Warm-weather wines

Waitrose always do a good line in the pink stuff. Three of their best are Winter Hill Syrah Rosé 2000 Vin de Pays d’Oc, France (£3.99) – dry with raspberry-like overtones; Hardy’s Stamp of Australia Grenache/Shiraz Rosé 2000 (£4.79) – slightly spicy with a hint of rose petals; and Château du Caraguilhes Rosé 2000, Corbières, France (£6.99) – an organic wine with serious class. The latter is full-bodied enough to go with all sorts of barbecued foods, including chicken, salmon and trout.

All white
There are hundreds of great whites around at the moment that are perfect for summer drinking. From Safeway, invest in a three-litre box (then you don’t have to worry about the ever-elusive corkscrew) of the South African Namaqua Dry White, Olifantsriver (£11.99, equivalent to £2.99 a bottle). It is light, easy-drinking and flowery.

If you prefer something slightly drier, try Marks & Spencer’s three-litre box of Vin de Pays de Toloson (£13.50, equivalent to £3.38 a bottle). This is the perfect complement to tangy summer salads, barbecued chicken or chargrilled vegetables.

Summer and being outside in the garden always makes me think of the most perfumed grape variety of all, Gewürztraminer. Although most of the best examples come from Alsace in France, Tesco have a really good one from New Zealand. Lawson’s Dry Hill Gewürztraminer 1999 might seem a bit pricey at £7.49, but just one gulp of this tropical-fruit-flavoured, slightly off-dry white will convince you that it’s worth the money. Because Gewürztraminer has such a lot of flavour, it will not only accompany chicken and fish (as one would expect of a white wine), but also has the guts to cope with barbecued steak and lamb.