends, than to have a rose brunch. While I typically have the event earlier in the summer, life prevailed and prevented my best intentions.
Food For Rose All Day
Rose is a wine that has many different faces. However, there are a few characteristics that can be common which helps when thinking about food pairings.
Chateau Auguste Rose from Bordeaux is not your grandma’s rose
Fruits such as strawberry, watermelon, and even cherry and citrus. The wines are typically lighter in style although that is definitely not the case. This Chateau Auguste is from Bordeaux. It’s made with cabernet sauvignon, cab franc and merlot to produce a wine that is dry, full and anything but light.
Cheese and charcuterie were a no brainer, and so was quiche. In addition, I have a great watermelon salad recipe that I altered a bit. Find it here. It has refreshing mint, and salty feta and Kalamata olives. I left out the onions that the recipe suggests and added just a bit more tobacco.
Rose All Day Wines
It was really hard to pick a favorite.
Surely non-alcoholic sparkling rose
I threw a ringer into the ice bucket. It was Surely a non-alcoholic sparkling rose. I have to admit, it was hard to go back to that after drinking Domaine Carneros so perhaps it was not an entirely fair trial. However, my guests, many jaded, tasted with mostly open minds. The wine had a bit of a savory note that reminded us of balsamic. The consensus was that it might pair well with a strawberry salad.
Here is a look at a more food and wine to toast rose all day for Wine Wednesday.