I HAVE never understood why, even in the depths of winter, restaurants so often serve white wine not just freezing cold from a fridge but plunged into an ice bucket ash well, making the temperature so antarctic you have to hug the bottle back to life with chilblained fingers. But now, with summer at its height and alfresco guzzling in prospect, those cooling, devices really come in handy.
We are constantly being reminded that food tastes better in the open air. What the old cliche neglects to mention is that drink tastes better still, adding a dash of euphoria to the proceedings but only if it's cool enough to be refreshing.
First picnics. After a 30 year decline, packed lunches close to nature are back in fashion, but with a crucial style difference. The tea brewed over a camping stove and curious tasting flask coffee has given way to beer or wine. If you're into volume, it may be wise to devote an entire cool box to bottles. Otherwise, invest in one or two of the plastic coolers designed to fit around individual bottles, snug as a lagging jacket but ice cold.
Among the most popular on sale there are the Quickcool, made in Cork by ConnaBride (Roches and many other supermarket outlets, £2.95), and the Rapidice by Vacuvin, the company that makes' the clever wine saver stoppers (widely available in supermarkets, kitchen shops and wine shops, wine bottle size £9.99-£11.50 champagne size about £13). Both work on, the same principle, a cold retaining gel. Keep a jacket in the freezer and within five minutes of sliding it around the bottle, your wine will be perfectly cool and destined to stay that way for hours. The main difference between the two is that the more expensive one is more robust and less likely eventually to split.
If you're planning a garden lunch or dinner, the ice bucket or cooling container finally comes into its own. There's not much point in using a really good one your gleaming silver or hand blown crystal may end up in a flower bed. Alternatives include plain perspex insulators, like the simple coolers by Bodum (Stock, Arnotts and many other outlets, about £16), or heavy black plastic, used to good effect in a Kitchen Complements bottle cooler with an inner lining you can remove to create a conventional ice bucket (£19.50).
More in tune with garden aesthetics, if somewhat less tough, is terra cotta. The smooth clay cooler by Kiltrea Bridge Pottery in Enniscorthy is one of the best, as well as being one of the most widely available (Kilkenny Shop Stock, Kitchen Complements and many other outlets, £14.50-£15.95). Habitat has a more fragile looking version with a rope handle (£8.50).
If it is soaked in cold water for a minute or two before use, terra cotta keeps its cool for the time it takes to drink a bottle of wine.
So to the bottles themselves. White wine, obviously, tastes best lightly chilled (not so icy, mind you, that it loses all its flavour the more aromatic it is, the more you can afford to chill it). Champagne and sparkling wines need more serious cooling as, to my mind, does rose.
Fruity red wines can also be, brilliantly refreshing when lightly chilled, as well as being excellent partners for summery outdoor food. Don't go overboard, though, keeping bottles in the fridge for weeks on end. Prolonged exposure to very low temperatures does wine no good at all, and the better the bottle, the more grievous the potential damage. But I was for getting it's a long weekend. Plenty of time to drink the lot. Have a cool holiday.
Cool candidates
White
. Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc 1995 (very widely available, £5.29-£5.49).
Definitely a case for treatment a fragrantly goose berry fruity Chilean, tinglingly refreshing. Good with anything light, like chicken terrine or even sandy salmon sandwiches.
. Caliterra Estate Chardonnay 1995 (Quinnsworth, £5.99).
I don't care what you say about Chardonnay it wouldn't be half so widely loved if it weren't so good with food and with a good range of foods. I've chosen another Chilean here because it's an outstanding Chardonnay at the price and there's not a lot of point drinking an expensive white Burgundy out of doors, where sun and wind will dissipate its subtleties. See Bottle Of The Week.
. Chateau Thieuley Cuvee Francis Courselle Bordeaux Sec 1994 (Wines Direct, £9.99).
All right, this one is for the Chardonnay weary and those whose idea of outdoor eating involves full dining kit on the terrace, not plastic boxes of snacks. A classic and splendid white Bordeaux serious enough to deserve something more ambitious than a salad roll.
Rose
. Chivite Gran Feudo Rosado 1994 (Roches Stores, Foleys, McCabes, Wine Barrel Sligo, SuperValus Naas & Portarlington and many other outlets, usually £5.99).
Pink sister of the Spanish red recommended so strongly for holiday barbecues a few weeks ago. Lovely looking (almost as vivid in colour of Campari) and even better tasting strawberry tones but dry enough to make it go with just about everything from grilled peppers to praline crunch ice cream.
Red
. Domaine de Ia Chapelle de Vatie Beaujolais Villages 1994 (Wine Cellar Raheny, Vintry Rathgar, Jus de Vine Portmarnock, Wine Barrel Sligo and some other outlets, about £8.50).
Soft, juicy Beuaujolais is one red wine that demands, most emphatically to be served cool. This is a super example from top producer Robert Sarrau perfect with cold meats for cheese.
. Serego Alighieri Valpolicella Classico Superiore 1992, (Deveneys Dundrum, Verlings, Jus de Vine, Redmonds, Vintry and other outlets, £8.99-£9.99).
Another ideal red for light chilling Masis single vineyard Valpolicella, aged in cherry wood barrels to emphasise its natural cherry flavour and proof of how delicious good Valpol can be.
Sparkling
. Billecart Salmon Rose Champagne NV (Terroirs, McCabes, Village Castleknock, Lord Mayors Swords and some other outlets, about £37.50).
What was that about not spending a fortune on wine to drink out in the open? Ah, but occasionally a picnic is a major event a meaningful escape for two. And this delicate pink champagne from a leading house that has remained a sort of trade secret is ravishing.