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The weather lately has been... less than ideal. The idea of picking up a bottle of Rosé might seem a little early in the minds of many. However, I would like to plead the case that The Pink Juice is the perfect wine any day of the year. (“Objection: hearsay!”)

I present to the jury my evidence:

Exhibit A: More often than not, Rosés are going to be made dry -- crisp, juicy, refreshing, and DRY. There is still a common misconception that Rosé is going to be sweet. If you’re old enough to remember Arbor Mist or Ernest & Julio Gallo’s 1990s moment, I get it.

And hey - if you enjoy white Zinfandel, I am not going to hold that against you (there are some great ones out there!). I would steer away from using the word “sweet” to describe certain wines and instead use the word “ripe”. Even the ripest end-of-season berries still taste a bit sour. During the winemaking process much of the sugar is converted into alcohol, so a great indicator of sweetness is the amount of residual sugar left over (usually in grams per litre).

Some wines will have that information written right on the bottle. Another helpful hint is to check the percentage of alcohol written on the bottle; if it’s less than 11%, that may be an indicator of sweetness level. So fear not -- rosé can tick off all of those crisp, juicy, refreshing checkboxes for your palate without any cloying, syrupy sweetness.

Exhibit B: Rosé is the perfect way to bridge the gap between red and white wine drinkers. The best of both worlds: served chilled with bright acidity, but gets its colour and flavour characteristics from the red wine grapes it is made from. What is your favourite red wine? Find a rosé that is made from those grapes!

In the same way that it is a crowd pleaser, I present Exhibit C:

Rosé is a universal food-pairing wine. Yes – there is a rosé out there that will go with your prime rib roast! Winemakers have plenty of choices when it comes to how long they decide to leave the grape skins on the juice before continuing with fermentation. Tannins come from the skins of the grapes, so if grilled red meats are on the menu look for a wine that has a longer period of skin contact, is deeper in colour, and one made from a grape with higher tannins – like Syrah, Cabernet Franc or Sangiovese.

In closing: Rosé is delicious. Rosé is approachable. You should be drinking more of it and more often. Summer is coming (we think??) so what better time to “Think Pink” than right now?

People of the jury: I rest my case. I eagerly await your verdict. (: