Summer is here and with it the desire for refreshing drinks that are easy to drink increases. In order to be able to enjoy wine in summer as well, we would like to give you tips on how to choose the right wine and how to best serve it in summer.

What tips you should consider when choosing and before serving wine in summer?

1. Choose light wines

Our body prefers drinks and food whose temperature is contrary to that of the surroundings. For this reason, we like to drink and eat warm in winter and our body needs cool drinks and food in summer. Therefore, fresh and light wines are ideal for the summer. These include white wines, rosé wines, sparkling wines and young red wines.

2. Drink wines at a low temperature

That is the most important recommendation of all. At home you have this under your control. In a restaurant or bar you are dependent on the extent to which they take this topic seriously. In a good restaurant this will of course be the case, but in a small restaurant around the corner it usually looks different. This is often the case with red wines in particular.

When ordering wine, you should therefore insist on having it served at the appropriate temperature. If you order a bottle of white, rosé or sparkling wine, it should always be in the ice bucket or with a cooling collar on the table. This way the temperature is maintained.

Red wines can be drunk a few degrees cooler than usual in summer. In general, red wines should be served a little cooler than warm.

3. Drink wines with low alcohol

In summer, it is ideal to choose wines that have a lower alcohol content in order to keep the body from drying out. The alcohol content is always stated on the front or back label of the wine bottle.

Since alcohol dehydrates the body, we recommend you to drink at least one glass of water per glass of wine (two are even better).

Which wines are suitable for summer and which dishes pair best?

White wines

With white wines, it is very important to serve them properly chilled, i.e., at 7 to 9 degrees. This emphasizes the acidity that gives these wines their beautiful, fresh taste.

Pairing: ideal with light rice and pasta dishes, salads, seafood, fish and vegetables from the grill.

Sparkling wines

The bubbles present in these white wines provide additional freshness for the summer, making them an ideal choice in hot temperatures.

Sparkling wines should be served at around 6 to 8 degrees. They go well with pies, pates, seafood, gazpacho and Iberian ham.

Rosé wines

Rosé wines are very popular in summer because they have the freshness of white wines and at the same time deliver a hint of red wine. The ideal serving temperature is 10 to 12 degrees.

In combination with white meat (chicken, turkey), soft cheese, melon with ham, potato omelette and fresh summer salads, rosé wines taste excellent.

Young red wines

In Spain, red wines are also very popular in summer. However, young red wines that are not matured in oak barrels are preferred.

The right temperature is also crucial for red wines. Ideally, this is 14 degrees, cooler if desired, but under no circumstances warmer.

Young red wines harmonize wonderfully with red meat from the grill, seasoned cheese, semi-ripe Manchego cheese and chorizo.

How can wine be cooled quickly?

There are a number of ways you can quickly chill wine. The ice-water-salt method is one of the gentlest.

To do this, place the wine in an ice bucket or other container with 50% water-50% ice and 1 tablespoon of salt. White and sparkling wines are chilled after approx. 15 minutes, rosé wines need approx. 10 minutes and red wines approx. 5 minutes to reach a cool temperature.

We hope that these tips for enjoying wine im summer are helpful! Have fun while enjoying your wine!

Would you like to learn more about wine? Then, we recommend you our step-by-step wine tasting guide. Enjoy it!