Pride and Prejudice & Adorada Rosé

I have to confess that I really struggled to decide on which wine to pair with Pride and Prejudice, which has been one of my favorite books since I first read it over a decade ago. I thought about pairing based on geography, like with Angels and Demons, but England does not produce many wines, being outside of the ideal climate for grape-growing. I checked out a few D'Arcy wines, but while Mr. Darcy is many things, a juicy berry is not one of them. I then thought about pairing based on time period, but finding a vineyard that was producing wines in 1813 and is still producing affordable wine today was kindly explained to me as "not a thing." 

I knew I couldn't just randomly select something for this classic, I needed a bottle of wine that could stand with the boldness of its heroine and the goodness of its hero. 

Fortune gifted me with two friends, who in turn gifted me with bottle of wine. 

The Pairing

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Adorada Rosé

The first base note is "wild rose." As soon as I read that, I thought of Elizabeth Bennett. The second base note is "sweet pea," which brought Jane Bennett to mind. (The final base note is "strawberry," and while that didn't really make me think of anyone in Pride and Prejudice, it did make me excited to open the bottle.) For those of us that can't identify things like base notes and just want to know if the wine tastes good or not, I can tell you that this rosé is easy to drink, refreshing, and just sweet enough.

The final deciding factor for whether or not to pair this with Pride and Prejudice came when I researched Adorada. First of all, the name is "adored" in Spanish and has the tag line "To Be Loved" which means it must be fated to accompany a love story. Secondly, the winemaker is this younger, super down-to-earth woman named Margaret Leonardi, whose creativity and passion for her craft make me feel like she and Jane Austen would really hit it off. What better quality to bring together two things than similarities between their creators?

This pairing was a light escape for me during the dreary and cold February rain we've been experiencing in Durham. However, I imagine I'll also come back to it in the summer for an afternoon picnic, or in the fall when the crisp weather calls for crisp wines. 

Whenever it is that you need your Darcy fix- or just some sturdy 19th century sarcasm- grab this pairing and settle in.

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Since much of this story takes place in one English garden or another, transport yourself there, too, with this candle. You can also try your hand at some Olde English cooking with this adorable Jane Austen cookbook, inspired by the author's family recipes.