Rosé is the quintessential drink of summer and yet there is no reason why you can’t enjoy it in the winter. With so much diversity in the world of pink wine nowadays you might just find the cooler months open up a whole new dimension to the drink.

Here are my top five tips for sipping rosé in winter…

NO.1

CHOOSE RICHER, MORE FULL-BODIED ROSÉ

I find a lot of people are reluctant to choose darker rosé opting instead for the pale Provence style wines. This hesitancy often stems from a common misconception that dark rosé is sweet rosé. This is 100% not true. I’ve even had disagreements with non-wine industry friends about this so I know how hard this fact will hot some of you! Don’t get me wrong some of the best rosé wines come from Provence but in general I recommend saving them for long, hot summer days!

The fact is that the intensity and colour of a rosé is determined by the length of time the juice sits with the skins. The skins contain colour, flavour and tannin but they do not contain sugar! The darker the colour does however indicate greater richness, body and flavour which are all things you want in a cold weather rosé. Look for wines from the appellation of Tavel in the Southern Rhône and you’ll discover how wonderful dark rosé wines can be. You can thank me later!

NO.2

DRINK IT OUT OF A RED WINE GLASS

A bigger, Bordeaux style red wine glass increases the surface area and makes it so much easier to give it a really good swirl! Both of these will allow the wine to breathe (aerate) and release more of the wine aromas. This is particularly important when you’re tasting a more full bodied, rich rosé and will help the wine to have a bigger impact on your nose.

NO.3

ENJOY IT WITH FOOD

One of the best elements of more full-bodied, fruitier rosé wines is that they still have a good level of acidity to pair with food and enough richness to hold their own against bolder flavours. They are wonderful on their own as well but I find these bolder styles really come to life with food.

Try pairing them with scrummy winter dishes with bold flavours and that have some fat to compliment the acidity.

Some of my favourite winter rosé pairings include:

Tartiflette

Cheese Toasties

Bouillabaisse

Fish pie (Charlie Bigham’s is amazing if you don’t fancy cooking!)

Mushroom Risotto with lots of nutty parmesan.

NO. 4

DON’T DRINK IT TOO COLD

Fridges are wonderful for chilling and preserving wines but they’re normal too cold for our wine. This won’t do your wine any harm, it just means you could be missing out on flavours. The ideal temperature for rosé is between 7-12°C with light, summer sippers at the cooler end and bolder rosés at the warmer end. The average fridge temperature is about 4°C so it’s definitely worth taking your wine out of the fridge a couple of minutes before serving and you’ll find the flavours are magnified. Of course, if you’ve got the fire lit and the central heating on, you’ll find your wine warms up quickly anyway. If this is the case just be aware that your first sip will taste quite different to your last!

NO.5

LOOK OUT FOR DEALS!

From about late August onwards you’ll find supermarkets and wine merchants trying to offload their huge rosé stocks with discounts. This is the perfect time to snap up deals! Even if you don’t plan on drinking them in winter, most will keep until the following summer. The general rule with most rosé is to drink the youngest available but most vintages will keep for a couple of years.

A lot of deals on rosé continue throughout the winter until they start restocking for the next season so always keep an eye out. The people avoiding rosé in winter don’t know what they’re missing out on!

Where to check for deals?

Waitrose is my number one supermarket for wine and they have a massive selection of rosé in summer so it’s not surprising that come Autumn they are clearing shelf space.
Check with your local independent wine merchant. They may not always have offers advertised but are sometimes willing to negotiate discounts if you’re looking to buy a case or two.