When Sasha Lichine bought his property in Provence, hired one of our world’s finest winemakers and decided to make complex, very pale, delicious, dry rosé, it changed the complexion of wine sales quite profoundly. Whispering Angel was not even supposed to become significant for him as his team were concentrating on their even higher-end Les Clans and Garrus super premium offerings.

Now, like all of the past few years, his winery has sold out of Whispering Angel, Rock Angel and Les Clans; we have wised up and have very good stocks, and more on the way.

But there are still lovely, traditional rosé wines that we should not forget about. It is quite possible that the very first wines made thousands of years ago were more in this style, as we had not perfected long skin contact to create the traditional dark reds that we so enjoy today.

This past Sunday evening a few friends (actually 19) stopped by for dinner. Among them was Laurence, who had planted and developed a vineyard in Argentina some years ago. In fact, I remember well a phonecall from him asking if we could meet for lunch and discuss his new project and the possibility of importing his wines once they were ready for their first shipment.

For a few years now we have distributed his Gubinelli (the family that is his partner) malbec and malbec reserve. A bottle of the former from 2014 sells for $19.20 and his 2012 reserve is $29.95. He brought his latest wine for us to try, and it happens to be a 2015 rosé made 100 per cent from malbec. It was delicious with baked ham, fish cakes, chicken coated in Rice Krispies and much more. Laurence said that it was important for us to know that his new wine was created to be enjoyed on a year-round basis, although it was perfect on this warm summer evening. Total production of the 2015 Gubinelli rosé was only 2,000 bottles and the grapes were selected from the best part of his vineyard in Mendoza. $18.75. This is our only rosé from Argentina and it is beautiful and deeply coloured in the glass.

Now I am thinking of a hot summer’s day in Verona last year and enjoying very much a bottle of Rosa dei Masi 2015. It was salmon pink with cherry coloured reflections and the nose of just-ripened berries, such as raspberries and wild cherries, was quite intense. Masi, with a history going back to the son of Dante Alighieri in the 1300s, were the ones to perfect Appassimento. or partial drying of the grapes on bamboo mats before pressing and thus creating the classic red known as amarone. They do this with their Refosco grapes to create this rosé. Our only rosé from Italy sells for $21.65.

The Adelaide Hills in Australia happens to be a spot where the altitude creates a cool climate that just suits pinot noir to a tee. It is here in 1997 that the Nugent brothers planted vines on about 200 acres of an old dairy farm named after a neighbouring 19th-century gold mine called Bird in Hand. Bird in Hand Pinot Noir Rosé 2015 is full of juicy strawberry and crisp cherry fruit that has considerable depth and complexity. Overall, it is just easy drinking and delicious. $24.15.

Although we list more than 20 rosé wines from France, our Calvet Rosé d’Anjou 2015 is the only one from the Loire Valley. It is made from a blend of cabernet franc, grolleau and gamay. And with a residual sugar of 16 grams per litre, it is just over the threshold where our taste buds start to perceive sweetness. Due to this and its acidity, it is a fine match for spicy foods and indeed with notes of peach, cherry and strawberry it would be quite fine with many Asian dishes. $17.50.

This column is an advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. E-mail mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn has stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). Visit www.wineonline.bm.