Jerôme Lacondemine Vol de l’Hirondelle Rosé, Beaujolais, France 2020 (£18.60, Alpine Wines) Provence has made itself synonymous with rosé of a certain stylish kind. It’s the home of the pale pink watercolour wash, presented in clear glass bottles that would not look out of place behind the perfume counter, and of cult brands – Whispering Angel, Miraval, Galoupet – that are touched with the same kind of celebrity-adjacent haute couture glitz you find in Champagne. There is very much more to Provence rosé and I’ll be picking out some of my favourites of the region’s latest releases later in the summer. But as we enter what I think of as rosé season – that moment when it becomes plausible to drink a cold glass or two outside of an evening – I’m looking elsewhere for my first few pink hits of the year, starting with a pale, elegant, delectably strawberry-scented and cream-textured example from a part of France that I don’t usually associate with rosé, Beaujolais. Contesa Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Rosato, Italy 2022 (£8.95, The Wine Society) Another French region with a strong rosé tradition is the Loire. In the vineyards around the village of Sancerre in the Central Loire, pinot noir is the base for the gorgeously ripe cherry-scented, redcurrant-racy Domaine Philippe Raimbault Apud Sariacum Sancerre Rosé 2021 (£21.95, cheerswinemerchants.co.uk; flagshipwines.co.uk) – a very smart choice for salmon or trout. Farther west, in Touraine, gamay, the same red grape as used in Beaujolais, makes the bright, crisp, brisk and refreshing Guy Allion Touraine Rosé 2021 (£15.50, emilewines.co.uk), while gamay, cabernet franc and grolleau come together in Anjou for Champteloup Rosé d’Anjou 2021 (£8.99, Waitrose), which, with its cushion of sugar and ripe strawberry character, is at its best with light but spicy food such as Thai salads. Over in central Italy, meanwhile, Contesa Cerasulo d’Abruzzo is no less food-friendly, although in this case its more robust, candied berry character (and darker colour) makes a great match for a fresh tomato pasta (spaghetti al pomodoro crudo). Finca Casa Balaguer El Rosado de Padilla, Alicante, Spain 2021 (from £19.50, Les Caves) While many winemakers around the world have adjusted their rosé recipe to meet the seemingly inexhaustible appetite for the light, refreshing Provence-patented pale style, there is a counter movement that has been looking to add more texture, depth and complexity to their rosés. Staying in Italy, but farther south in Sicily, the Belgian winemaker Frank Cornelissen makes the stunning Susucaru Rosato 2021 (£29.95, agwines.com; forestwines.com; buonvino.co.uk) from a mix of red and white grapes, with a gentle nip of savoury tannins and a rush of fresh red berries. Greece and Spain are also fertile sources for this kind of gastronomic rosé, with the local red grape variety xinomavro behind many of the best Greeks, such as the blood-orange tangy Markovitis Alkemi, Naoussa, Greece 2021 (£19.90, greekwine.co.uk; thesourcingtable.com; hedonism.co.uk), while Mediterranean red variety monastrell (AKA mourvèdre in southern France) is aged and fermented in clay amphorae for the macerated herb, orange and berries of Finca Casa Balaguer’s rosado from Alicante.