Wine pick: 2010 Domaine Houchart Rosé

Inviting aromas of dry cherry, cinnamon, clove, roses and a touch of white pepper. It has bright citrusy acidity, with a deft touch of cantaloupe and spicy nutmeg.

I dig pink wines. Not the sweetish white-zin types (not that there is anything wrong with them), but the zesty, fragrant, tart, refreshing, spicy, food-friendly and, most importantly, dry pink wines, otherwise known as rosés, rosatos or rosados, depending on the country of origin.

In my column, I have either recommended or mentioned Domaine Nizas, in the south of France, at least six times ... make that seven now. My earliest record dates to 2003. Why? Because I love it! The current vintage is no exception.

My colleague Karin Carman reminded me the other day that I had yet to write about pink wines this year. “What are you waiting for?” she asked in her wonderful German accent. “Christmas, perhaps?”

No, of course not. Dry pinks are the poster wine for summer, but I needed an angle. As I perused my store’s stash of dry pink wines, I noticed that the prices of Domaine Nizas (and a couple of the others I rather enjoy such as Château d’Esclans’ Whispering Angel and Domaines Ott’s Cour de Grain) have gotten a little extreme, in excess of $20.

That struck me as wrong. At its heart, a dry pink wine should be simple, carefree and inexpensive. As I looked down the long line of pink bottles, I also noticed that nearly all of them have corks. With the prevalence and general worldwide acceptance of screwtops, a dry pink wine without a screwtop violates the simplicity guideline mentioned in this paragraph.

So get yourself an inexpensive dry pink wine with a twist-off top and pour yourself a generous portion before you read next week’s column.

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator and a wine consultant for Tower Beer, Wine & Spirits. You can reach him at gil.kulers@ winekulers.com.

Note: Wines are rated on a rising scale of thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.