The key thing with buying rosé is to get it as young as possible. There are very few exceptions to this rule (a notable one being Champagne). Modern rosé is made using the latest techniques designed to preserve the freshness of the fruit in the wine.

This freshness doesn’t last, so go for the latest vintage (and insist on this when ordering rose in a bar or restaurant). That is 2006 for Northern hemisphere wines, and 2006 or any moment now, 2007 for southern hemisphere wines.
The beefier end of the rosé spectrum – erring on the red side – is the consistently delicious . Fetzer Syrah Rosé 2006 from California., with gorgeous berry scents and flavours and a hint of strawberries and cream. From £6.49 at Booths, Co-op, Oddbins, Sainsbury, Tesco, Thresher, Waitrose (or you could just say ‘widely available’).

A dry, ‘grown up’ rosé made from the Grenache grape, by well-known winemaker Geoff Merrill is De Vito Rosé 2006 from South Australia, a rose with plenty of body, drier than you’d expect, but rippling with attractive cherry fruit. £5.99 from Tesco.

France has made rosé for centuries, most famous being Anjou rose, which isn’t a favourite. But a beautifully made rosé from a chateau in Bordeaux is Domaine de Sours rosé 2006, £5.99 from Sainsburys with its attractive hedgerow-scented bouquet and soft fleshy palate with plenty of guts.