The Ten Best Rosé wines

Summer days and balmy evenings... it's time to think pink, says Anthony Rose

2003 Las Falleras Utiel Requena Rosé

2003 Las Falleras Utiel Requena Rosé

£2.99

One swallow may not make a summer, but a sip or two of this refreshingly clean Spanish rosado, made from the local bobal grape, will certainly make a contribution. And the price can only help put a sunny smile on your face.

Marks & Spencer

2002 Birgi Rosato Sicilia

£3.99

Thoughts of Sicily and the shimmering blue Mediterranean transform this everyday southern Italian pink wine, made from the local frappato grape, into a fragrantly fresh and deep pink-hued redcurranty rosato with a pleasingly dry aftertaste.

Oddbins

2003 Château Guiot Rosé, Costières de Nîmes

£4.79 (buy 2, save £1)

This salmon-pink rosé from François and Sylvia Cornut is made from grenache and syrah grapes on the Provence/Languedoc borders. It's packed with powerfully ripe and full-flavoured strawberry fruitiness, and has a clean dry bite that will suit salads and finger food.

Majestic Wine Warehouses

2003 Domaine de Pellehaut Rosé, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne

£4.99

The quality of the wines from this estate in the rural depths of Armagnac gets better and better. A blend of merlot and tannat, the mouthwatering rhubarb and redcurrant flavours give this rosé a suitably crunchy feel to refresh alfresco wining and dining. One for Cyrano de Bergerac to stick his nose into.

Sainsbury's and Waitrose

2003 Fetzer Valley Oaks Syrah Rosé

£5.99 (£4.99 if you buy two)

Fetzer of California is always a byword for good value. It's screwcapped to seal in the freshness (more like this, please). This ripe, full-flavoured strawberry cup of a rosé from the Mendocino biodynamists is an agreeably summery thirst-quencher for parties and picnics.

Majestic Wine Warehouse

2003 Château de Caraguilhes Rosé, Corbières

£5.59 (reduced from £6.99 until 27 June)

The Burgundy producer Louis Max's zingy-fresh, elegantly dry southern French rosé is made from organically produced grenache and syrah grapes, with clean berry-like summer-pudding fruit flavours in the tavel style, leading to an elegant dry finish.

Waitrose

2003 Amethystos Rosé, Domaine Lazaridis

£7.99

This quirky and powerfully rich, ripe Macedonian rosé from the Drama region is a satisfying blend of cabernet, merlot and syrah, redolent of redcurrants and raspberries and delicately balanced.

Oddbins

2003 Clos Petite Bellane Rosé

£6.79

Made from grenache and syrah grapes near the Côtes du Rhône village of Valréas, this pale pink confection is juicy, dry and raspberryish with full-bodied fruitiness.

Oddbins

2003 Torres San Medin Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé

£5.49

This deep-hued, intensely flavoured Chilean rosado from the Catalonian wine guru Miguel Torres's Curico Valley vineyards is ripe and full-flavoured with underlying notes of capsicum and ripe berry-fruit flavours, enhanced by thirst-quenchingly citrus-crisp acidity.

Sainsbury's and Waitrose

2003 Côtes du Rhône Rosé, Enclave des Papes

£4.99

One for catholic tastes, this tavel lookalike is made in the old papal vineyard area from a blend of the Mediterranean grape varieties, grenache and syrah. It's full of ripe red berry fruitiness, and its powerful kick is enlivened by a cleansing fresh acidity and a suitably dry aftertaste.

Sainsbury's