Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Lavender and Rosé

Winery: Acquiesce 
Cuvée: Grenache Rosé
Appellation: Lodi Mokelumne River
Type: Rosé
Vintage: 2022
Alcohol: 13.5%
Grape Varieties: Grenache 95%, Bourboulenc 3%, Cinsaut 2%
Average Retail Price: U.S. $32.00

If anyone were to ask me to describe summer in Provence, the two things that come to mind first are lavender and rosé; I cannot imagine the area without either. But, in an unusual twist, today’s rosé comes from the Lodi Mokelumne River region of California — Acquiesce Winery’s 2022 Grenache Rosé. To accompany this wine, I created a recipe that I hope you will make: Sablefish in Lemon Cream over Lavender Fettuccine. Head over to Cocoa & Lavender for the recipe.

While this rosé is from California, winemaker Sue Tipton makes only Rhône-style white wines, and a Gold Medal-winning rosé that is often referred to as Provence-style. Her lineup of single-varietal white wines includes: Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Clairette Blanche, and Bourboulenc, plus two white blends — Belle Blanc and Ingénue. These small-batch wines are of the highest quality and are a lot of fun for me to pair with food.

The rosé — in Acquiesce’s beautiful signature bottle — is a beautiful pale salmon pink. On the nose, I sensed the aromas that say summer to me: strawberry and raspberry, with a touch of citrus. It is a crisp, well-balanced rosé with pleasant acidity lending itself well to pair with rich and creamy dishes such as my sablefish. It offers flavors of strawberry, cherry, jasmine, and grapefruit, with a long finish with the essence of tangerine.

It was a perfect match for my sablefish pasta, with its lemony cream sauce and the hint of lavender from the pasta. For those of you who have not tried sablefish (also known as black cod), it is a very meaty but tender white fish that flakes easily and tastes like scallops. I think it may be my new favorite fish. 

The wine can be shipped direct from the winery (as allowed by different state laws). Just call and chat with them about it.