#ItalianFWT – Summer Sipping with Italian Rosé

The dog days of August are here. There’s nothing like a refreshing glass of rosè to get you through extreme heat, humidity and endless sunshine. With over 120 days of summer  and sunshine virtually 365 days a year,  you can’t go wrong with a glass of Rosé when you live in the desert.

This month the Italian Food Wine and Travel Group is featuring Rosé wines from Italy and I couldn’t wait to jump on the Italian Rosé aka Rosato, bandwagon. I’m a self-starter when it comes to wine exploration and need little encouragement to make a trip into Los Angeles or Pasadena for the proper supplies and a brief respite from the heat. A recent excursion into Pasadena resulted in the discovery of Everson Royce Wine Shop. They have a carefully curated selection of wines from all different price ranges and geographic areas, and knowledgeable staff to back up what they are selling on the shelves. With a little assistance, I selected a bottle of Favaro Le Chiusure Rosé Wine from Piverone, Italy (Piemonte Region) which they sell for $19. I’d love to tell you  more about the wine, but my Italian is on the pre-school level and everything I find on the wine/wine-maker is in Italian. We enjoyed this wine with homemade raviolis stuffed with sweet sausage, Fontina, goat cheese and ricotta. The wine had a enough body to hold up to the sausage, but was not overwhelmed by the flavors. I could keep this wine on tap. It was a perfect summer wine.

I also had a bottle of Ferrari Trento Brut Rosé that I had ordered after reading a few posts from Michelle at Rockin Red Blog and Nany from Pull That Cork. This sparkling Rosé has become one of my favorites. This wine is made in the “metodo classic”. It is crisp, clean, elegant. There are hints of wild berries and currants on the nose. At $29.95 from Wine.com it is a high quality, affordable sparkling wine. The Ferrari Trento website recommended pairing this with a light seafood dish and Margherita Pizza. I made a tuna crudo and Margherita Pizza. I felt the wine paired better with the tuna crudo, and was acceptable with the Margherita Pizza but not an ideal pairing.

Make sure to join the Rosé festivities this month and explore more great pairings from the Italian Food Wine and Travel Group:

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Pizza con Patate + Cantina Zaccagnini Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Rosé “
• Orna at Traveling Italy shares “In the Pink: Rosato wines from Puglia”
• Christy at Confessions of a Culinary Diva shares “Summer Sipping with Italian Rosés “
• Jennifer at Vino Travels shares “Around Italy with a Glass of Rosé”
• Jill at L’Occasion shares “Rosé or Rosato? Is There a Difference?“
• Jeff at FoodWineClick shares “Rosato: A Rosé by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet”
• David at Cooking Chat shares “Fresh Tomato Salsa Pasta with an Italian Rosato”
• Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog shares “#SundayFunday With Tormaresca Calafuria Rosé #ItalianFWT”
• Li at The Wining Hour shares ” There’s Rosé Under the Tuscan Sun too!”