The last bank holiday weekend before the warm carpet of high summer unfurls (no harm in being optimistic). Three full months of what we all hope will be easy living. Holidays, and the holiday spirit spilling over into impromptu lunches in the garden or brave barbecues arranged when the sun seems set to shine for three hours at a stretch. It's time to stockpile a case or two of crowd-pleasing summer wine.
I don't have the nerve to keep drinking records with nasty details like expenditure and amount consumed, but I'm fairly sure my wine habits change drastically around this time of year in regard to both. And maybe yours do, too. In winter, it's a matter of less being more: more expensive, that is, with the temptation to buy a good bottle every now and then and turn it into a special event. In summer, quantity is definitely up - every small burst of good weather somehow seems to justify a celebration. But uncomplicated, cheaper wines suit the more casual mood just fine.
If you're worried about being seen as tight-fisted, stop right away. Because summer hands you a perfectly respectable reason for choosing wines that cost less than a bottle of sun cream. There's simply no point in opening posh and thrillingly subtle treats if there's any chance at all of their being consumed out of doors, where their delicate charms will disappear in the first breeze. Better to keep to good-quality everyday plonk and invest some of the amount you've saved through modest choices in a few extra bottles to slake midsummer thirsts.
What's genuinely quaffable? What's reliable? What will suit the wine-fussy neighbour, your vodka-blinkered sister, your student son and the parents of last year's heart-of-gold au pair who are visiting en passant? We're all in this together, because the bottles listed below are favourites of yours as well as mine. Remember the Irish Times Wine Competition a few months ago, when readers were invited to nominate winning wines under £7? Wines not previously mentioned in this column were what we were after, but quite a number of your suggestions were bottlings I'd written glowingly about before. I jotted them all down - relieved to find our taste buds coinciding - and it's from this list of popular-all-round bottles that today's summer quaffers have been picked. Not only am I partial to them all myself, but each was proposed as unbeatable value by several readers.
Maybe you can use the shortlist below to assemble your own summer selection. Buying a dozen bottles at the same time - several of each of the wines you like the sound of most - makes good sense on a couple of counts. First, provided you can find your top choices in the same shop, you'll stand a good chance of earning a case discount (except in supermarkets, where margins are generally pared to the bone). Better still, you'll have plenty of wine on hand the next fine evening friends drop by. Easy. Or is it? Self-control's inclined to take a summer break: that's the only problem. Maybe better buy two cases.
Midsummer Sipping: A Decent Dozen
White
Macon Blanc Villages, Pierre Ponnelle, 1997 (Dunnes Stores, £5.49). This is nothing short of a miracle wine - one that offers the true character of white Burgundy for a bargain price - an alien concept in Burgundy these days. See Bottles of the Week.
Jacob's Creek Dry Riesling, South Eastern Australia, Orlando, 1998 (very widely available, usually about £5.79). The ideal anytime wine for warmer weather, this is a refreshing, lemon-and-lime mouthful with Riesling character coming through in faint petrolly aromas. Slightly spritzy, it'll perk you up rather than knock you out: it's just 11.5 per cent alcohol.
Con Class Especial (Blue Label), Rueda, 1998 (Searsons Monkstown, Grapes of Mirth Rathmines, McCabe's Merrion, On the Grapevine Dalkey, Kelly's Clontarf, Cheers-Gibneys Malahide, DeVine Wines Castleknock, Geraghty's Carlow, Wine Centre Kilkenny, O'Donovan's Cork, Pettitts in south-east. About £5.95). Summer encapsulated: this zingy, quite fruity white will make you think of flowering hedgerows and cut grass. A runaway success since it arrived here, demonstrating how deft this part of Spain now is at producing fresh, lively whites. 50 per cent Verdejo with Viura and a dash of Sauvignon.
Quinta da Romeira, Bucelas, 1997 (SuperValus/Centras and Roches Stores, £5.99). Portugal pulls off the same trick in a tiny region just north of Lisbon, turning the sometimes forgettable Arinto grape into an aromatic, fruity and refreshing wine with a nice citrussy bite.
Chateau PiqueSegue, Montravel, 1997 (Molloys group, Vintry Rathgar, Duffy's Terenure, McCabe's Merrion, Sweeney's Dorset Street and Fairview, Boland's Glasnevin, Spar Castleknock, Jus de Vine Portmarnock, and other outlets. Usually £6.99). Fragrantly fruity, bracingly zesty with a long, creamy finish, this Bergerac blend - Semillon and Sauvignon with a drop of Muscadelle - beats the socks off most white wines at its price for interest, style and sheer drinkability. J P Tinto, Terras do Sado, NV (very widely available, £3.99£4.49). Miracles 2 and 3: How can a wine selling in Ireland at £3.99 be drinkable at all? And how come JP is £3.99, after all these years? Portugal's star bargain is soft, easy drinking - great for mass gatherings. If you want more depth and richness, pay an extra £2 for JP Regional.
Peter Lehmann Barossa Valley Grenache, 1997 (very widely available, usually about £5.79). This one has a special place in your hearts: in our readers' competition, seven readers nominated this as their favourite wine, putting it way ahead of the posse. That means you like 'em big, lush and powerfully alcoholic, for Lehmann's Grenache with its spiced damson and caramel nature and thermally-charged finish is 14.5 per cent. Good for barbecues - but dispense it with caution.
Chateau de Gourgazaud, Minervois, 1997 (Dunnes Stores and many other outlets, usually £5.99). There's widespread support for this warm, inviting, southern French red which Jancis Robinson picked as one of her favourites in this column a couple of years ago. Judging by the 1997, it's still on form.
See Bottles of the Week.
Chateau La Grave, Cuvee Expression, Minervois, 1995/6 (Searson's Monkstown, Grapes of Mirth Rathmines, DeVine Wines Castleknock, CheersGibneys Malahide, Pettitts in south-east, Wine Centre Kilkenny, O'Donovan's Cork. About £5.95). Although this juicy red is from the sun-baked Midi, its taut, relatively restrained style endears it to those who usually choose Bordeaux. As does that pared down price!
Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley, 1996 (very widely available, usually about £6.49) Among the serried ranks of Chilean Cabs, with their lush blackcurrants and not a whole lot else, Carmen stands out. It's just that bit less obvious, more complex, with a smack of chocolatey richness ensuring broad appeal.
Ochoa Tempranillo, Navarra, 1996 (Superquinn and many other outlets, £6.39£6.99). One of this column's earliest Bottles of the Week, this popular red from one of the most reliable producers in Navarra - that Spanish region that's giving its neighbour Rioja a tough run for its money - is still a great buy. Meaty and slightly vegetal, it needs food. Beef from the garden grill would be just right.
Norton Malbec, Mendoza, 1996 (McCabes Merrion, Mill Wine Cellar Maynooth, Oddbins and some other outlets. £6.49£6.99). Another meaty number that shouldn't be tackled without a generous slab of accompanying flesh. Then it's terrific - full-flavoured, chewy and extremely satisfying.