...And to drink?

The number of rosés in the shops is multiplying at an alarming rate: English rosés, Malbec rosés, Sangiovese rosés – I’ve even spotted a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc rosé made by adding a little Syrah to a white wine. Most of these are ghastly so it’s comforting to know that ’twas ever thus. Writing just after the war in the New Yorker, AJ Liebling observes: ‘In the late 1930s, the rosés began to proliferate in wine regions where they had never been known before, as growers discovered how marketable they were, and to this day they continue to pop up like measles on the wine map.’ Then, as now, the reason these wines were not any good was not down to anything intrinsically wrong with the style and everything to do with how cynically most were produced: ‘The wines converted to rosé in the great wine provinces are therefore, I suspect, the worst ones – a suspicion confi rmed by almost every experience I have had of them.’ Here are a few that Liebling would approve of.

Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Négrette Rosé 2013, £7.99: www.sainsburys.co.uk
A simple wine packed with strawberry fruit.

Sevilen Kalecik Karası R Rosé 2012, £9.49: www.marksandspencer.com
This, from Turkey, has a herby nose and is quite full-bodied with some crunchy, refreshing fruit. P

izarras de Otero Bierzo Rosé 2013, £9.99: www.majestic.co.uk
So dark it’s almost a red wine. It smells like it’s going to be rich but is actually extremely dry and piquant, with a whisper of tannin.

Domaine Houchart Saint-Victoire Rosé 2013, £8.50: www.thewinesociety.com
My rosé of the year so far. It has a lovely smell – honey, herbs, strawberries – and it’s tangy, with plenty of fruit, without being overblown.