Before the sun sets on summer (which has just begun in InterWined’s neck of the woods)….

Interesting surges in Rosé.

InterWined knows the woman who promotes wines from Provence in the UK and applauds her efforts. Some, however, are too sweet to go with any sort of food. Indeed, it is the drier sorts that pair best with shrimp kebabs and honey-glazed bbq chicken.

Staff at the wine shop Nicolas may struggle to get the nuances of the English language, thus preventing them from truly speaking (and selling) wine well. This, InterWined notices, is often covered by pretending to know a great deal about wine and constantly applying a ‘open this wine an hour before drinking’ pseudo-expert speak for every single red wine purchase.

But the questions begs, ‘Can you give me the best rosé for under ten pounds?’. Is this a difficult question? In fact, this request is “irrelevant” according to staff members at Nicolas. For a customer to proclaim their cheapskate status in a French wine shop is humiliating enough, but to further insult their request?

But they do have a point, rosé from France is, umm, well… there is a lot of rosé from France. And there is no common denominator. The quality range is all across the spectrum.

The point here, people, is that InterWined is taking the shots to the chin for you. There are many horrible rosés from France out there, but we found one that is remarkable, and sure to impress the non-experts at your next charcoal cook-off.

Check this: for £8.5, the 2006 Chateau Romanin from Les Baux-de-Provence tastes unbelievably bland on its own. Except for some strawberry in the beginning (typical) and some tartness in the end, with a bone dry finish (the only saving grace), there isn’t much to the wine. But the blend of 7 (yes, seven) grapes — Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre, Cinsault and one InterWined.com has never heard of Counoise — all work to one completely unpernicious (which, everyone knows, isn’t actually a word) end: it pairs amazingly with just about every type of dish one can make on a grill.

That’s is an unbelievable feat and InterWined is wondering if the more grapes in a blend, the better its chance to pair with more taste complicated dishes, such as grilled lamb chops with a yoghurt, mint and cumin dressing, with a twist of lemon, served with garlic pita, with pumpkin seed and coriander hummous…well you get the point. By itself: 8.2, with the grill, 8.8 easy.

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