On a wine-tasting trip to the States last year, I found myself seated next to a couple of American wine importers – big, self-important men with opinions as brash as their T-shirts. At some point, the three of us were served a very light red wine, a kind of American attempt at Beaujolais, and one of the importers was not impressed. The wine was "not serious", he told the room, it was "too dilute". But his colleague, like me, disagreed, saying: "In my world, there are wines, like this, for drinking, and there are wines for thinking. You just have to know when to think and when to drink."
Put like that, the idea sounds like the kind of folksy, shop-bought wisdom you find on fridge magnets or bumper stickers. And hearing it made me wince. But it's hard to disagree with the sentiment. There is even an established vocabulary for it: in Italy, a "thinking wine" is rather grandly referred to as a vino di meditazione; in France, "drinking wines" are vins de soif.
This month's wines all fall, unashamedly, into the latter. Well-made rosés are not wines for taking you on a journey to the wilder reaches of poetic description. They're not wines for keeping in a cellar and carefully noting their evolution over decades. But they are perfect for the picnic blanket, the garden or veranda, chilled to quench your thirst with a light summer meal. Or, if you must, wines for drinking when you're not thinking.
Balfour Brut Rosé, Hush Heath Estate, Kent 2006
£34.99, M&S, marksandspencer.com; Waitrose and Waitrose Direct, waitrosewine.com; £37, Bibendum, bibendum-wine.co.uk
This very striking, top-quality pink sparkler uses the same production techniques and grape varieties as Champagne. But its super-bright acidity, delicate mousse and redcurrant flavours give it an unmistakably English character.
Esprit de Buganay Rosé Côtes de Provence,France 2009
£8.49 reduced to £6.29 from 7 July to 27 July, Waitrose
Countless tourists have been converted to the idea of rosé by a holiday in Provence. Here's a nice example of why: classically light in colour, it is restrained, refreshing and ridiculously easy to drink.
Gosset Grande Rosé Champagne NV
£55 to £60, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Berry Bros & Rudd, Fortnum & Mason, various independents
A fine Champagne from a house much favoured by sommeliers. Like all the Gosset wines, it is pure, focused and taut, but with plenty of flesh on its bones, great length and a wonderfully complex, clean finish.
Sancerre Rosé André Dezat et Fils, France 2008
£13.60, Tanners, tanners-wines.co.uk
Sancerre is home to another classic French rosé style, this time based on pinot noir, the red grape best known for the red wines of Burgundy to the east. The Dezat version is all about elegance, with a seam of just-picked strawberries.
Marqués de Cáceres Rosé Rioja 2009, Spain
£8.99, or £6.49 if you buy two bottles, Majestic, majestic.co.uk; £7.99, Oddbins, oddbins.com
The ubiquitous globetrotting French consultant winemaker Michel Rolland has a hand in the winery behind this very well-made modern Rioja rosado. It has bags of strawberry but the bright acidity makes it clean and never cloying.
Gran Tesoro Garnacha Rosé, Campo de Borja, Spain 2009
£3.79, Tesco, tesco.com/wine
Vibrantly coloured and abundantly fruity, a wine that manages to be both genuinely cheap and genuinely cheerful. (Its red partner, Gran Tesoro Garnacha, is a pretty good buy, too.)
Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato, Victoria, Australia 2009
£5.99 for 37.5cl, Liberty Wines, libertywines.co.uk; Selfridges; Harvey Nichols
I imagine you could make an impressive sorbet from this . Mind you, served chilled straight from the bottle, this faintly fizzy, gently sweet, refreshing wine already has many of the qualities of a fine sorbet.
Veuve Clicquot Rosé NV
£45, or £40 if you buy two bottles, Majestic
Not all the big Champagne houses have got rosé quite right. In fact, in many cases you're paying a premium over the normal non-vintage Champagne with little improvement in quality. That is certainly not the case with Veuve Clicquot's succulent example, however, which has an extravagant depth of fresh, zingy raspberry flavour.
Lindauer Rosé Brut, New Zealand, NV
£9.99, or £7.99 if you buy two bottles, Majestic
Lindauer's sparkling wines are consistently good given the scale on which they are produced. This blend of chardonnay and pinot noir with a tiny drop of pinotage is no exception. It's a cherry-scented, good value alternative to pink Champagne.
Château d'Aqueria Tavel Rosé, France 2008
£12.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, bbr.com
Château d'Aqueria is one of the best producers in the Tavel appellation in the southern Rhône Valley, which is devoted to rosé. This wine is powerful (with 14% alcohol) but well-balanced, with a nice savoury twist to the big fruit.
