KEY POINTS:
Venture very slightly outside your normal bevvy-buying habits and try these top five summer wines, selected with food to match by wine writer, Joelle Thomson.
Best lunchtime wine
2006 Spy Valley Riesling $18-20
Is it the evocative name, the exceptional winemaking or simply that riesling is so underrated and this version so darned good?
Whatever the reason, this is one of the world's greatest white wines because it can age for decades in the bottle and still taste young and fresh.
Not that you'll be buying this to keep for that long. Give it a light chilling - a maximum of 20 minutes in the fridge will do - and its zesty lime flavours rise to the top.
Available widely. Drink with pan-fried haloumi with mixed green salad and vinaigrette.
Best barbecue red
2006 Lamura Nero d'Avola $14-15
If the words "best barbecue red" raise an eyebrow or two, just try a glass of this exceptional Sicilian red wine to see what I mean.
Not only is it outstandingly delicious for just $14, but it is so soft, fleshy, fruit-driven and bright that you could almost believe you were drinking a full-bodied white wine. It's the clean, light flavours I love in this Nero d'Avola (which translates to black grape of Avola, a town in southeast Sicily). After a glass or two of this, you'll be chomping at the bit to buy a case.
Available at selected Foodtown and Woolworths supermarkets, liquor stores or direct from Prodotti d'Italia, phone 0800 CHIANTI (244 268) or info@prodottiditalia.co.nz
Best bubbles under $25
2004 Lindauer Special Reserve $24-25
Talk about a champagne lookalike and, at less than $25, this is startlingly good value for money.
This home-grown and mad vintage Lindauer is so big-bodied, fresh and dry on the finish that it could well pass for a good champagne.
After tasting it time and again, it's easy to see why the 2004 Lindauer Special Reserve is the Best Bubbly in the current edition of The Indispensable Wine Guide 2007/2008.
It over-delivers in value for money, has lingering yeasty flavours and is easy to find in wine stores and supermarkets all over the country. This is an all-round star.
Available widely.
Drink with someone special and freshly shucked oysters with lime zest.
Best seafood white wine
2007 Vavasour Awatere Sauvignon Blanc $19-20
Is sauvignon blanc your favourite white wine, something you drink just occasionally because New Zealand does it well, or totally passe in your household?
Whatever you think about it usually, this Awatere Valley sauvignon blanc is bound to surprise you. Cooler, windier and further south than most of Marlborough's grapes on the Wairau Plains, the Awatere Valley will soon have more sauvignon blanc than the rest of the region.
The reason is clear - its wines are fresher, more linear, less overtly tutti-frutti than most from Wairau. Vavasour winery is not only the oldest in the Awatere, its winemaker, Glenn Thomas, is an extremely dab hand at making fantastically pure white wines.
This for me is the pinnacle of his and New Zealand's sauvignon blancs.
Available widely. Drink with fresh scallops, capers and lemon zest, panfried in butter.
Best summer dinner party red
2001 Chivite Gran Feudo Reserva $24-25
If you're a fan of Spanish wines, you'll instantly fall for the charms of this quintessentially Iberian red from Bodegas Chivite, a Spanish winery founded in 1647.
This wine is a three-way blend of the Spanish grape, tempranillo, with cabernet sauvignon and merlot and for a six-year-old wine, it is exceptionally good value for money. Delicious, complex and beguiling, this is the Wine of the Year in the 2007-2008 Indispensable Wine Guide.
Available from specialist wine stores such as Fine Wine Delivery Company (Auckland), Regional Wines (Wellington), Vino Fino (Christchurch) and others.
Bennett & Deller are also stockists, phone (09) 378 9463, email: matt@bdwine.co.nz
Drink with barbecued or roasted venison, preferably wild.
