11 Delicious Pale Rosé Wines R29 Loves

Summer 2022 is ostensibly the time for rosé wine. From park picnics and bottomless brunches, to mid-week pub hangs, everywhere you look, people are drinking it. If you thought rosé wine might be 'over' after the popularity it's experienced in recent summers, we are happy to inform you that you were wrong.

But let's be real here: a lot of rosé is straight-up not very nice at all. It's alcoholic strawberry squash in disguise. It's sticky, it's sweet, and it leaves you with furry teeth and a sugar-induced headache after just one glass. It's disappointing from the first sip to last.

So how to make sure your rosé is good before you buy? I've been burned far too many times to attempt to purchase any old bottle in the supermarket. I thought, for instance, you could rely on a pale or more expensive rosé to be delicious but have since found out the hard way that's not always the case.

What you want to check, rather than colour, is how dry it is. Rosés from the French Côtes de Provence region are usually a good bet – they tend to be crisp and dry. It's 'new world' wines that tend to be sweeter. Californian Zinfandel, for instance. Australian grenache. If like me, sweet is not your thing, these are the ones to avoid.

With this in mind, I decided to ask team R29 and their highly sophisticated palates and penchant for a good bargain on which wines they've been getting through this summer. Click through our slideshow to find the one that whets your whistle and stock up – this good weather ain't gonna last forever.