Wine Merchants often look forward to the different seasons, with each season a certain style of wine tends to dominate our sales. Bordeaux and Burgundy in December, Rioja around Easter time, Beaujolais for Nouveau in November – but one of my favourites is Rosé season, to me this indicates the start of the Summer!
Our rosé season starts in April when we get to taste the new vintage of the wines we ship directly, and if the sun keeps it’s hat on it runs through until the end of September. A customer tip off early last year introduced us to the stunning wines of Chateau Maravenne in Provence who weren’t yet imported into the UK. After tasting the wines and visiting the Estate (its a tough job honestly) we are delighted by the range we have for the second year running from the small, organic Estate that is just a stones throw from the Mediterranean Sea.
When looking at pairing rosé to food you can’t go too wrong – the dry styles from Provence are very enjoyable as an aperitif, but as expected is a winner with French Provencial cooking, Elizabeth David eat your heart out! Grilled seafood such as squid and mackerel, or freshly picked Lymington crab are nothing short of perfect with this style of wine as are summer salads and new season lamb with a fresh salsa verde. It is often the assumption that red wine goes well with cheese, however pair a delicate Provence rosé to soft cheeses such as brie or camembert, or hunt out the British version Baron Bigod from Suffolk and see how well they go together!
Mussels with Garlic, Parsley and Chilli
- Steam the mussels in either water or a splash of wine
- Open the mussels up and discard half of the shell
- Mix breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and fresh/dried chilli flakes and pour over some melted butter
- Tightly pack the mussels with the breadcrumb mix and arrange in an oven proof dish
- Pop under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until the breadcrumbs are crispy and golden
Shop the range from Chateau Maravenne HERE!
Read more about the wines from Chateau Maravenne HERE!
We will be serving up a range of wines from Chateau Maravenne at Lymington Seafood Festival 11th and 12th August 11-8pm Saturday and 11-6pm Sunday.