Rosé: How much should we pay?

Rosé wine, as I observed in last week’s free edition, is often seen as a seasonal wine, tasty but trivial: It’s summer, it’s hot, let’s knock back a glass of cheap rosé … with emphasis on the “cheap.”

Rosé is popular, at least in hot weather, because it’s typically simple and refreshing. It’s relatively inexpensive, and it’s less expensive still to make. It doesn’t require the most costly grapes, because, after all, the flavor-bearing grape skins are removed from the juice before they’ve had time to impart much color … or flavor either.

Rosé is quick and relatively simple to make, too. It doesn’t require long fermentation or aging, so it doesn’t mount up the winery’s labor or inventory costs. …