Everyone’s coming up with rosés for alfresco days ahead

By Martin Moran

So, when exactly does summer start? Is it May 1, June 1 or June 21? All have their supporters, but on a practical level, just maybe it’s the day on which you decide to drink your first alfresco rosé or frosé, in the garden, or on a balcony if you don’t have one. We’ve already had days when the mercury went above 20C, so if you haven’t poured a pink drink yet, you probably will soon.

Rosé, like cider, seems embedded in the Irish consciousness as exclusively a summer drink, no matter how often we wine writers try to convince wine drinkers otherwise. Maybe that’s changing a little bit though as rosé sales jumped from 3 per cent of sales in 2016 to 7 per cent in 2020. Fashions change and where once sales were dominated by sweet “blush” Californian wines, this surge is dominated by pale pinks from Provence, with Whispering Angel leading the charge.