Blame social media, or perhaps the more general force of globalisation, but we live in a world of extreme trends. One of those is rosé. Twenty years ago, pale pink wine was reserved for high summer, holidays and, dare I say it, women. Now everyone drinks it all year round, although sales go stratospheric when the sun comes out.

According to Waitrose, 20 degrees Celsius is the magic “tipping point” temperature at which sales of rosé soar, rising by 150 per cent. Given the lovely sunny forecast for the week ahead, you might be contemplating buying a bottle or two to put in the fridge. But of what?

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How I tasted

The best affordable rosé for summer

Why you can trust us

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Unfortunately, such rampant popularity is not actually good news for quality and value. At least, not at the more affordable end. Wine is a product that depends, essentially, on farming. An increase in demand can be a good thing for grape farmers because it pays them properly and allows them to work efficiently and effectively to produce a high-quality crop. But this only applies up to a certain point.

Too much demand pushes up the price of the decent stuff and encourages some to source grapes from vineyards that are less well-positioned and that are perhaps producing higher yields (which can lead to the wine tasting more dilute).

This has definitely happened with rosé, especially at the budget end of the market (if you’re spending a bit more there’s better value and quality to be had because, sadly, not many people can be bothered to look for the less-well-known labels and not everyone can afford to spend in the £15 and upwards category).

My general advice for bagging a great affordable rosé: of all the big brands I find the Family Perrin wines pretty reliable across the board. The stable includes the well-known and very popular Vieille Ferme Rosé as well as the Luberon rosé recommended below. The Perrin Family also makes both Miraval Studio and Miraval; of those two, this year I think the cheaper Studio is much the better buy.

This, then, is my edit of the affordable rosés for the summer season. These are not “the least disgusting cheap wines” – these are bottles you can really rely on for drinking pleasure.

How I tasted

My choices below are the cream of the rosés tried at the many press tastings I have attended over the spring and early summer 2025, and of the 20-30 samples that I’ve asked to try at home, or been sent unsolicited to taste at home.

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In some cases I have asked to see a wine already tried in a tasting event, in order to test it against its rivals; in other cases, I wanted to taste wines that hadn’t been placed in tastings, or were in tastings I was unable to attend. I always consider comparative value for money as well as pleasure when judging a wine.

The best affordable rosé for summer

Why you can trust us

Victoria Moore is the author of the best-selling The Wine Dine Dictionary and an award-winning journalist who writes The Telegraph Magazine’s drinks column. With a postgraduate diploma in psychology, she also runs workshops on wine and smell.

Her impressive list of awards includes Louis Roederer Wine Columnist of the Year, Louis Roederer Online Communicator of the Year and Fortnum & Mason Drinks Writer of the Year. The Wine Dine Dictionary won the André Simon Special Commendation Award and was also Fortnum & Mason Drink Book of the Year 2018. Follow Victoria on Instagram @how_to_drink.