What to drink this summer

Alain Voge’s pithy sparkling wine, Les Bulles d’Alain, is unlike anything else we have on our list. It is lively, dry, refreshing, and refined. If you’re in the mood for bubbles, but don’t want the weight of a Champagne, this is the perfect option, and a smart price too. It’s a very good example of why Saint-Péray has built its renown for sparkling wines.

Sommerberg is the steep 19 hectare grand cru hillside that rises up behind the village of Niedermorschwihr, where the Boxler cellar is located. Indeed, Sommerberg is synonymous with Boxler: his is the most famous and celebrated iteration of the vineyard. The ‘young vines’ here are actually 35 years old, and produce a wine with a fresh, juicy tension. The 2017 has notes of lime blossom, sea breeze and fresh peaches on the nose, with taut freshness , and an energetic drive to a long and elegant finish.

From the team at Lalu, Lara and Luisa, this is stunning. So perfumed and elegant, it shows a whole new side to Barbera. Long, savoury, and beautifully fresh, it's not to be missed.

Wow. What purity and focus, and also such silky tannins. This is a brilliant red. Notes of pomegranate and rose petal, and lots of blood orange add to the core of red fruit. The tannins are talc-like, and there’s such focus on the palate. This is outstanding.

A cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon, with very refined tannins, a little clove spice and lifted lavender notes, and a lovely core of dark fruit. Pieter is so talented when it comes to this grape variety.

Luuks means luxury in Afrikaans, and this was the first wine with which Pieter had ever used new oak. It's a real delight: lots of spicy notes from that oak, but it's retained the texture and focus we love in Pieter's wines.

A brilliant cool climate Shiraz from the By Farr team in 2019. Bright and fresh with sappy berries alongside some riper black fruit. There’s some black pepper and earthiness and a silky texture.

2009 is quite rightly celebrated as a top vintage in Bordeaux, known for generous fruit and weight. Lovely blackcurrant, black plum and red cherry fruit here, with spicy, peppery notes on the nose and rich, mocha on the palate with a velvet texture. There's great balance with a tensile, mineral seam running through it and matching the intensity of the fruit.

This 100% Merlot is juicy, pure and sumptuous. Here, clay soils retained moisture throughout the long dry summer of 2016, meaning that this has remained balanced and fresh. With a long, well-defined finish, this is surely the best Marsau ever.

The 2015 Raymond Lafon is a brilliant Sauternes. Notes of saffron and green pineapple on the nose give way to a spicy palate of so much poise and finesse. There’s a richness here, but also a focus and savouriness that makes it oh-so-easy to drink. Brilliantly done, from a hidden gem of Sauternes.

This salty, expressive white from this enterprising estate in Languedoc offers outstanding value for money. Aromas of fresh white flowers and the salty spray of the Mediterranean make this citrus scented white the perfect aperitif. Balanced, refreshing, unfussy and delicious.

This Grenache is produced by Marco Cirillo from two 100+ year old vineyards from the renowned Barossa Valley. Full of rich fruit and spice, the palate is generous with intense and classically Grenache characteristics. It’s smooth, rounded, and generous with fantastic texture from 12 months maturing in old foudres. A true bargain, this is a wine that can be enjoyed now, or well into the future.

Claudie’s father, in his days of running a plant nursery with access to a huge range of plant material, planted seven different clones of Pinot Noir in this 2.5 hectare site. Now at 45 years old, this diversity, twinned with the quality of vineyard husbandry, means the vineyard is thriving. The different clones call for pruning and harvesting at different times, but it’s an effort worth making, as the wine is texturally sophisticated, juicy, and full of Pinot nuance. So balanced and extremely drinkable.

Les Hauts de Pierre is the pinnacle of Blaise’s production. It comes from a single parcel of old vine Chasselas, and is powerful, textured, and intense, almost reminiscent of top Burgundy. This 2019 is a little closed, but with texture and purity on the palate, it points to a long life ahead. The salinity and leesy complexity on the palate lasts an age, with notes of citrus and more savoury elements unfurling over time: this is a remarkable Swiss white.

A small amount of grapes that go into this wine come from Graeme and Julie's back garden - classified Condrieu terroir, and the kick-starter for building their own domaine. The 2018 is full of sweet, floral, honey notes. The palate is fleshy, clean, and with a silky flow. This is a stunning Condrieu, and indicative of the brilliant talent at this new domaine.

This Nuits premier cru combines the sweet red fruit of the 2013 vintage and the savoury structure of the commune. As it has evolved in bottle it has developed complex sous-bois aromas of undergrowth, spice, and leather, still with its Pinot red berry fruit driving along to a long, elegant finish. It is cool and understated, with particularly fine tannins supported by a little oak that integrates seamlessly.

This parcel of young vines (around 15 years old) lies right next to Marcel’s house. He says it’s a wine to open and enjoy young. Given what good value it is you certainly can get stuck in. It has a bright and fruity character, with the vintage’s wonderful natural freshness.

Pieuchaud is a flinty-soiled lieu-dit in the commune of Thauvenay in the south-east of the Sancerre appellation. Luc decided to isolate this vineyard after noting it always produced fruit with great maturity whilst maintaining high acidity - the secret to single vineyard wines in his opinion. In 2019 it is smoky, restrained, agile, and subtle. It would do well for a few years in the cellar, and its saline, savoury structure will make it an excellent food wine in the years to come. Tightly coiled and highly charged.

85 year old vines, with a few of 60 years old, this has ginger and spice, and plenty of elegance. This is nervy and focussed, with lovely texture and purity.

This is so much more than your average Côtes du Rhône. It comes from the vines that surround the cellar, sitting just beyond the northern border of Châteauneuf. It is so textured and fresh, with energy, purity, and density. Its juicy red fruits combine with a lovely salty minerality making for a charming, drinkable style.

This beautiful property was bought by Jérôme in 2007. He says that, as well as a perfect place to grow vines, it’s also the ultimate picnic spot, where the family like to shuck oysters with a bottle of the château’s delicious wine. Precise and refreshing, with a citrus, floral nose. The sur lie ageing gives it a fine texture and a lively freshness which are so well expressed in this light-bodied, paradigm Muscadet.

This comes from many parcels dotted around the central and southern part of the appellation. Sylvain intelligently handles his fruit: the young vine bunches are destemmed, while the older vines’ stems are kept intact, combining them to produce a highly juicy, perfumed style. A glossy style bursting with fruit.

These vines are grown on sandstone soils, and are picked around 10 days after La Jalousie, when the skins are a little thicker and beginning to turn golden brown. The wine is aged for 18 months in demi-muids, and the result is a wine that so perfectly captures the essence of Chenin Blanc. This is all crisp russet apple with just a hint of nutty complexity emerging. The palate is, whilst arresting in its freshness, also so silky in texture - a quality Evelyne says is typical of Les Caillardières. This is the dark horse of the Closel cellar: one to drink before the Clos du Papillon perhaps, but capably of giving as much enjoyment from its complex layer.

This is a blend of four parcels, with a high proportion of fruit from vines older than 50 years. It is smooth and fruity. Its brightness is piqued with a fine line of pithy bitterness. This is a great example of the appellation, and has taken on some definition and drive from its first year in bottle. This is so refreshing and quenching.

The 2019 Capisme is a stunning Langhe Nebbiolo, from a great vintage. Powdery tannins, lifted fruit, and a long, savoury finish all combine to craft a Nebbiolo that would not look out of place in a lineup of Barolos.

The 2016 El Sacramento Viña Leizaola is an absolute stunner. Finessed and focused, there’s a beautiful nose of wild flowers and spice, with a core of brilliantly fresh fruit. This is long, savoury, and wonderfully balanced. A stunning Rioja.

An Italian red we love, this comes from just down the road from Elena's winery, from a 70 year old vineyard that belongs to one of her grandfather's friends, that was going to be pulled out. Elena volunteered to farm it, and this is the result. It's herbal, tarry, and so complex. Utterly delicious.

A brilliant Chardonnay from the Langhe, this is tightly wound but still with plenty of opulent fruit. Never overbearing, this is just such a joy to drink.

This Bag-in-box Rosé is back by popular demand. It’s beautifully packaged, offers amazing value for money and has superb environmental credentials (with a much lighter carbon footprint than glass, and is 100% recyclable). Moreover, the wine itself is delicious: a dry, delicate rosé, with a fruity and fresh red berry nose and a salty freshness on the palate. You could easily mistake this for a bona fide Côtes de Provence. The wine will stay fresh and vibrant for at least a month from first opening. In this format, it offers unbeatable value for money. Dimensions: 19x19x19cm.

La Londe is unusual in the Côtes de Provence for warranting its own appellation. It applies only to the best sites between Toulon and St Tropez, close to the coast, facing the dazzling Porquerolle islands. Here, the schiste soils and cooling sea breeze combine to make the most elegant and sophisticated of the region’s rosés. This is the top wine from the Combard family, made from the domaine’s organically-farmed grapes, selected and vinified by parcel with meticulous attention to detail. It is fine-boned and subtle, ethereal and enticing, and shows just what the best terroirs of Provence are capable of.

This 2016 Barolo from G.D. Vajra was bottled exclusively for Lay & Wheeler, and is from a blend of vineyards all planted on the Tortonian soils of the west of the Barolo zone. The resulting wine is perfumed and pure, with incredibly silky tannins, notes of rose petal and terracotta, and a core of cherry fruit. There’s the structure for this to last decades if you’ll let it, but it’s already delicious. It’s a wine we couldn’t be prouder to have secured: make sure it’s in your cellar.

Just the second vintage, and produced in miniscule quantities, this is floral and lifted, with lovely purity of fruit, and a juicy, fine-boned finish. Serve this at cellar temperature for a totally delicious Syrah.

Gianfranco's young vine cuvée, this has notes of ripe plums, prunes, and lots of store cupboard spice. The tannins need time to soften, but put this with food and you'll be richly rewarded.

Les Filles has earned a cult following. Each year the humorous label changes, and many of the 2016's predecessors have become collector's items. The wine is made from Bergeron, which is the local Savoie name for Roussanne. It shares much of the peachy, stone fruit ripeness you'd find in the Rhône, but with a verve all of its own. It is rich, bright, vibrant, and superbly long. Its weight and poise make it a great match with food. Gilles Berlioz is a passionate practicioner of organic farming and a benchmark producer in the Savoie.

This is the best iteration of this wine we've tried, from a great vintage. Notes of blood orange and ripe cherries, with a structured palate and a juicy finish. This is so delicious today, but will age well, too.

An indigenous grape that had long been forgotten, this is such a lovely white. Nice weight in the palate, with slightly herby notes and a long, peachy finish. This will age, too: older bottles we've tried have been so complex, mineral, and long.

Ben Glaetzer balances bright freshness with powerful ripe black fruit in this Shiraz and Cabernet blend from the northern end of the Barossa Valley. It has a lovely herbal lift on the nose, with vanilla and chocolate complexity giving richness to this serious generous wine.

Made from 100% Malvasia and aged for 20 years. Incredibly decadent and rich with masses of complexity and a persistent freshness so typical of fine Madeira. Berry fruit, leather, dried figs, coffee, citrus peel, caramel, and brown sugar. Perfect to pair with cheese or desserts or try as an aperitif.

This comes from an historic, low-yielding 16-hectare site. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is home to dry-grown, ungrafted centenarian vines which sit on ancient soils at 400 metres above sea level. The wine is matured in 80% French and 20% American hogsheads (19% new, 81% seasoned) for 18 months prior to blending and bottling, after which the wine ages for a further three years before release. The 2016 is astonishing in its purity and complexity. There’s such remarkable length here, with a savoury, saline finish that lasts for minutes. A tour de force. Bravo.

A bottling that pushes the boundaries of what high-quality Beaujolais can be: grapes spend an enormous seven months macerating in large clay amphorae, creating a textured, explosive wine that’s spectacularly delicious.

This is made from the Chasselas grape, the lesser-known variety of Pouilly, with only a handful of hectares remaining today. Jonathan’s is one of the best examples: refined and floral, juicy and refreshing. What it lacks in Sauvignon Blanc’s razor sharp edges it gains in its delicate proportions.

This is one of the best value Chardonnays you'll find. Fresh and focussed, it has loads of vibrant fruit, and a very pure, appley finish. Delicious.

This is the flagship wine of the estate, and offers the best of Muscadet: pale lemon yellow, a little citrus and blossom on the nose, an elegant, defined length, with some savoury structure from lees ageing bringing it all together. This is an absolutely charming Muscadet. It bursts with lemons and limes, and has such a refreshing tension.

Lukas van Loggerenberg lamented the lack of a rosé culture in South Africa. And so he decided to do something about it. This comes from Cinsault vines, from the closest vineyard to the southern ocean in Stellenbosch, on the sandy soils of the lower slopes of the Helderberg. More akin to top Bandol rosé than easier, quaffing styles, it’s saline, savoury, and totally beguiling. A total bargain at this price.

Broader than the Ribolla Gialla, this washes over the palate with notes of lemon pith and orange blossom. The finish is ever so slightly waxy, but the wine is not lacking freshness. Delicious.

This, from the Voor Paardeberg, from really young vines, is just spectacularly delicious. Red apple and wild roses swirl from the glass, while it’s the salinity and texture of the palate that really blew us away. Such an individual wine; such a wonderful wine.

This is so atypical from Prosecco, the DOC wouldn't let Primo label it as such. But never mind: it's one of the best sparklings we know. Notes of orange blossom and iodine on the nose, and hints of wild strawberry and lots of salinity on the palate. So impressive.

The 2019 Apla is really fragrant and peppery, with amazing purity to the palate and a lovely touch of grip. It’s a blend of Xinomavro, Limniona and Mavroudi, and comes from vineyards across the very north of Greece. Made with elegance in mind, it’s a brilliant summer red, with added depth: akin to a very good Cru Beaujolais. Utterly delicious.

This indigenous blend of Malagousia (60%), Assyrtiko (30%) and Roditis (10%) comes from a few parcels situated in different regions of Greece. The wine sees no oak and is aged for a few short months in tank and amphora to retain the purity and finesse of the varieties. The acidity is crisp and citrus driven, with a pithy grapefruit character on the finish. Expect white blossom florals, citrus and a subtle steeliness on this really impressive wine. A delight to drink and showcasing the best that Greece has to offer.

Silky and elegant, La Montesa comes from a single, organic vineyard and in this vintage is made entirely from Garnacha. The result is full of crunchy red berry fruits, orange peel and woody herbs. It’s broad and mouth coating, but not overly rich. It’s bright, lively, and fruit-driven and lovely to drink.

This is so perfumed and floral, with notes of blood orange, fresh cherries, and an incredible sense of place. There's nervy acidity and a wildness here; this is benchmark Etna from Rory and his team.

This is made from various parcels of old vines that are all located on the hillsides, with good drainage. This is a benchmark Chinon that has flourished in the 2019 vintage. There is nicely fragrant red fruit on the nose, with a touch of graphite and seaweed, giving it an iodine edge. The palate has a spicy, lightly herbaceous weight and fine, firm tannins, with lovely acidity.

This monopole vineyard is found right on the edge of the Saumur appellation with Anjou. Its highly active limestone with clay soils produces wines that are taut and nervous, even in a warmer year like 2018. The wine is perfectly ripe, remaining fine and fragrant, with a salty freshness and chalky tension. Truly lovely Chenin Blanc.

From a vineyard in Paarl planted in 1956, yields from here are absolutely miniscule. There's pure peach on the nose, with plenty of citrus lift and a beautifully textured palate. A lovely addition to our range.

This wine is completely seductive and a joy to drink. Expect bramble fruits and spice combined with layers of complexity from leather and smoky notes. The tannins are present and have a grip yet have been very well managed and provide great structure and balance with the palate’s juicy core.

The 2018 Vaderroa Mencia is utterly delicious. Fresh and lifted, with notes of wild flowers and plenty of spice, too, serve this slightly chilled for a brilliant everyday red.

Bukettraube is likely a grape you don't know brilliantly, but it's found its home in a few small vineyards in the Cape. Hanneke and Pauline are doing something quite special with it, making an utterly delicious Pet Nat. Sometimes likened to Muscat, this is floral and peachy, with very fine bubbles, and a vibrant finish. A delicious fizz.

The cooler climate makes this wine steely on the attack and display green apple, lime and and steely notes supported by hints of jasmine. The core is linear and crisp and very focused.