Eight rose wines around $20 or less
Rosé might be the world's oldest wine. It's certainly one of the easiest and loveliest to drink. Rose gets its name from the wine's color and can be made several ways. The most popular is the "skin contact" method, which lets the juice from dark-skinned grapes hang out in a vat for a few hours with its skins (or however long the winemaker deigns), before being pressed to ferment on its own. Red wine, by comparison, parties with the juice in contact with the grape skins the entire time.
Rosé was made popular in Southern France's Provence region and was celebrated frequently in Peter Mayle's warm-hearted travel memoir, "A Year in Provence." It's now made all over the world and is fantastic to pair with food or to quaff during a warm summer's afternoon. BBQ and rose is something you need to try. Have a beer or two while you light the coals and then switch to wine when the food is served. You won't be upset.
Rosé is also a great value; if you're drinking a $47 bottle of rose wine, we want you at our poker table. (Caveat: we're referring to still wine; if you're drinking rosé champagne, that's another story that may well be worth the $$.)
Rose is not a serious wine that needs close examination and tastevins, but it also shouldn't be confused with its jet-skiing neighbor, white zinfandel. That said, we won't look down on white zin. It's one of two products, the other being Worcestershire sauce, to make millions, if not billions, because of a fortuitous mistake in making the original product.
Here are some rosé wines to try this summer (or whenever, really).
If you want to know what it's like to enjoy a glass of rosé when the mood hits, try reading, "A Year in Provence," if you haven't already.
If you click and buy any of these products, The Capital Q will earn a small commission as part of its participation in Amazon's Associates program. No pressure, though. There's a reason they call it, "Rosé all day."
Read more from The Capital Q
