Summer Sippin’ Most of us will agree that white wine tastes better when sipped on a hot patio in the middle of a sunny afternoon, but what pairs best with summer frolic? Is there such a thing as a ‘Picnic Wine’? While it’s true that nothing shows off a cool white wine like warm sunny weather, the season that delights offers a multitude of selections for splendid summer sippin’. Most of the time, wine that costs more tastes better, it’s true. But the quality of a wine is but one of many factors to consider when building a divine wine pairing. In the case of a picnic for instance, an aged ‘Chateau Fantastique’ Bordeaux would not be the best choice to drink out of plastic cups with egg salad sandwiches. So what does go with picnics? Fun wines – good values, delicious flavours, and wines that taste especially good when lounging atop a bed of fresh cut grass. It is unlikely that you would open up your picnic basket to reveal a Filet-Mignon on a warm summer’s day so leave the fine Burgundies at home. Instead, pack your basket with wines that will enhance the fresh flavours that you’ve prepared. Take your classic picnic menu for instance – cold fried chicken with potato salad and fresh fruit. Inevitably, these menus tend to be simple rich food that are, invariably served cold. A fruit cup, for instance, would go well with a subtly sparkling white wine from Italy (Frizzante) or Portugal (Vinho Verde). Focusing on the flavours of the fried chicken, you might want to bring along an inexpensive California Chardonnay – fruit-forward and a touch buttery but with just the right amount of oak to off-set the fattiness of the chicken. (Colonel Sanders would be proud!) Chardonnay is nice for some, but what if you prefer red – or rosé – or if, by chance, you happen to be one of those wine aficionados who has sworn off chardonnays for the rest of your life? Not a problem. The picnic season offers something for everyone – all we need to do is take a peek into your perspective picnic baskets to determine your perfect pairing. Patés are a popular picnic food, especially if there are any European roots in your family tree. France, Italy and Portugal all make great wines with pates in mind, most of them under $20 in price. Take the winemaking region of France’s Languedoc-Roussillon for instance, or Italy’s Valpolicella or Portugal’s Douro Valley. These renowned regions all make terrific quality red wines at truly humble prices. Also devoured at many an outdoor gathering are cold salads. From potato to Greek and bean salad too, these foods will always welcome a crisp glass of white wine to accompany them. Recommended for maximum ease of opening are the increasingly-popular screw-capped wines. (Yes, these were very ‘gauche’ a few years back but these cutting-edge bottle closures not only preserve wines well but they make them one heck of a lot easier to open too!) Leaders in this trend are New Zealand and Australia so look for classic varietals like rieslings and sauvignon blancs in these bottles – the lively acidity in these wines will balance off some of the oil in the salads making the overall synergy of the combination that much more pleasant. Of course, you’ll scarcely see a picnic without sandwiches and they vary tremendously in style, so for the sake of pairing an abundance of flavours with just one wine, consider a nice rosé. Rosé wines can be sweet or dry depending on where they are from and what methods were employed in their production, but you can find some good, reliable medium-dry to dry rosé wines from Spain (Rioja) or France (Cotes du Rhône) and to find pink wines that tend toward the fruitier side look to BC or California for their plenitude of options. When packing up your summer lunch, you’ll be wise to remember
these three things: Whatever your preference, there summer offers a wine for every palate, go pack your picnic and get outside – and don’t forget the sunscreen! You Can Take It With You Mionetto ‘Il Prosecco’ $14 - $18 Dr. Loosen ‘Dr. L’ Riesling $17 - $20 Chateau de Lancyre ‘Pic Saint Loup’ Rosé
$14 - $18 Saturna Island VQA Pinot Noir $15 - $16 Rosemount Estate Diamond Label Shiraz Cabernet $13 - $15
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