ALTHOUGH some desperate bankers may well be turning to drink, it’s unlikely they are solely responsible for the soaring rise in sales of cider and rosé wine.

The tipple of choice in the financial services industry has probably been Champagne over the last few halcyon years of rampant city bonuses. But even in these cash-strapped times the pinstriped brigade have probably not stooped to being spotted in the local park with a dubious two-litre bottle, or gaily sipping rosé at their local pavement bar.

It’s true that both cider and rose wine have suffered from certain image issues in the past, but they seem to have shrugged off that negative equity and now their stock is rising dramatically.

Rosé is bringing in the biggest dividends, according to retail analysts TNS. UK retailers report that in the last year sales of white wine have actually fallen by 0.4 per cent, while red wine sales have grown by just 0.3 per cent. Rose sales, by comparison, have rocketed by 21 per cent. The total value of the UK rosé market is currently £316 million a year, still dwarfed by white wine, at £1.4 billion, and red wine at £1.7 billion. Meanwhile the burgeoning UK cider market grew by 13.1 per cent and is now worth £165m a year. At Tesco, where they sell 60 different rosés, sales of its top five selling rosés have gone up by between 30 and 70 per cent in the last year compared to the previous year.

Tesco wine buyer Ben Newmarch said: “Even the credit crunch has not affected sales. From being one of the most derided drinks rosé has gone from strength to strength.

“Rosé was traditionally a drink for the warmer summer months when sales peaked, but it is now seen as the perfect accompaniment to spicy food and is replacing lager as the drink of choice with Indian and Thai dishes.”