I thought I would wait for what passes for summer before updating you on rosé and recommending some of my favourites. But now it’s here, I realise it was pointless to have held back, because one of the most striking features of rosé is that our consumption of it is no longer purely seasonal. It has experienced a surge in popularity. We still get through greater volumes in the summer — even when, like last year, there isn’t one to speak of — but most of us now drink pink the rest of the year, too. No wonder sales are growing at 30% a year.

The original catalyst was the summer heatwave of 2003, but we’ve carried on since, whatever the weather, partly because rosé has shaken off its previously suspect image and partly because both choice and quality have soared.

It’s the textbook delicious circle: we buy more, so producers and sellers try harder, so we . . . so producers . . . and so on. Not that the picture is all rosy. At least half the market is cheap, sweet California brands, which aren’t worth wasting words on (or money). Overall, however, there’s plenty to celebrate.

CELLAR NOTES

2007 Vinha da Urze, Douro, £5.99 Fresh, spicy strawberry fruit. Portuguese, but a far cry from Mateus (selected Marks & Spencer).

2007 Clos d’Yvigne Bel Ami, Bergerac, £7.99 Pure merlot rosé; paler than the 2006, but every bit as good (Majestic).

2007 Maby La Forcadière, Tavel, £9.95 Full-bodied, stylish, spicy southern Rhône rosé (Yapp Brothers, 01747 860423).

WINE BLUFF

“The only wine made in Tavel is rosé”

Anorak fact:

Tavel is the only appellation contrôlée (French quality-wine area) where rosé is the only type of wine allowed to be produced

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