If you’re sniffy about rosé, a quick word ...

AS I TYPE this, it’s gloriously warm here in the UK. And when the sun comes out, t he first wine in my glass is an easy pick – rosé. Served cold from the fridge, ideally casting a gentle frosting around the bowl of the glass, this pink drink is about as quenching as wine gets. But if you think rosé is a nonentity that’s underwhelmingly neither red nor white, I’ve got one word for you. And it begins with the letter ‘P’.

Provence. The unique thing about rosé from this proud corner of France is that they make it deliberately – and that’s been the case for centuries. And according to the official Vins de Provence organisation, 89 per cent of local wine is rosé, and exports have risen 500 per cent over 15 years. Sometimes rosé from elsewhere is made as a convenient by-product of producing a red by bleeding off a bit of the pink juice at an early stage, creating a little bit of rosé while simultaneously beefing up the red by increasing the ratio of skins to juice.

By contrast, in Provence the favoured method is to purposefully macerate t he skins and j uice together at a lower temperature to create that delicate dazzling hue, somewhere between a translucent onion skin and a peachy sunset. And that elegant pale lightness is the single most recognisable thing about pink from Provence.

In terms of flavour, there is a distinctive orbit around the constellation of grapes i ncluding Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Carignan, which in different proportions will give a little spice (think aniseed) or a zesty edge (a slice of grapefruit peel).

But the core flavour that underpins Provençal rosé reminds me of nectarine-like zing, which makes hot summer feel instantly cooler.

The food-pairing options too are splendidly summery – simple salads of course, but shellfish, fish soups and anything drenched in garlic are all scrumptious accompaniments. And while I prefer to drink rosé from the most recent vintage, thanks to its exuberant accessibility, when and how you drink it, is up to you.

But with the 2017s hitting the shelves this month, I’d say get your quench on and unleash the power of ‘P’.