Tips for picking a summer wine

As we mentioned, whites, rosés and sparkling wines are best suited to summer temperatures and dishes. However, young fruity reds are also a good choice. That’s why we think there’s no type of wine that’s best for summer – variety is the spice of life. So, which should we go for? We’ll give you some simple tips to help you pick out your wines this summer.  

White wines are the ones that go best with light summer dishes, such as grilled fish or seafood (in this case, 875m Chardonnay is a real stand-out). Rosés also go perfectly with pasta, salads, chilled soups or Asian dishes. Lastly, red wines are always a fail-safe option for main courses such as meats or saucy fish dishes. But what about sparkling wine? Clearly, they’re a great option to go with dessert or an ice cream.  

Over the warmer months, it’s a good idea to go for a wine with a lower alcohol content (such as a young wine), since alcohol can lead to dehydration. You could also go for a cooler wine-based drink, such as sangria, tinto de verano (a red wine shandy) or even some cocktails. This way can you can enjoy wine in the most refreshing way possible, with a bit of ice.  

You can keep white wines or rosés in the fridge over the warmer months. However, red wines can go off or change their characteristics if left in the fridge for a few days.  

To chill a red wine before serving, you can pop it in the fridge for half an hour. These wines should be kept at around 15-20ºC. Another simple way to chill them is to put them in an ice bucket with cold water and a few ice cubes. 

You can chill white wines the same way, but you’ll need to leave them in the fridge for two hours to get them at a pleasant temperature for summer drinking, around 8-10ºC.  

A trick: If you put a bottle of wine in an ice bucket, add a little salt to get it to chill quicker. 

Nowadays, you can get electric wine coolers for the home, which are smaller than professional ones —you can even get one-bottle coolers— but this option isn’t exactly easy on the wallet. 

The freezer is always a good last-minute option if you need to chill a wine in 10 minutes, but don’t leave it in there any longer, and wrap it in a damp cloth or paper towel to get it to cool quicker. 

If you want to store an opened bottle in the fridge, place it upright, don’t lay it on its side. If the wine comes into contact with the cork at this time of year, if could mean that the microorganisms that live in the cork affect the wine and make it turn vinegary.  If you're a wine lover, you need to get a vacuum wine stopper to draw the air out of the bottle and create a vacuum in the bottle to stop the wine from oxidising too fast.  

Remember to keep your wine out of the sun, even if it's in an ice bucket, since sunlight can seriously damage the product.  

What’s more, even if it’s absolutely sweltering, you should never put ice in your wine. You can now get a kind of silicon ice cube that cools your drink without watering it down, meaning that your wine will keep all of its flavour. In any case, this is a better option for lower-quality white wines. 

Lastly, keep your glass half full and hold it by the stem. If you overfill your glass and hold it by the bowl, it will warm up quicker, and you won’t have much time to enjoy your cool wine.