Marsanne is an excellent wine pairing with Mushroom Risotto, French Onion Soup, Chicken in a Cream Sauce, Lobster, and Ham.

Full-bodied, and high in alcohol, French Marsanne packs an aromatic punch, with rich flavours of apple, pineapple, tropical fruit, marzipan, nuts and peaches. Marsanne is a silky white wine that is soft, waxy and lush. The high alcohol content of Marsanne makes it a huge negative with spicy hot food. Alcohol and heat do not mix, just like gasoline and an open flame don’t mix. Adding high alcohol to spicy foods will only make your mouth burn hotter!

As Marsanne is full-bodied, you want to serve it chilled, but not ice-cold as cold temperatures will mute its pear, peach, lemon-curd and toasted nut flavours. Between 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit is the best serving temperature for Marsanne. While full-bodied, Marsanne pairs best with rich dishes that are light, yet still rich. For example, some noodles with chicken, olives and olive oil will go great with Marsanne. Meanwhile, sharper ingredients like salads with a vinaigrette, artichokes, asparagus and eggplant will taste awful when paired with Marsanne.

Single varietal bottles Marsanne is often a rare sight to see in North America, and you’ll often see this white wine blended with either about 15% Viognier or 15% Roussanne. A bottled labeled Marsanne Roussanne will have more of a 50/50 split between the two varietals.

Marsanne outside of France might be produced in a light and fresh style.  For lighter styles of Marsanne, you’ll want to pair it up with poached white fish, or fresh seafood such as mussels, shrimp or crab. There are also bottle aged and sweet styles of Marsanne that are not covered here, as you will rarely see them in North America. One day I’ll get around to posting a blog about them, in the meantime, the chart below will have a good list of suggestions to get you started (if you navigate to the Dessert style Marsanne section).