Roussanne

Roussanne is a dry, medium to full-bodied white grape best known from France’s Rhône Valley. Expect pear, peach and apricot with white flowers, herbs, honey and gentle spice. Rich but fresh, it’s brilliant with roast chicken, pork, grilled fish, creamy pasta, mushroom dishes and herb-heavy Mediterranean food.

Taste:

Rich, floral and a little more serious than your average white.

Roussanne is typically dry and medium to full-bodied, with refreshing acidity and flavours of pear, peach and apricot. White flowers are a signature, often joined by citrus, herbs and gentle spice.

As the wine develops, it can become richer and more complex, bringing honey, nuts and savoury herbal flavours into the mix. Oak-aged versions may add vanilla, toast and an even rounder texture.

Despite all that richness, good Roussanne keeps enough acidity to stay fresh and balanced.

It's one of those whites that starts fruity and floral, then quietly gets more interesting the longer you sit with it. Sneaky.

Food Pairings:

Roussanne’s combination of body, herbs and acidity makes it brilliant with richer white-meat and seafood dishes.

Try it with roast chicken, grilled chicken, herb-roasted chicken, roast pork or pork chops, particularly with rosemary, thyme or garlic.

For seafood, pair it with grilled salmon, sea bass, cod, scallops, crab or prawns. Richer fish dishes with butter, herbs or creamy sauces work particularly well.

Creamy pasta is another easy win. Try chicken Alfredo, mushroom pasta, truffle pasta, seafood pasta or pasta with a creamy garlic sauce.

It also works beautifully with mushroom risotto, truffle risotto, grilled aubergine and herb-roasted Mediterranean vegetables.

For cheese, try Brie, Camembert, Comté or Gruyère.

Similar Wines:

If you enjoy Roussanne, Marsanne is the obvious next stop. The two Rhône grapes are frequently blended together, with Marsanne often bringing extra body and Roussanne adding fragrance and acidity.

Viognier turns up the peach, apricot and floral aromatics, while Grenache Blanc offers another rounded, Mediterranean white with plenty of fruit and herbs.

Chardonnay is also worth exploring if it’s Roussanne’s richer texture and ability to handle creamy food that you love most.

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More About Roussanne:

Roussanne is most closely associated with France’s Rhône Valley, where it appears in both northern and southern Rhône wines.

In the northern Rhône, it’s commonly partnered with Marsanne in appellations such as Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. Further south, Roussanne is one of the white grapes permitted in wines including Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

The grape takes its name from roux, the French word referring to a reddish-brown colour, because ripe Roussanne grapes can develop a distinctive rusty or reddish tint to their skins.

It's also notoriously tricky to grow, with irregular yields and sensitivity in the vineyard.

High maintenance, beautifully perfumed and worth the effort.

Roussanne knows exactly what it brings to the relationship.