Following the previous column, where we discussed Rosé as a light, refreshing, and almost mandatory aperitif for the first days of summer, it is worth pausing for a moment on its other side – the one that receives less appreciation or space in the local discourse.
Why? Because a good Rosé can, in certain cases, be much more than a "first glass" wine. It can be a complex, gastronomic, and entirely culinary wine – one that carries an entire meal and not just the reception.
On Shavuot, almost automatically, most of us turn to white wines. This is natural because the cheeses, quiches, fish, and pastas in cream sauce pair wonderfully with the acidity and freshness of white wine.
But this is precisely where Rosé wines enter the picture, with an advantage of their own: They manage to combine the freshness and sharpness of white wine with the depth and fruitiness that come from the world of red wine.
A different kind of Rosé wine: Complex and full-bodied
Rosé, as mentioned, is a name we often use almost as a "non-binding" category. Something light, pleasant, summery. And some of the wines are indeed wonderful exactly for that: A cold afternoon aperitif, or an evening when friends dropped by and all that is on the table is flat pretzels and some snacks.
But alongside these, there is also a different kind of Rosé – more complex, acidic, with a body and presence that can hold food in a very beautiful way.
By the way, here too I would not save them for Hamin or Beef Bourguignon, but rather for relatively light dishes – the most Shavuot ever – good cheeses, salads, antipasti, egg salad, small and effortless summer meals, and also precise dishes of fish or chicken.
In a good Rosé there is enough freshness so as not to be heavy, but also enough character so as not to disappear next to the food – and this is exactly the point that makes it perhaps the most underrated wine on the Israeli holiday table.
In honor of Shavuot, we chose 4 strictly Italian Rosé bottles (because after all, one must feel a bit of abroad in the Israeli pressure cooker) and matched them with dishes that are likely to be on most of our holiday tables.
Piccini, ELISA Sangiovese Rosato X Piccini, Collezione Oro, Rosato
I don’t know about you, but just the use of the word Sangiovese sends me to the heart of Tuscany. The choice of these two wines for the first courses was quite clear – elegant, fresh wines, ripe red berries combined with floral notes.
Elisa (or Elize depending on which language you speak) is the floral and in my eyes the more refined of the two, full of flavors but not overbearing. The bottle is so beautiful that it only adds beauty to the table – of course without compromising on the taste.
Collezione Oro is the more classic one and projects luxury – at least that is how I perceived it – less mineral and more dry, unequivocal and culinary, and everything integrated wonderfully with antipasti, fatty cheeses, and a variety of opening salads.
Torre Mora, Scalunera Etna Rosato 2024 X Tuscan Vibes, Rosato Toscana IGT
We moved on to the fish dishes and with them the complexity also rose. For the main course – which is a dish of oven-baked fish with root vegetables that I did not prepare – we chose a bottle from the Etna wine region in Sicily. A wine that comes from a volcano – and any further word is unnecessary.
There is in it – as befits a stormy and volcanic region – also a complexity in taste that reveals itself, changing slowly from the moment of opening the bottle and the first sip until the plate is also finished.
The additional bottle, Tuscan Vibes, is not only the embodiment of everything special about Tuscany but also an ideal wine for fish dishes. I did not know this in advance, and my gamble was successful.
Its cherry-pink color can at first be misleading, but at the first sip one already understands who the guy is.
He is concentrated in flavors but also not overbearing, he is very dry but also mineral and fruity and adapts himself in harmony to what is on the plate, to such an extent that you can find yourselves drinking it too quickly.