About a week ago we were sipping a little Provence style rosé over lunch with friends - lets call them Barbara & Barry.
We sat outside  - overlooking the Milford shoreline and beautifully tended gardens - a perfect summer day.
It was a "picnic" on a grand scale.

One of the tricky things about Provencal wines for a picnic is this: they are not typically cheap, and a picnic wine should, by definition, be cheap. Provencal roses from more prestigious appellations such as Bandol, in fact, are often rather pricy- not exactly stuff you want to sip from cups at the beach or at your favorite park.

Don't get me wrong - we've done it plenty of times and as we all know - good wine from a paper cup is better than no wine at all.

If you can find nice Bandol rose in your price range (which would mean that $25-plus is your price range), that's your go-to picnic wine, regardless of what you're eating.

Otherwise, check out these lesser-known wines, especially those made from bright, spicy red based grapes such as Grenache, Mourvedre, or Cinsault. The Cotes de Provence appellation is perhaps the broadest and all-encompassing in terms of wine styles/prices, although well-priced stuff is hardly limited to that area.

This Friday night lets try some perfect Summer Wines.