Food and wine
What wine with bouillabaisse?
A Provence rosé: the one pairing where rosé is not a compromise.
A Marseille fish stew: several kinds of fish in a saffron broth, served with toasted bread and rouille, a garlic and chilli mayonnaise. A full meal in a bowl.
Why this pairing works
Saffron, garlic and the chilli in the rouille complicate everything: too fine a white gets covered, a red clashes with the fish. Provence rosé has the body of one and the freshness of the other: the regional pairing, and it has no equal.
Look for on the list
Bandol rosé
35–60 €The most structured rosé in Provence, powerful enough for the rouille.
Cassis blanc
35–62 €Marseille's own white, grown twenty kilometres away: maritime, herbal, made for fish.
Côtes de Provence rosé
25–45 €The simple, cheaper option, found on every list in the South.
What to avoid : Reds, which fight the fish. And delicate whites, which the saffron erases.
The ranges are restaurant prices for a full bottle. By the glass, reckon on roughly a quarter. At a wine shop, divide by two or three.
What to say
« Un rosé de Provence pour la bouillabaisse, s'il vous plaît. »
pronounced : uhn ro-ZAY duh pro-VAHNSS poor la boo-ya-BESS, seel voo PLEH
A Provence rosé for the bouillabaisse, please.
Yes, but on this list?
Knowing which style of wine you want still does not tell you which one to take from the thirty lines in front of you. Photograph the list: Cépage compares what is actually available, at your budget, and decides.
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