SOME wine regions become so synonymous with one product that it is difficult to imagine drinking anything else from their cellars.
The blisteringly hot, steep-sided valleys of the Douro will always be associated with the production of port, despite its recent efforts to reinvent itself as a table wine producing region. The Médoc peninsula, with its grand chateaux, is home to som
e of the most evocative, silky cabernet sauvignon-based wines, yet recently it has been pushing its white wines which, depending on who you speak to, could represent the future of the region.
Yet just as the gentle, rolling, chalk hills of the Marne Valley can only really mean Champagne, so the bucolic Provençal villages between Avignon and Cannes evoke memories of rosé, that glorious pale pink wine that, in my house, has helped wash down some of my most memorable meals.
Rosé has an appalling reputation. If its quality levels are not routinely being trashed then too often it is dismissed as something one shouldn't really admit to liking, let alone drinking. On the many occasions I have suggested ordering a rosé, my friends have looked at me as though I was about to buy a round of Babycham. I suspect this stems from falling out of love with Portugal's Mateus Rosé, which we now look back on with the same shamefaced horror as we do SodaStreams and Monster Munch.
Admittedly, there is an awful lot of bad rosé out there, some of which I have spent summers drinking, but paired with the right food rosé can hold its own with any wine. I particularly enjoy a glass with the delicate, sweet flavours associated with Asian cuisine. It also works very well with the rich, garlicky flavours found in Provence and one of the region's signature dishes, bouillabaisse, a sort of chaotic fish stew. Perhaps more than anything it is with a salad and a freshly-torn piece of bread that it finds its ultimate pairing, as rosé was never invented to be taken too seriously. Its enjoyment is bound up in the immediacy of its flavours which can range from strawberry and peach to mushroom and pepper. Bad rosé is often too sweet, with a cloying, acidic character in the mouth. These wines are characterised by an unappealing bubblegum flavour and are best avoided. Good rosé should be refreshing with tantalising citrusy acidity, subtle summer flavours of raspberry, peach and melon, leaving the drinker wanting another glass. In my experience, if you are inclined to drink rosé I would head to Provence.
Most rosés are made from a blend of grape varieties: grenache, cabernet sauvignon and syrah. The red grapes are crushed and the skins separated from the fermenting juice after two or three days, before the wine colours deeply. Another method is for the immature pink wine juice to be "bled" from vats of fermenting red wine.
The way rosé is produced is presently undergoing an almighty row in Brussels following proposed legislation that would make it legal to blend white and red wine. Understandably, the wine growers in Provence are up in arms, arguing it will undermine their efforts and precipitate an ocean of inferior wine, calling itself rosé, on to the market. It is a row, I suspect, that will rumble on all summer.
Domaine Sainte Lucie 2008, Côtes de Provence, France, £8.95This will stand up to a surprising number of robust dishes. It has a slight vegetal character on the nose, almost reminiscent of the suggestion of cat's pee in Burgundy. Underneath is a summer flower, petal character and dry, peppery finish.
Domaine de la Grande Palliere 2008, Côtes de Provence, France, £9.95A blend of grenache, cinsault and syrah, this has a sprightly, floral nose with notes of peach. There is a fresh, apricot feel on the palate and a dry, nutty finish. Complete.
Rimauresq Classique 2008, Côtes de Provence, France, £10.80This estate, owned by the Wemyss family from Fife, is fast forging itself a reputation as the producer of some of the region's finest rosé. Super pale in the glass, it has a delicate, nuanced, complete character. It's difficult to find any fault. This is a class act, a wine one could simply drink all summer.
Stockists: Lea and Sandeman, (020 7244 0522, www.londonfinewine.co.uk); Nicolas; L'art du Vin, Leith (0131-555 6009) www.aduv.co.uk
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Capçanes Rosat, Montsant Usually £6.49, now £4.54, at Oddbins (www.oddbins.com)
Veuve Clicquot NV Usually £43.99 each, buy two bottles for £49.98 and save 40 per cent, at Majestic (www.majestic.co.uk)
