Boozin': I'm a heterosexual man who isn't afraid to say I enjoy a rosé

Wine: Rosé d'folie by Jean Paul Brun

Type: Rosé

Purchased: Woodland Wine Merchant

Price: $16

Ninety-eight degree days don't go well with big, fruity, tannic Cabs, yet sometimes a white just doesn't feel right. You feel like you need a bit more taste, a bit more depth. Even though "Sex and the City" and Nicki Minaj have given rosés a bad name, you need to get over your pop culture sensibilities and give this wine a try.

You should chill it to 50 or 60 degrees. For us, a few minutes in the freezer did the trick. A sommelier may puke at this technique, but it worked in a pinch.

The fruit is present, yet mild at first taste. It stays in a nice midrange on the palate, not becoming saccharine or losing flavor. The finish is really pleasant -- where most rosés fade or become a little too sweet or sour, this wine fades with a pleasant note. I thought I detected a little bit of peach, but to be honest, I have a lot of trouble distinguishing different types of fruit. The main thing is that this is a fantastic summer wine. It goes well with most types of food (maybe not steak, but I'd give it a shot with a burger). You can also sip it solo on the porch as you try to identify which song is coming from the speakers of passing cars. Whatever works.

****

Truth be told, you hate summer. The remnants of happy summer vacations, the thrill you felt as you left school on the last day, the unfocused joy of lazy afternoons during summer school in college, are far behind you. The heat smacks you in the face as you walk to your car, reminding you that your shirt will be glued to awkward places on your shoulders for the rest of the day. As you sit in your office, the sunlight beckons you outside, a mirage that will be shattered at lunchtime, when you optimistically eat your sandwich in the picnic area conveniently located near the acre of black asphalt separating your office from the neighboring strip mall. You remember looking at the original landscape designs for this development, which are now passing for art in the lobby. You distinctly remember that the development was supposed to include trees. Massive, magnolia-like trees. You imagine that those trees have gone to the same place your employer-sponsored supplemental health insurance has gone.

Separately, the pain for your carpal tunnel has subsided.

That's because you've been therapeutically drinking rosé since the 9 a.m. staff meeting. It doesn't have the deep crimson that's a dead giveaway, yet also doesn't look like you've absconded with your child's apple juice. The afternoon is starting to look better. The heat reflecting off the rows of sedans and SUVs gives the strip mall a trippy look. You think about popping over to REI to get one of those the water bottles that isn't transparent. Someday summer will end and a rosé simply won't be appropriate. You're not in college any more, after all.