What is it about pink that makes the sophisticated classes shrink? It will take more than this season's fashion sprinkling of rosebuds and the occasional pink Thomas Pink shirt, alas, to overcome the deep sense of unease instilled by Barbie, Barbara Cartland, bedjackets and 60s bathroom fitting manufacturers. Pink wine languishes blushingly alongside rose dralon three-piece suites in the style stakes. A terrible injustice for something that can be a mouth-watering summer treat.
A degree of wariness is understandable, mind you. Some of the bestselling bottles are nastily sweet - tainting the whole image of rose with the sort of high sugar risk we're inclined to associate with baby-girl-pink marshmallows or sugared almonds. Mateus Rose may be drier than of old (thank goodness), and there are murmurs about lower levels of sweetness in the roses of Anjou. Who knows, the same pattern may soon be discernible in California's blush wines (an apt name if ever there was one). But all of these off-dry efforts are still essentially wines for non-wine enthusiasts - made in a style that's unlikely to tempt confirmed wine fans to drink pink.
Don't be put off. Don't let them prejudice your enjoyment of all the other roses which are crisp and fresh and tangy on the tongue. However fruity they may seem at first sniff (remember, strawberry and raspberry aromas are part of their charm), they're bone dry in the finish. And in between comes that great rush of acidity that jolts the appetite into gear, making good rose a brilliant choice for light, warm-weather food.
The weather has a part to play, without a doubt, in the enjoyment of rose. The bottle that seemed so tasty out on the terrace of some divine little restaurant in Provence doesn't have half as much appeal on a chilly June lunchtime in Dublin when the skies are grey. But it's worth keeping a few bottles to hand for miracle days when the sun appears just as you're wondering what wine to uncork. The very sight of one or two pink beauties on the wine rack, pretty and slightly frivolous and absolutely summery, always cheers me up.
How to distinguish between the good, the bad and the sickly on wine shop shelves? Have a look at the label for clues as to region and grape. The two great strongholds of succulent rose are the south of France - Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon - where it's made from grapes like Syrah, Cinsaut and Grenache - and northern Spain, notably Navarra, where vast quantities of strawberry-pink Garnacha are gulped down by a thirsty home market. And very good it is, too - especially with a plate of stuffed pimientos or Serrano ham in the warm heat of a long Spanish lunch. Rose made from Cabernet Sauvignon is also well worth trying - whether it's from Bordeaux, Spain, Italy or Chile, where the Spanish wine legend Miguel Torres produces an easy quaffing style under the Santa Digna label. Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir can provide zestily herbaceous, quite elegant examples in the upper reaches of the Loire - around Sancerre, for instance - the only drawback being high prices.
Whatever you choose, you'll need food to go with it, even if it's only a plate of olives, because, with its talent for getting the saliva flowing rose is just too much of an appetite primer to drink much of on its own. It goes well with a wide array of salads and vegetable dishes (the more herbs, the better), fits in effortlessly with light meats and is a star performer with the in tense flavours of the Mediterranean - anchovies, tuna, sundried tomatoes, pesto, tapenade. It also copes superbly with the mild-to-medium spices of Thai food.
Just two caveats. Rose needs to be drunk young, so look out for the 1998s, which have just arrived, or settle at worst for the 1997s. Any older than that, and it rapidly loses its vibrant fruit and freshness - not to mention that glorious colour. Supposedly reputable supplier of a tired and tawny old Bandol rose to a smart Dublin 4 dinner party last summer, please take note. It also needs to be well chilled, for warm rose is even worse than warm white wine.
The Perfect Pink
Hateau de Flaugergues Rose, Coteaux du Languedoc La Mejanelle 1998 (Dunnes Stores, £5.69). Irish Times readers love this one: when it was Bottle of the Week last summer a vast quantity - five times greater than in previous years - was snapped up. Pink progress! The new vintage, just in, is every bit as appealing and still good value.
Mount Hurtle Grenache Rose, South Australia, 1998 (Superquinn, Deveneys group, Vintry Rathgar, Duffys Terenure, Higgins Clonskeagh, Sweeneys Dorset St & Fairview, Raheny Wine Cellar, Jus de Vine Portmarnock, O'Donovans Cork, Fields Skibbereen and some other outlets , usually £5.99). "I got fed up with guys complaining that rose is a Sheila's wine," explains Geoff Merrill, Australia's laddish winemaker, "so I made one at 14.5 per cent alcohol, and after the second bottle their knees didn't work in conjunction with their brains." He's toned it down a bit since, but it's still an assertive, personality-rich pink. Terrific with spicy food.
Gran Feudo Rosado, Navarra, Bodegas Julian Chivite, 1998 (all Superquinns, most SuperValus, Roches Stores, Molloys Liquor Stores, Spar Ballsbridge, McCabes Merrion, Kellys Artane, O'Lorcain Balbriggan, Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth, Kirbys Tralee and some other outlets, usually £6.99). The long Spanish love affair with rose shows through in a cracking Garnacha-based example. See Bottle of the Week.
Chateau Thieuley Bordeaux Clairet, 1998 (Wines Direct, £7.80 if you buy a case of wine, which may be mixed). The three classic grapes of Bordeaux - Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc - deliver a lovely, full-flavoured rose with intense raspberry and herb notes.
La Source de Vignelaure Rose, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, 1998 (Raheny Wine Cellar, Cheers-Gibneys Malahide, McCabes Merrion, Noble Rot Navan, Mill Maynooth, usually about £7.99). From the revamped property of former racehorse trainer David O'Brien, an elegant rose that has won wide acclaim. Maybe a bit too close to bubble-gum in aroma, but it's light and zippy on the palate - you can almost taste provencal herbs in there - and it has a commendably long finish. Especially good with oily foods (including salmon), according to Catherine O'Brien.
Enate Rosado, Cabernet Sauvignon, Somontano, 1998 (Redmonds Ranelagh, Thomas's Deli Foxrock, Vineyard Galway and a few other outlets, usually about £9.50). Tongue-tinglingly fresh and packed with raspberryish fruit, this well made rose from a dynamic little region in north-east Spain is deliciously bracing, with a very long, dry finish.
Chateau de Sours Bordeaux Rose, 1997/8 (Mitchells Kildare St & Glasthule, Molloys Liquor Stores, Deveneys outlets, Martha's Vineyard Rosemount, McCabes Merrion, Sweeneys Dorset St & Fairview, O'Briens Skibbereen, Lynchs Glanmire, Bradleys Cork, Macs Limerick, Castle Tralee and some other outlets, usually about £9.95). One of the most exquisite of all, with a wonderfully herbaceous character adding vibrancy and interest. Even entrenched pink sceptics will surely be won over.