One hot summer afternoon in the early 1980s, when Andrew was a young 20-something living in Berkeley, Calif., he had his first taste of Sutter Home White Zinfandel. He had never had a wine quite like it — refreshingly fruity, noticeably sweet and, yes, pink — and he liked it.

Back then, so did a lot of other people, and they sent Sutter Home’s new-style “white zin” soaring in popularity. To this day, white is still the best-selling form of zinfandel in the United States, outselling the red a half-dozen times over.

For Andrew and many others, though, the sweet simplicity of blush wines went out of vogue as their palates grew more sophisticated. But after years of staying away from anything pink, both of us are among the many drinkers who have recently come around to favor bone-dry rosés, sending these well-made, complex wines to their own height of popularity.

Pink wines are made from red grapes that are allowed to ferment for a much shorter time than for red wines, so the grape skins spend less time leaching their color into the juice. The process (which the French call saignee, derived from the verb meaning “to bleed”) is halted when the wine is merely light to dark pink instead of red.

Blush wines such as California’s white zin are typically off-dry (slightly sweet) to sweet in flavor. However, rosé wines tend to be drier than dry and are made around the world. Even far outside their spiritual homeland in Provence, spicy rosés are a staple of summer drinking. With one foot in the world of white wine (especially with their light-to-medium body, refreshing acidity and chilled serving temperature) and another in the world of reds (with their red-fruit flavors), they can pinch-hit for either team. That explains their extraordinary food friendliness, especially with Mediterranean cuisines (think French bouillabaisse and Spanish paella).

We tasted our way through dozens of pink-hued wines recently and came up with our favorites. Several showcase the grenache grape (called garnacha in Spanish wines), which contributes lemony citrus flavors and a peppery spiciness. The 2007 Les Deux Rives Corbieres Rosé ($11) is a classic blend of grenache (50 percent), syrah (35 percent) and cinsault (15 percent), bringing to mind a compote of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Karen’s pick is the well-made, well-balanced and well-priced product of the oldest wine-producing dynasty in Spain, which has been making wine for 11 generations.

The 2007 Julian Chivite Gran Feudo Rosado ($12) is made from garnacha grapes that are macerated for 24 hours, after which the “free-run” juice is separated only by gravity, not mechanically extracted (which can impart bitterness). This refreshing wine is an exceptional value.

You could say Andrew’s pick is the product of a relative newcomer: Jaboulet, founded in 1834, has two centuries’ less winemaking experience than Chivite.

The robust yet refined 2007 Paul Jaboulet Aine Cotes du Rhone Parallele 45 Rosé ($12) from France is a blend of grenache, Cinsault and syrah that varies from year to year to feature the vintage’s best grapes from the vineyards, which sit on the 45th latitude. The 2007 finds an ideal match in salade nicoise.