Refreshing drinks to accompany long summer evenings
Four whites, three reds (best served chilled), a rosé and an elderflower spritz from Laithwaites to sip the season away. Find the perfect pour for your next get-together from this August selection of handpicked wines
07 August 2025 10:00am BST
A varied selection of eight wines and a light sparkler is in order for August, whether you are taking them on holiday to a French villa, grabbing something to take to a genteel sporting event or festival, at friends’ houses for a summer soiree or just relaxing at home.
1. Maison Maillet Rosé 2024, Méditerranée IGP (12 per cent ABV, magnum £22)
What better way to toast being on holiday than with a Provençal rosé of real typicity and charm. Salmon pink in colour, this one has ripe summer berries on the palate, with aromas of wild herbs and blossom. This family business was founded by Louis Maillet in 1860, and is now led by fourth-generation Michel Maillet.
Situated near the celebrated Bandol appellation, the estate has long been known for its quality rosé, with Grenache the predominant grape in a blend that also features Cinsault and Syrah. In a fun nod to the nearby F1 circuit, the cork is etched with a racing flag, making it the perfect accompaniment when viewing the Dutch Grand Prix on 31 August. Ideal with salads and seafood.
2. Tempo Lungo Organic Pinot Grigio 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT (11 per cent ABV, £11.99)
In the past few years, Sicily has become one of Italy’s most talked-about wine regions. When on holiday, this delightful Pinot Grigio from organically farmed fruit is another easy-drinking wine to start the afternoon or evening as an aperitif, or to accompany food such as risotto and fish. Hand-picked early to preserve its acidity, it is refreshing with floral hints of apple and pear on the nose before giving way to citrus and melon notes on the palate.
4. Hacienda de Lluna Viognier 2024, Valencia DO (11 per cent ABV, £9.99)
Viognier’s spiritual home is the Rhone Valley, but this alluring Spanish example is a highly drinkable wine that was picked early to preserve its acidity and counter the naturally high alcohol levels in the grape. Aromatic with scents of peach and pear, it has lemony zest notes on the palate.
It is a perfect picnic wine (its closure being a screwcap) or as an aperitif. Made by Jorge and Marta Martínez, it comes from the highly rated La Viña winery. It goes well with honey-glazed hams, seafood and spicy dishes.
5. Amandla Signature Chenin Blanc 2024, Western Cape WO (12.5 per cent ABV, £13.99)
This appealing South African Chenin Blanc is made by an all-black, all-female team after three stakeholders united to further women’s empowerment in the Western Cape’s winelands; Praisy Dlamini is chief executive and head winemaker with Ruth Faro as viticulturist.
Fittingly, the brand is called Amandla, which translates as ‘power’ in the Nguni languages of Xhosa and Zulu, and the word was one of the ANC’s rallying cries against apartheid. Amandla won the Drinks Business magazine’s Launch of the Year award in 2023 despite a tiny marketing budget.
The wine, whose fruit came from a farm near Paarl, has refreshing acidity with aromas of guava and lime and intense citrus notes on the palate. Ideal with chicken, seafood or vegetarian dishes.
6. W/O Organic Frappato 2024, Terre Siciliane IGT (12.5 per cent ABV, £10.99)
A brilliant summer red, best served slightly chilled, that is fresh and floral with strong strawberry and raspberry notes. The Frappato grape is thought to have originated from the south of Sicily in the Ragusa province. Winemaker Dino Taschetta farms organically on elevated sites ‘without compromise’ (hence W/O on the label), using 100 per cent recycled bottles. This light-bodied everyday quaffer goes well with pizza, pesto or pasta.
7. Chilled Cinsault 2023, Western Cape WO (12 per cent ABV, £11.99)
This is the perfect time of the year to enjoy this exciting red, one that needs chilling, as the label implies. The fruit comes from the highly regarded Journey’s End estate in Somerset West, to the east of Cape Town. Owned by British entrepreneur Rollo Gabb, the winery is focused on sustainable production, and its foundation provides 20,000 meals per week to local communities in the Helderberg region.
Cellarmaster Leon Esterhuizen has fashioned a very appealing summer wine with ripe red berries, refreshing acidity and soft tannins. The breezes from the nearby False Bay help to produce an elegant, coastal-styled red that is ideal with light lunches or barbecues.
8. Inverted Flamingo Malbec 2024, Mendoza (11 per cent ABV, £11.99)
This is a real barbecue red that will go well with steak, sausages, burgers or chicken, being only 11 per cent. There is a generous core of raspberry, blackberry and damson with an exemplary balance of ripe fruit and crunchy acidity in this Argentinian crowd-pleaser. Juicy Malbec plumpness is evident through the aromas of violet and herbs. Once again, serve slightly chilled, particularly on a warm evening.
9. Britpop Elderflower Spritz by Alex James NV (6 per cent ABV, £12.99)
A super-refreshing lower-alcohol drink that captures the quintessential scent of the UK summer. Made by Alex James, the Blur bass player, who also crafts artisan cheeses on his Cotswolds farm, it is produced from elderflower heads picked in the Brecon Beacons of Wales. These are added to spring water, lemon juice and golden sugar, with inoculated yeasts starting the fermentation. Carbon dioxide, a by-product of it, leads to the spritz. There are elderflower, citrus and gooseberry notes on this warm weather thirst-quencher.