When the sun starts shining and the temperatures start rising, alfresco dining is on the mind and there’s some of us out there that love grabbing a few friends a whiling away a summer’s day or evening outdoors, enjoying a picnic. But what wine will go well with the feast?
There’ll be all types of delights for tastebuds – sandwiches, olives, sausage rolls, sweet treats, strawberries, fruit salad…
A picnic brings all the food groups together and removes all the usual rules. We can eat with our fingers, go from savoury to sweet to savoury, lounge on a picnic blanket… and enjoy wine without the usual rules hanging over our heads. Because a picnic without wine is a bit like a Sunday roast without gravy – it’s just not right!
1. Organisation
Deciding to go for picnic is all well and good until you realise that you’ve forgotten where you put everything thing after the last one you went on. It also requires a bit of communication, deciding who brings what, but at the end of the day, it’s all worth it when you’re sat around with your nearest and dearest soaking up the summer vibes.
When it comes to the wine, there are several different approaches you could take:
First category – you’ve decided to go on a picnic last minute and you have nothing prepared. In this case, find a bottle of wine with a screw top to avoid spending half an hour looking for a bottle opener. If you already have one cool in the fridge, great! If not, pop down to the local shop to see what they have cool in their fridges. 🙂
Second category – Go big or go home 😉 Choose a Bag in a Box, it’s less heavy to carry and easy to transport.
Third category – You are not clumsy and will be able to get through the picnic without breaking anything so can bring a glass bottle along with proper wine glasses to the picnic.
Fourth category – You are a seasoned picnic-er with all the gear: cool box, freezer blocks, and bottle sleeves to keep the wine cool. You hear “Oh you’ve really thought of everything!” from everyone there.
2. The wine
Now on to which wine to choose for the picnic. You’ll want to look for something that’ll pair easily with the mix of food spread out on the blanket. Whatever you choose, you’ll want it to be cool. No-one wants a lukewarm drink at the start of a picnic.
Bubbles are always a good idea here. If you fall into the first category of people, you’ll have to run to the shop and take what you find already chilled in the fridge. And the good thing about most sparkling wine is that you don’t need a corkscrew to open the bottle. 😉 Meanwhile, if you fall into the last category, we’re sure you took a bottle of your favourite bubbles out of you stock and placed it in the fridge the day before. Of course, Champagne is an option here as are crémants de Bourgogne, de Loire, and d’Alsace as well as British sparkling wine, cava, Methode Cap Classique…
Rosés are also an excellent option as they are a sort of adaptable, universal key to the picnic because they pair brilliantly with salty, savoury food, such as tarts, quiches, roasted vegetables, and salads, and fruits such as raspberries and strawberries. Rosé from Provence, South West France (Fronton for example), and the Loire are all great candidates.
And if you prefer a red wine, it’s best to choose something light. A Beaujolais (Fleurie, Chiroubles, Brouilly), Pinot Noir from Alsace or Sancerre, Trousseau from Jura, Gamay from Touraine are all brilliant options.
Of course, there is also a plethora of dry white wines from which you could choose. Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire goes well with charcuterie, Côtes-de-Provence, Condrieu and Chardonnay ouillé (meaning topped-up in English) from Jura for cold cuts of poultry, Entre-Deux-Mers and eleagnt Muscadets with fish are all possibilities.
And finally, dessert. If you have brought a sweet threat for desert that you’ve manage to resist eating, a sweet white wine with good acidity is just the ticket. Why not try a Coteaux-du-Layon, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, Cérons, or a Muscat from Corsica?
After all that organisation and running around to quickly gather the food, wine and picnic paraphernalia, it’s time to enjoy everything in shade hopefully with a refreshing breeze.
