SO temperamental is this Irish summer - all sunny smiles one minute and scowling grey skies the next - that we have to be poised to come out to play the instant its mood becomes benign. That means having the liquid equivalent of shorts, sandals and shades at the ready - bottles of various hues that can be popped in the fridge at a moment's notice.
This needn't be an extravagant exercise. In fact, with wind and sun quickly dissipating the subtle characteristics of grander wines, simple bottles with straight forward flavours are the only sensible thing to buy.
The white wine that most obviously sums up the essence of summer is Sauvignon Blanc, with its aromas of gooseberries, asparagus or freshly cut grass. Why, then, haven't I listed an example? Simply because there's so much pleasant, inexpensive Sauvignon around - much of it from Chile or the south of France, and regularly featured in this column - that it seems wiser to talk about more unusual white wine flavours. Although it's a bit more expensive, Riesling (either from the New World or the old) would be a lovely light, summery alternative to the Grenache BlancChardonnay and Malvasia mentioned below.
Really well chilled, rose is another smashing summer drink. At long last, it's on the Irish market in a whole variety of dry styles which are helping it to shed its blushingly naff image. Look out for examples made from Cabernet Sauvignon, the Cabernet Franc of the Loire, Garnacha/Grenache, Syrah or various mixtures of grapes from the south of France which may well include these last two. Rose deserves to be far more popular than it is because, besides looking rosebud pretty, it's the perfect partner for all those Mediterranean foods we've grown to love.
With our hot weather so severely rationed, it's easy to forget altogether that cool, red wine, too, can taste delectable. It's important, however, not to chill it to death - and to choose the right type of red wine in the first place, since not all will respond happily to 45 minutes in the fridge. Choose a fairly light, fruity style, rather than a more full bodied wine whose tannins may taste nastily dominant and bitter after the cooling treatment. Inexpensive Merlot, juicy young Garnacha or Grenache, Valpolicella and the red wines of the Loire are all good candidates as well as Beaujolais, the best known cool red of them all.
All well and good, but where is a bit of fun to be found, vinously speaking, on a warm summer's day? In the frothy exhilaration of affordable fizz, I'd say. In the garden with a few friends and obliging sunshine, a glass of good Spanish Cava will instil the happy, holiday spirit in five seconds flat. Be sure to lay some in, just in case good Spanish weather should intermittently strike.