A bit of sun and we're all stripping off - or drinking rosé. Yes, it's time to start thinking about injecting some summery wines into your list, and if you haven't got much - or any - rosé yet, then you should reconsider.
Rosé is a funny old drink. It never scales the heights (except in Bandol), and people always apologise for liking it. I don't know why - it can provide the ideal summer wine and it can be a good all-rounder, not to mention essential drinking for a barbecue. And then there's the domino effect: as soon as diners see a table drinking rosé, they want some too.
But if you haven't touched rosé since your Mateus days, then it's time to wise up. My favourite grape for rosé is Grenache - mainly because Navarra, in north-east Spain, makes some of the most gluggable, strawberries-and-cream rosés in the world.
Provençe is the home of French rosé, and there are many good examples made with grapes such as Mourvèdre - and Grenache, again. Bordeaux has a few decent pinks (called clairet), and the Loire makes good rosé - not the rather sugary Rosé d'Anjou, but the more elegant pinks of Sancerre. Outside France, look at Chile and Argentina, South Africa and Australia - especially Australia (see recommendations below).
And before you say, "But rosé is hardly a man's drink now, is it?" go to any bar in the macho, bullfighting town of Pamplona and you'll see hairy-backed men washing down platefuls of salty pata negra with pink drink after pink drink.
Six rosés for your list
***
2002 Charlie Melton Barossa Rosé of Virginia (£7.45, Liberty Wines 020 7720 5350)
The full metal jacket - rich, raspberry fruit with a creamy cranberry finish and gentle acidity.
2002 Geoff Merrill Grenache Rosé, McClaren Vale, Australia (£4.70, Great Western Wine Company 01225 322800)
A rosé as big as Merrill's moustache - meaty, cherry and almond blossom fruit. Woof woof.
2001 Castillo de Monjardin Merlot Rosé (£3.80, Laymont & Shaw 01872 270545)
Navarra makes the some of the best rosé in the world, and the folks at Castillo de Monjardin some of the best wine in Navarra, and this rosé is no exception: a red fruit medley - though heavy on the strawberries - with a zinging acidity.
**
02 Vin Ruspo, Rosato di Carmignano, Capezzana (£5.95, Liberty Wines)
A complete contrast to the three-star rosés, this is light on its fruity feet but rather elegant for it. Good, searing, oily food-cutting acidity.
*
2001 Château du Donjon Cuvée Tradition Rosé, Minervois, Languedoc (£4.25, Great Western Wine Company)
Cheery, zippy glugger - winemaker Jean Panis is a relatively new kid on the block, but the boy done good.
2001 Fetzer Valley Oaks Syrah Rosé, California (£5.90, Matthew Clark 01275 891400)
Floral, peach Melba nose; soft and luscious without being flabby; and with a twist of orange peel on the finish - from the organic wine leaders in the USA.
Shorts
First growths for sale
Need to boost your first-growth Bordeaux listing? Then head down to Sotheby's Great First Growth Sale on 4 June in London. "An amazing treasure trove," gushes Serena Sutcliffe MW, head of Sotheby's international wine department. Many of the great vintages are there, from 1982 to 1995. Highlights include a 1985 Château Mouton Rothschild signed by Belgian artist Paul Delvaux.
Slippery customer
London restaurant Scott's has been offering elvers on the menu for April. The highly prized delicacies - in Spain, anyway - cost several hundred pounds per kg (£40 per portion in Scott's) because their season is so brief. In this country they are fished from the River Severn only during April and are "caught by the light of the moon in silk nets". When caught, the eels are just three inches long and have already swum all the way from the Sargasso Sea.
Scott's chef Michael McEnearney sautés them in butter before tossing them with wild garlic, a slug of vermouth and a dash of cream. The ideal wine pairing? A Bordeaux Sauvignon/Sémillon, suggests Scott's sommelier.
Gallo floods the on-trade
US wine giant E&J Gallo has teamed up with on-trade wine giant Waverley Wines & Spirits to distribute its portfolio to the UK on-trade. "The UK on-trade is a relatively untapped market for E&J Gallo," says Gallo sales director David Bradley, "and our recent research has highlighted the importance of strong brands in the on-trade."
UK sommelier winner
The country's top sommeliers fought it out in London two weeks ago at the finals of the Champagne Ruinart UK Sommelier of the Year competition, organised by the Academy of Food & Wine Service. And the winner is... Loic Maillet of London's Great Eastern hotel. And it was his first time - which must have miffed the two runners-up: the Capital's Matthew Wilkin and Cliveden's Eric Zwiebel, who were both runners-up last year, too. A full report will appear in next week's Caterer.