How To Pair Rosé Wine With Cheese

Forbes

25-07-2025

Rosé wine pairs very well with a variety of cheese getty
It is now fashionable to drink rosé wine all year long, but when it comes to pairing rosé with cheese, there is often some confusion. However, if you have a basic understanding of the four major types of rosé wine, then matching these delicious berry-flavored pink wines can become an effortless task.
To begin, imagine you are sipping your favorite rosé wine. What does it taste like? Is it light and crisp; fruity and slightly sweet, heavy bodied and complex, or bubbly? The taste and style of the rosé wine often dictates the best type of cheese pairing.
Then consult the chart below to see the major types of cheese that will pair best with your favorite rosé wine style. Then, the following paragraphs explain why this pairing works and provides some examples of some popular brands of rosé wine in the category.
Or, conversely, begin with your favorite cheese style, and consult the chart from a cheese perspective to determine the style of rosé wine to purchase. Even more fun, invite some friends over and experiment with all four styles of rosé wine and a variety of cheeses to discover what each person prefers.
Common Rosé Wine Styles and Cheese Pairing Matrix Thach
Usually very pale pink and/or salmon color with common aromas and/or flavors of strawberry, flowers, watermelon, and citrus. These wines are usually very dry and refreshing with high acidity and possible complex mineral notes. Common wine grapes used to make this style of wine include grenache, syrah, cinsault, and pinot noir.
Due to their dry style with high acidity, light and delicate rosés pair very well with soft cheeses, such as creamy brie, chevre (soft goat cheese), mascarpone, burrata, camembert , epoisses and other soft cheese styles. The crisp style of the wine cuts through the soft creamy cheese, which compliments and intensifies the fruit and floral notes in the wine.
Some popular wine brands that are considered to be light and delicate rosés are: Whispering Angel, Cotes de Rosés, Bonterra Rosé, Wolffer Estate Summer in a Bottle, La Crema Pinot Noir Rosé, Mirabeau, Wente Niki's, Seven Hills, and Bota Breeze Rosé. 2. Medium Bodied Fruity Rosé Wines
Usually a darker pink with red, orange, and/or magenta hues with ripe berry flavors and aromas, including raspberry and cherry, possibly with softer melon flavors and bright citrus. These wines are medium-bodied and softer in style on the palate with moderate acidity, and may be slightly or semi-sweet tasting.
Due to the stronger and riper style of these rosés, they pair well with medium hard cheeses, such as baby swiss, medium-hard cheddar, gouda, Gruyere, provolone, colby, feta, mozzarella, fontina, baby swiss, and other medium-hard cheese styles.
Some popular wine brands in this style include Chateau d'Esclans Rock Angel Rosé, Beringer White Zinfandel, La Vieille Ferme Rosé, Bedrock Rosé, Elk Cove, Chateau St. Michelle, St. Supery Napa Valley, Biltmore Estate, Domaine Tempier Bandol, Domaine Ott Bandol, Mateus The Original, and others. 3. Darker Bold Rosé Wines
This style of rosé is a darker red pink color, and can look similar to a lighter colored red wine. They also have much more intense flavors of black cherry, red plum, jam, and may have some spicy notes, such as allspice or potpourri. On the palate they are heavier with moderate acidity, and may have some tannins (creating a puckering feeling in mouth). In France they refer to this style of rosé wine as a 'manly or masculine rosé.'
Due to the more intense and complex flavors in this style of wine (almost like a light red wine), the can be paired with harder and more complex cheeses. Examples include aged cheddar or gouda, parmesan, hard sheep cheeses, blue cheese, roquefort, gorgonzola, pecorino, comté, Manchego and similar styles.
This style of rosé wine is more challenging to find in stores, but generally any Rosé from the Tavel region of France or darker Rosés from Spain match this category. Consider Gabriel Meffre 'Saint Ferreol' Tavel Rosé, Marques De Caceres Rosé, Justin Reserve Rosé, Domaine Serene R, Benziger's de Coelo Rosé and others. 4. Sparkling Rosé Wines
The joy of a sparkling rosé wine is that it can be paired with almost any cheese. This is because it has tiny scrubbing bubbles on your palate that cleanse and refresh your mouth after each bite of cheese.
Bubbly rosés can range from pale pink to dark pink in color, but they usually have more intense fruity notes. This coupled with the scrubbing bubbles makes them a great choice to stand-up even to the strongest of cheeses, while also tasting delightful with soft and creamy cheeses.
Enjoy rosé sparkling wine with any cheese getty Salty Cheeses Bring Out The Fruity Notes in Rosé Wine
One interesting fact is that cheeses that are more salty will bring out the fruity and floral notes in a rosé wine. Whereas, non-salty cheeses will make the wine taste more intense on the palate and less fruity. So if you want your rosé wine to taste more fruit-forward, select a salty cheese. Rosé Wine Serving Temperature, Ice and Vintage Date
Rosé wines should always be served chilled, usually between 45 to 55 F (7 to 13 degrees Celsius). In the summertime, it is fashionable to add ice cubes to your rosé wine, but keep in mind that as they melt, it will dilute the wine flavor. There are actually a few rosé wines that are designed to add ice cubes. These wines are purposely made very strong in flavor, so as the ice melts, the flavors come into balance.
In terms of vintage date, almost all rosé wine is designed to be drunk young – usually within 1 to 2 years of the vintage date. In France, they have a saying that rosé should be released around Valentine's Day and consumed by Christmas. The Three Methods To Make Rosé Wine
Rosé wines can be made from any type of red grape, but the most common are grenache, syrah, cinsault, pinot noir and zinfandel. In crafting a rosé wine, winemakers have a choice of three different methods: Classic Provence Method : red grapes are picked early with the intent of only using them to make rosé wine. The sugar level is usually lower – around 19 to 21 Brix, and the grapes are destemmed, and then gently crushed and let skin on skins for 2 to 20 hours. The longer the juice sits on the skins, the darker the color of the rosé. Then the juice is racked off the skins and fermented like a white wine. This is the most expensive way to make rosé wine. Saignée Method : meaning 'to bleed off'; red grapes are picked to make red wine (usually around 23 to 25 Brix), but a portion of the juice is 'bled off' to make rosé wine. The rest of the grape must is now more concentrated and is used to make a richer red wine. The saignée juice (which is usually a light pink color) is then fermented like a white wine. Blending Method : red and white wine are blended to achieve the desired color, fruit profile, and acid level. This is the least expensive way to make a rosé wine.
Rosé wine paired with cheese, bread and fruit getty