A wine for all seasons

Is wine drinking a seasonal occupation I wonder? Not so much in terms of the amount we drink as the seasons change, but what we drink. I know lots of people who would place big, powerful, full-bodied reds firmly in the category of 'winter wines', whereas rosés and light-bodied, crisp whites are favoured during the long, lazy days of summer.

The reasons for this must partly be bound with weather and temperature: chilled, light wines would not be an obvious choice on a dark, miserable British winter's night, when we crave something more substantial to warm the blood. But the style of wine we buy and consume probably reflects an instinctive switch in what our bodies crave: winter food is substantial food that heats and refuels, and the autumn harvest satisfies this with game, mushrooms and root vegetables, suggesting casseroles and slow-braised dishes. These cry out for a hearty red wine match. In summer we are more likely to be eating salads, fish and lighter dishes, so once again, our wine choices are partly dictated by what nature has given us.

Wine itself couldn't really be classed as a seasonal product. Of course, it is entirely seasonal in one respect, in that there is only one grape harvest per year: around September in the northern hemisphere; around March in the southern hemisphere. But that is when the grapes are harvested; the wine they produce will not appear until it is ready. This depends on the style of wine being made, and the winemakers desires; not when the season is right. The one great exception to this is Beaujolais Nouveau, which definitely does have a season. This bright, bubblegum fruity wine hits the shelves precisely on the third Wednesday of November following harvest. Beaujolais Nouveau is wine done as a rush job, using a special wine making techniques to dispense with tannins in order to deliver copious fruitiness in an absurdly short time. Unfortunately many examples are pretty dire, flat and lifeless wines, but the best are bursting with summer fruits. No matter how fresh they taste in November, these wines have a very limited shelf life because of their lack of 'structure': they begin to tire and go off by early spring in the following year.

for my recommended wines, perfect for the summer season

Tom Cannavan is author of The Good Web Guide to Wine and publisher of wine-pages.com