As the weather turns cooler, my wine thoughts usually turn to darker shades of red. But that is not necessarily the case in Provence, where the locals of the southern French region tend to do something that would appear unusual to American consumers: They drink roses all year-round. As a matter of fact, Provencal residents drink the pretty-in-pink wines throughout the year with a variety of foods.

I was recently informed of this fact during a rose wine dinner sponsored by Vins de Provence (Wines of Provence), a trade association representing more than 600 wine producers from the Provence region. Their mission is to educate American consumers about the wines of the region’s principal appellations. Together, these appellations and their subappellations make up 96 percent of the regional production of wine, with rose leading the way at a whopping 87 percent. This translates to roughly 152 million bottles of wine.