If you work in the restaurant business, you have probably heard this disdainful sentiment many times, "Oh my God, table 53 ordered a whole bottle of that pink c**p! Or this sentiment that’s only uttered amongst us elitist restaurant workers, "If I owned my own restaurant I wouldn’t have ANY pink wine on the list!" *Sniff*". Well I am here to tell you, as is the web-site aptly named drink-pink.com and respected wine writer Jancis Robinson, rosé wines are probably one of the most versatile of food wines and a great choice for quaffing on a hot summer day.

Rosé wine is made all over the world from Sicily, Spain, South Africa, Australia and California. Respected wine makers in many areas, or appellations, in France also make them. But there are relatively few to be found in our local wine shops and upscale grocery stores. There are the usual suspects, a dry Tavel rosé and a Guigal Cote-du Rhone rosé both from the Southern Rhone in France and possibly a Bandol rosé from Domaine Tempier of Provence.

So why is there such a lack of representation here? I am sure it’s due to the misunderstanding we have of this type of wine, most are largely unaware of how many producers from all over the world make lovely dry and off dry versions of rosé. To quote Jancis Robinson, "Rosés come in several different styles… One of my favorite styles I’d call Red Wine for a Heatwave, a serious, well-made rosé which can offer much fruit, structure and satisfaction as a red, except it happens to be pink and chillable."

In the United States we think of pink wine as being white zinfandel, the sweet version that is cheaply made in huge quantities in California’s Central Valley. Mon Dieu!. In contrast the Spanish embrace their rosados and are made from the Grenache grape that is grown all over that country. In Provence, on the Mediterranean coast of France, rosés are the most produced wine from that region. These wines are made in a dry delicate style and really do match well with the garlic and oil-based cuisine of the Mediterranean. In Italy, one of the countries oldest wine making families, Antinori, makes a delicious rosé called Tenuta al Tasso Scalabrone from the esteemed Bolgheri region of Tuscany that produces some of Italy’s finest red wines.

Rosé wines are very commonly made in the sunny hot south of France. Producers in the Languedoc have been putting an increasing amount of effort into their pink wines, for which Cinsault and Grenache grapes are used. Further north and east in the appellations of Tavel and Lirac, located in the southern Rhone, the well-known rosés there are Grenache dominated and also made in a bone dry style. In the Loire valley talented wine makers produce lovely refreshing dry Anjou rosés from the red grapes Grolleau and Cabernet France.

Spain is covered with the red grape Granacha and the red grape Bobal. These grapes are used to produce a particularly fruity style of rosado. Don’t just think Mateus when you think of rosé from Portugal. The wine makers there are putting much effort into shaping food-friendly styles of rosé.

New world wine makers are showing signs of real creativity in their examples of this wine category. Rosé of Virginia from the Barossa Valley in South Australia and Vin Gris de Cigare from Bonny Doon in California have blazed a trail that has created wines like Slink Pink Malbec rosé from Argentina and Flagstone Semaphore rosé from South Africa.

Along with the wide array of pleasing pink shades available in rosés, these wines have many other attributes in both the still and sparkling versions. Both capture the red fruit and berry notes that are derived primarily from the grape skins. In still rosés you get a range of red fruit flavors. Strawberry, red cherries and raspberry with fresh herb aromas, but not the weight or tannins of a red wine. In sparkling wines, the aromatics of the wine are heightened. It is the simple structure of most rosés that make them easily quaffable.

The best versions of rosés offer refreshing acidity that balances a slight fruit sweetness. Most rosé aficionados would agree that these wines should be drunk while they are young, as they do not age. So buy them, chill them and drink them. As the sun heats up, there is nothing better than a perfectly balanced dry version of rosé from just about anywhere in the world.

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.

Ernest Hemingway

Santé!