Picnics with my family couldn’t be further from the Von Trapp idyll. I don’t own a hamper, usually forget a blanket and tend to find myself navigating the health-and-safety hazards of the local park while my children fight over the last bag of Pom-Bears. Introducing wine both improves and complicates matters, because it requires planning, as you’ll know only too well if you’ve ever swirled lukewarm rosé from a plastic cup in the sun.
Temperature is a key issue. Summer wine choices tend naturally to skew towards the white, pink or fizzy, all of which we’re used to drinking fridge-cold. “Too cold, in fact,” says Honey Spencer, sommelier and author of Natural Wine, No Drama: An Unpretentious Guide. Take a bottle straight from the fridge, she says, and it will do better given 20 minutes to warm up a touch. If you’re not the kind of picnicker who has a snazzy ice box, however, it’s better to avoid lighter whites such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, which are usually best served between 7C and 10C, and instead look to more forgiving, fuller-bodied whites or rosés that can be served at up to 13C.
