If a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine then a holiday without Rosé is like a year without a celebration. Rosé adds colour, atmosphere and cheerfulness to any get-together – an absolute requirement for the festive season.

The fresh, light salmon tinge and juicy mouthfeel of Hermanuspietersfontein’s Bloos makes it acceptable to drink at breakfast. A joyful colour with berry hints marks this wine as the choice of drink for many Saturday morning market goers. Bloos is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot with a layered taste structure. Carefree, uncomplicated sipping encapsulates Bloos.

In the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Sumaridge produces a rosé with components of a Bordeaux blend. Winemaker Gavin Patterson blends 62% Merlot for refinement with almost equal amounts of Malbec and Cabernet Franc. The result is a bouquet of strawberries and red forest fruits. Order a bottle or two with one of the delectable platters available at the cellar and lounge on the lush lawns overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Whalehaven serves a Rosé crafted with South Africa’s very own varietal – Pinotage. Grapes are supplied from the Bottega family’s vineyards in Somerset West and brought to the Hermanus cellar where Reino Thiart crafts a light strawberry flushed wine with fynbos aromas. A delightful drink with a crisp end to a flavourful sip.  Try this wine with some of the chocolate pairings available in the modern Whalehaven tasting room at the start of the Hermanus Wine Route.

Newton Johnson’s Felicité epitomises easy drinking and delivers on expectations of fun and leisure. First produced in 1998 this wine is now made with Shiraz grapes cultivated on the slopes of the Klein Drakenstein Mountains where Villiersdorp borders Worcester. This Rosé is named after owner Felicity Johnson and denotes “happiness”. It is also a derivative of the Latin word “felicitas” which means luck or good fortune. Very appropriate then to label this wine for what it is … a happy wine that will add a richness of warm memories.

Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge producer, Creation, makes sure that visitors have a suitable recreational replacement for whale watching now that the whales have left for southern playgrounds. Creation’s Whale Pod Rosé offers an unpretentious yet enchanting palate pleaser. Crisp watermelon on the eye meets berry flavours and rose petal aromas to follow through with a lively mouth-feel. This wine is a favourite on the wine lists of many restaurants including Lizette’s Kitchen and Burgundy Restaurant in Hermanus.

Domaine des Dieux has a clear, grapefruit colour Rosé that is only available at their newly renovated tasting room in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge.  Coming soon is winemaker Gerhard Smith’s La Vierge Rosé.

Neither a red nor a white, Rosé is the perfect in-between wine to blur the colour lines and makes us celebrate the variety of nature and life. Summertime celebration unquestionably requires some Rosé. Drink pink!