Top 20 Wines for Summer

A beautifully textured, Viognier-dominant blend organically produced by one of the highest quality co-operatives in France. Outstanding value.

"... created from 100 per cent Grillo, it's made in the appassimento style - that's to say, with a proportion of semi-dried grapes. With fine acidity, it has depth, character..."

An extremely generous, full-bodied red with lusciously sweet, dark cherry and plum fruit that comes through straight away, staying smooth and ripe, right through to a wonderfully long finish.

For when you fancy the fruit, finesse and delicacy of Sancerre but not the budget, Bellevue offers spectacular value for money.

This lovely blend of marsanne, rousanne and viognier made by Nathalie Blanc-Mares is fresh, lively, with ripe tropical fruits, good minerality and hints of spice.

A lovely pinot noir from the Languedoc made by Burgundian Bruno Lafon and at a fraction of the price of red from the Cote d'Or or Cote Chalonnaise.

A great example from Saint-Gervais - one of the best Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. A blend of ripe syrah and grenache and is gloriously rich and jammy.

Picpoul de Pinet has become one of summer’s most fashionable light white wines and Bruno Lafon’s and Francois Chamboissier’s is one of the very best.

From northwestern Spain's verdant Salnés Valley in Gallicia (D.O. Rías Baixas), comes the crisp, fruity Albarino varietal, one perfectly matching the region's seafood-heavy cuisine.

The cooler 2021 vintage has worked perfectly here, that fresh zip is present and wonderfully balanced with ripe orchard fruit and citrus.

In a sheltered valley at the foot of Monte Amiato, the highest mountain in Tuscany, the wines benefit from the very rich mineral soil of this extinct volcano.  

"... it's made from 100 per cent Gamay drawn from four specific vineyard sites that surround the family's 18th-century château. The wine spent a few months in old oak..."

From Piemonte and one of Italy's eternal classics made with 100% Cortese, loved for its crisp, peachy, floral aromatics and sheer elegance in style.

Here's an outstanding Vacqueyras with complex flavours of ripe, blackcurrant fruit, strawberry jam and hints of spice. Smooth and rich on the palate, with soft tannins. 

"... I'm mad to ignore it. It's just so tasty soft, creamy and tropical with an underlying zestiness and energy and so well-priced..."

Catlo Volpi’s organic sangiovese from high altitude vineyards in Le Marche is a fruit driven red that makes for perfect summer drinking.

A silky merlot blend from the Côtes de Castillon to deliciously demonstrate just how good - and ageworthy - the wines of Bordeaux's more affordable regions have become.

"It’s a real treat to get full mature red Bordeaux from such a fine vintage for such a fair price."

This is from a classic Chablis vintage for the best growers, according to Decanter Magazine. Delicious already and will get even better.