Domaine d'Arbousset, Rosé, Tavel, Rhône, France 2021

A must-buy for fans of a fuller-bodied style of rosé. You only have to look at the deep pink colour to get an idea of what to expect. But even though it's a fuller style, it's bone dry, balanced and fresh, with exuberant juicy and ripe but not confected strawberry fruit. 2021 was a cool and rainy vintage in the region, giving a good level of natural acidity in the wines. This would be a delicious barbecue rosé, gutsy enough to cope with stronger flavours, but still refreshing on a hot summer's day.

This is a great introduction to the wines of Tavel with lashings of ripe strawberries, a touch of raspberry jam and that tell-tale twist of spicy tannins on the finish. This is a full-bodied, fruity rosé par excellence with the abundance of fruit and body that is so appealing combined with lovely freshness. Not dissimilar in style to the rosés of Navarra in Spain, also Grenache-based with extended maceration.

You may not immediately think of winter as the season for rosé but this blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 20% Cinsault is just the ticket for a bit of spicy refreshment. With a bold hue, the colour is as seasonal as a holly berry and a full throttle bottle in flavour too. Crunchy cherries abound and this rich rosé has plenty of bite too. Packed with flavour, it’s rich and tangy as a cranberry-grapefruit fusion with long-lasting tasty powerful fruit. Julie Rouffignac and Gérald Lafont have made a terrific wine here with local yeasts delivering full bunches of characterful wine. Tavel in the southern Rhône specialises in dry rosé wine that evolve and improve if you have the patience to age them in bottle. If you can’t hang on and are serving hot sausage rolls this winter, chill this bottle and dish it out alongside for wine’s answer to tangy relish.

A classic Grenache-Syrah-Cinsault blend, showing potpourri and raspberry aromas then a weighty palate of red fruit and a blueberry-skin, darkly textured streak. Powerful intensity, impressive length, rich but ultimately refreshing – this will stand up to a lot of food matches, and is excellent with a summer steak on the barbecue. Fabulous value. I’ll keep saying it: dark, deep, dry rosé should be absolutely the next big thing.