Prime Time for Pink: Rosés for Summer 2026

Rosé may be a much less seasonal wine than it was, but we all need good rosés to drink in the summer. And what a summer this is turning out to be, not least for the weather, not to mention the sport.

Here, then, is round-up of rosés to enjoy wherever you are and whatever you're doing. They're listed in ascending order of price, except that, for most of this month, there's an offer shaving £4 off the price of Éminence de Bijou, making it temporarily the cheapest.

Two quick reminders before I plunge in. Always keep your wines out of sunlight to avoid them being spoiled irreparably by lightstrike. This is particularly important with rosés, most of which lack the protection provided by green or amber glass bottles. Secondly, bring on the food with rosés – don't just confine them to the apéro slot.

Châteaux Ollieux Romanis Racine Rosé 2025, Corbières, France

You don’t see pink Corbières any more often than white, but this, like the white Racine that was a wine of the week in June, is a cracker. Pale salmon with red berries, white peach and a spicy lift in a supple, dry frame. A great alternative to Provence rosé, or almost any other rosé. A blend of Grenache Noir, Cinsault and Grenache Gris. Very good value. 12%

£11.95, The Wine Society

Famille Lafon Tavel Rosé 2024, Tavel, Rhône, France

Tavel is your original full-flavoured, food-friendly dry rosé. Not afraid to be properly pink and full of fruit and peppery spice (think strawberry, raspberry and a smidge of blackcurrant in the fruit department), Famille Lafon is good with lamb and pork, as well as all sorts of veg. It's Grenache with Cinsault, Carignan, Syrah and a few other local varieties and was a wine of the week in April. Note that Tesco is still calling this Arbousset (its old name) online. 13.5%

£13, Tesco

Three Bowls Rosé 2024, Naoussa, Greece

Pale, pretty, dry and very satisfying with nose-tingling strawberry-ish fruit lightly washed with orange blossom and pine resin. A Greek rosé with real personality and style made from indigenous white Assyrtiko and red Xinomavro. There's also a red Three Bowls, which was a wine of the week in February, and a white Assyrtiko. The rosé is on the right in the photo above. 12.5%

£14, Maltby & Greek

W/O Nero d'Avola Rosato 2025, Sicilia, Italy

A light-bodied, dry rose with a cherry-berry nose, Seville-orange tang and soft texture. W/O stands for ‘wine without compromise’: the bottle is made from 100% recycled glass and has no capsule and the grapes are organically grown. 12%

£14.99/£12.99 in any mix of 12 bottles, Laithwaites

Melpo Valley of the Muses Rosé 2024, Sterea Ellada, Greece

A blend of Syrah with the pink-skinned Alepou clone of Roditis (which many growers regard as a superior clone) from a family estate on the slopes of Mount Helicon near Athens. Dry and perfumy with spicy, summer-pudding fruit, grapefruit and pine-forest freshness. 12.5%

£14.99, Laithwaites

Éminence de Bijou Rosé 2025, Coteaux de Béziers, Languedoc, France

This is a step-up from the fruity Bijou de Sophie Valrose, the 2025 vintage of which is in Waitrose in the world’s first lightweight bottle (410g – chapeau!). Éminence is a more nuanced wine, with peach-melba fruit, subtle texture and citrus succulence and zing. A blend of Grenache and Cinsault with a splash of Rolle and a small part of the Grenache fermented in French oak. Snap it up on offer. 12.5%

£11.75 on offer until 21.07.26, then full price £15.75, Waitrose 

Roseblood d'Estoublon 2025, Coteaux Varois en Provence, France

Very pale powder-pink, fragrant, elegant and silky textured, with spring blossom, orange and white peach on the nose and spice, citrus pith and salty mineral notes on the palate. Textbook Provence rosé made from estate-grown Grenache with Syrah, Cinsault and dash of Rolle vinified in a combination of stainless steel and concrete tanks and aged on lees for several weeks. 12.5%

£16.50, Tesco, £17, Ocado, £17, Hic!, £18 in any mix of 6 bottles, Majestic; £18.50–£20, ND John Wine, Secret Bottle Shop, Vinatis, The Fulham Wine Co, Waddesdon Manor

Tanners Provence Rose 2025, Côtes de Provence, France

New to Tanners own-label range and a very good call, grown and made for them by Château Pas du Cerf. The colour is a barely-there pale pink and the captivating nose of delicately spiced peach and redcurrants dipped in citrus brine leads into a supple, silky palate. The immaculately balanced blend includes a little Tibouren and Mourvèdre alongside the Grenache (70%) and Cinsault and, although not labelled as such, it's grown and made organicallly. 13%

£17.95, Tanners Wine

Campo di Sasso Rissoa 2025, Rosato Toscana, Tscany, Italy

One of my favourites: easygoing and approachable, but with layers of interest in the bright, expressive nose, tangy, rich fruit (think peach, redcurrant and orange), textured palate and breezy, saline, dry finish. It’s Cabernet Franc with a little Syrah and comes from the coastal reaches of Bibbona in Tuscany from Tenuta di Campo di Sasso, the estate which produces the well-known Syrah-based red Insoglio de Cinghiale, another wine that is seductively drinkable but which you discover has much more going on with each sip. And there’s a white Vermentino, Occhione, in the same mould. 13%

£21.50, Xtrawine

Abingworth Vineyard Hidden Verse Rosé, West Sussex, England

A refreshing dry, salmon-pink blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (slightly more of the former) fermented mostly in stainless steel, but with a little in concrete egg which has contributed to the attractively rounded texture. Add in the wild-strawberry aroma, touches of pomegranate and greengage, tightly sprung green-apple and lime-zest acidity and you have an appealing and impressive English rosé, from a family-run vineyard, founded four years. 12%

£23, Abingworth Vineyard

The Heretics The Disobedient Pale Rosé 2025, England

If you baulk at the price, it’s worth knowing that this is the cheaper of The Heretic’s two Pinot Noir rosés. And I prefer it. In structure, it’s a bit like a high-end Provence rosé, even though it’s English, Pinot Noir and all barrel-fermented (including 7% in a new French oak barrel: Remond Vosges, since you ask). In flavour, it’s entirely itself, with red apple, citrus, herbs, spice, brushwood and streaking acidity. Plenty going on and I think it will be even better next year and the one after. 13%

£32, wearetheheretics.com

Photographs by Joanna Simon, except for the final photo

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