Rosé is developing a serious reputation for being a multi-talented food wine. From light and refreshing Provençal styles to bolder, darker Spanish wines, rosé is asserting itself as a real contender on many a restaurant wine list. London Cru’s Rosaville Rd lies somewhere in the middle of these styles. It it a beautiful copper colour, with aromas of grapefruit, strawberry and lychee and wonderful textural quality from time ageing on the lees (the leftover yeast from fermentation). The grapes hail from Piedmont in northern Italy, grown by Giovanni Codero who runs a family business growing grapes and breeding cattle to make homemade salami. The family kindly kept their best two Barbera sites aside for us and allowed us to make vineyard adjustments so that we could focus on getting the best flavours from the grapes.
Here, members of London Cru and Roberson Wine give their favourite Italian food pairing for Rosaville Rd.
Vitello Tonnato – Shana, On-Trade at Roberson Wine
Vitello Tonnato is a wonderful summer dish from Piedmont. Cold or roasted veal is served with a tuna, anchovy and caper mayonnaise, perhaps alongside some tiny new potatoes and a lemony salad. It’s a firm favourite in the north of Italy, and absolutely perfect in warm weather. Pair with Rosaville Rd to beautifully cut through the rich mayonnaise and enhance the delicate flavours of the veal.
Agnolotti alla Piemontese - Emma, London Cru
These exquisite pasta parcels are similar in shape to ravioli. Every family’s recipe is different, passed down through generations. Generally, an egg-rich dough is stuffed with a mixture of beef, pork and rabbit and served with ‘salvia e parmigiano’ (sage butter and parmesan). Decadent and delicious, this rich pasta dish is the perfect foil to the refreshing acidity of Rosaville Rd rosé.
Risotto Milanese- Talya, Director at Roberson Wine
I find food and wine pairings often focus on meat or fish, and being a vegetarian this presents me with a conundrum. Risotto Milanese is a wonderful, unctuous saffron risotto, usually sprinkled with a traditional garnish of lemon zest, garlic and parsley (‘Gremolata’). It pairs magically with the complex, delicate flavours in Rosaville Rd with the wine’s crisp, dry finish cutting through the rich butter textures of the Milanese. Bellissimo!
Burrata – Gavin, Winemaker at London Cru
Without a doubt, this soft, opulent cheese would be spot on with Rosaville Rd’s textural complexity. Like mozarella’s better, bigger brother, Burrata has an outer shell of morzarella and a filling of cream, giving it a fantastic richness. Add a few leaves of rocket to inject a hit of peppery spice, and you have a food and wine pairing made in heaven.