What says summer to you?

How about easy meals cooked on the grill or the stove top paired with a nice light bright chilled wine and enjoyed outside on a warm evening with friends?

To beat the summer heat, try these four dry rosato from Italy paired with Sicilian panelle and crabcakes!

Menu

• Charcuterie to nibble on
• Panelle, chickpea flour fritters, a Sicilian dish
• Crabcakes on greens with a simple lemony dressing
• Pasta Primavera

 

Terramossa No. 1 Vino Spumonte Emilia-Romagna
ABV SRP $22
sample from Verovinogusto for my review consideration

Generally, people drink sparkling wine a rosato wines very well chilled. But they aren’t always as expressive on the nose and the palate if they’re too cold. We tasted this wine at cellar temperature and found it to be very expressive on the nose and really nice on the palate.

This sparkling wine is made from sangiovese using the charmot method, which is how they make prosecco but using the glera grape.

Color: Pale, ballet pink.

Nose: Pretty nose, florals, red and white stone fruit, tangerine, stone minerality.

Palate: Very dry, lively, bright citrus, tangerine, lemon cream. Delicate bubbles, nice minerals, lingering finish, there isn’t a lot of yeasty qualities,

Pairing:  Fried food is fabulous with sparkling wine; these panelle made from chickpea flour with lemon zest as well as the crab cakes fill the bill wonderfully!

Read more about Terramossa here.

2017 Fattoria Sardi Toscana IGT Rose
ABV 13.0% SRP $18
sample for my review consideration

Made with organic Sangiovese, with syrah and vermentino grapes from an estate that also follows biodynamic practices.

Color: Coppery gold,

Nose: Sulphuric minerals, volcanic soils, musky, a bit of petrol, kind of indefinable and hard to describe, a bit of mocha, milk chocolate

Palate: Minerals, acidity, piney, very cooling, lemon, lime, acidity on the tip of the top, this wine is very much the essence of the soil,

Pairing:  Nice with rosemary manchego, excellent with prosciutto,   ok with green grapes,   so good panels, crrabs cakes

Learn more about Fattoria Sardi.

2016 Torre Matilde “Villa dei Bardi” Toscana IGT
ABV 12.5% SRP $17
sample from Verovinogusto for my review consideration

This rosato is 85% sangiovese and !5% merlot.

Color: Rose gold, very shimmery.

Nose: Clean, very light white floral, rose petal, grassy, jackfruit

Palate: Very cleansing at the back of the palate, clean fresh and bright, strawberry up front, raspberry on the back.

Pairing: Excellent with the prosciutto, great with chorizo,  excellent cambozola, fantastic with panzelle, nice with pasta primavera.   Crabcakes too!

Read more about Torre Matilde.

2018 Tenuta di Fessina “Erse” Mt Etna Rosato DOC
ABV 13.0% SRP $25
sample from Vineyard Brands for my review consideration

A blend of nerello mascalese and nerello cappucio; Erse means the call of the sunrise and the dew of dawn.

Color: Watermelon flesh

Nose: Volcanic soils, iron, sulphur, forest floor, violet

Palate: Very dry, nice fruit and florals, Gretel, “complex, it keeps my interest” it erupts with sweetness and flows with erradition, minty, cooling as it goes across the palate and down the throat

Pairing: Cambozola yes! manchego, spicy chorizo good,  so yummy with the panzelle and fab with  pasta primavera.

We wrote about another Erse wine here made from carricante; stay tuned for more wines from Mt Etna in October!

Here’s another amazing rosato from Etna DOC: .4 To Try in 2020: Franciacorta, Friuli, Chianti, Mt. Etna #ItalianFWT

 

I’d say more but I broke two bones in my wrist and am typing with one hand! But if these wine and food pairings got you going in the direction of Italian ROSATO, CHECK OUT Participants in the Rosato Roundup:

• David from Cooking Chat writes about Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo: Pairings with My Favorite Italian Rosé
• Pinny from Chinese Food and Wine Pairings writes about Pairing Bibi Graetz Casamatta Toscana Rosato with Drunken Cold Chicken Wings and Pork Knuckle, Sautéed Julienne Leeks #ItalianFWT
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla tempts us with Italian Pinks, Sardinian Native Grapes, and Gamberi all’Aglio
• Terri from Our Good Life shares her pairing for Roasted Chicken Flatbread with Spumante Rosato
• Linda from My Full Wine Glass says Summer Won’t Last: and Neither Will this Charming Chiaretto in Your Glass
• Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog is Dreaming of Sicily with a Graci Rosato
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator offers Summer Dinner with Rosato from Tuscany and Sicily
• Marcia from Joy of Wine chats about Rosato d’Aglianico Vulture: More than Just a Red Wine
• Lynn from Savor the Harvest suggests Rosato: Drinking Pink Italian Style, from the Mountains to the Sea
• Nicole from Somm’s Table prepares Cheese, Charcuterie, and Ciabatta with Praesidium Cerasuolo
• Robin from Crushed Grape Chronicles offers Pallotte Cac e Ove & Orecchiette with Two Brilliant Cherry Red Rosatos from Southeast Italy
• Katrina from The Corkscrew Concierge advises us to Get to Know Lambrusco Rosato
• Susannah from Avvinare tells us that Italy’s Chiaretto from Lake Garda Makes Waves
• Jennifer from Vino Travels shares Rosato from the Veneto with Pasqua
• Katarina from Grapevine Adventures shares An Italian Rosé Wine that Makes You Sparkle
• Host Lauren from The Swirling Dervish shares Cantele Negroamaro Rosato: Summer Wine from the Heart of Puglia

You might also want to go to twitter to see our responses to these Questions for the #ItalianFWT Twitter Chat: Rosato Roundup August 1, 2020

• 11:00 am Q1. Welcome to the Italian Food Wine & Travel group chat! Today we’re discussing Rosato from Italy’s Native Grapes. Please say hi and share a link to your blog. #ItalianFWT
• 11:05 am Q2. Italy has 20 wine regions and hundreds of indigenous grape varieties. Tell us about the wine you chose, the grape(s) used to make it, and where it comes from. #ItalianFWT
• 11:10 am Q3. Did anyone discover a grape variety that was new to them? #ItalianFWT
• 11:15 am Q4. Why did you pick this wine? Are you a fan of the red wines made from this variety? If so, how does the rosato version compare? #ItalianFWT
• 11:20 am Q5. What about the region? Are you familiar with its winemaking traditions, producers, and styles of wine? #ItalianFWT
• 11:25 am Q6. Have you ever visited in person? If so, what types of food do the locals serve with their rosato wines? #ItalianFWT
• 11:30 am Q7. Speaking of food, now’s the time to talk about your pairings! Did you make something special? Give us all the delicious details. #ItalianFWT
• 11:35 am Q8. If you are new to Italian Rosato, how would you compare it to other rosé wines you’ve tasted? #ItalianFWT
• 11:40 am Q9. Does your wine have a story behind it? Think about the terroir, the producer’s family, the local history. #ItalianFWT
• 11:45 am Q10. Do you think these wines have seasonal appeal or can we drink them all year? #ItalianFWT
• 11:50 am Q11. Share one thing you’ve learned about Italian Rosato that you wish everyone knew. #ItalianFWT
• 11:55 am Q12. Any other thoughts or comments on the topic? #ItalianFWT
• 12:00 pm Thanks so much for joining the #ItalianFWT chat today. Join us in September for a chat on Sustainability and Climate Change hosted by @ricasoli99. Stay tuned for Katarina’s invitation post and details on how to participate. Until then, stay safe!