The Viognier from Peninsula Ridge and a white from Gascony are must-try charmers for summer drinking. An Aussie and a French dry Rosé completes my  picks. You can never have enough good Rosé on hand!

REDS
rich red
ANDEAN VINEYARDS 07 Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 125963 $15.95
Starts out rich and yummy but there’s a solidness too – even a refreshing bite. The manly Argentina experience, with old-style French manners. Wonderful stuff. And organic too.

rustic red
FONTODI 06 Chianti Classico. Italy 933317 $28.95
Fontodi is one of the few Chianti producers who hasn’t sold out to the current fashion for rich ‘n smooth. The wine is firm and gutsy with wonderful earthy flavours. Expensive but worth every penny if you love Tuscany. Wine for grilled or roasted meats.

lively red
CAVE de la CÔTE 07 MORGES, Côtes Vaudoise, Switzerland 123414 $18.95
A frisky, light, refreshing red produced from Gamay, Pinot and some local oddities. Summer picnic wine – you’ll be the only on who brought Swiss.

rich red
BOEKENHOUTSKLOOF WINERY ‘Porcupine Ridge’ 08 Syrah, South Africa  595280 $15.00
Vibrant, juicy-sweet wine with enormous BBQ appeal. It’s smooth, it’s easy to like and the slight smokiness will cuddle up to food. Terribly easy to guzzle, but watch out for the high alcohol.
WHITES
Nice and easy
PENINSULA RIDGE 07 Viognier, VQA Niagara 662601 $14.95
Viognier is the new hot white – taste and see why. Delicious honeyed-flavours and a nice-guy personality. Somewhere between Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. Yummy for sure. Charred foods are a good contrast with the sweetish style of the wine.

Nice and easy
DOMAINE de PELLEHAUT 08 Blanc, Côtes de Gascogne, France 126136 $14.95
Low-alcohol, light bodied white with an amazing array of smells and flavours – which might have something to do with the half dozen grape varieties used. Crisp and refreshing but also quite pretty. A Sunday brunch showstopper.
ROSÉ
Fresh Rosé
PETER LEHMANN 08 Rosé, Barossa, Australia 34298 $15.95
Fresh, frank, mid-range Rosé. Drier than most out of Australia. And you get to enjoy bright cheerful art on the label. Perfect patio lunch stuff.

Rch Rosé
MAS AMIEL 08 Rosé ‘Le Plaisir’, Côtes du Roussillon, France 117051 $18.95
The rich, south of France style. Very seductive. Bring on the seafood! A bit pricy but the stylish packages softens the blow. And you gotta love a wine called Le Plaisir.

Anyhow, a lot of shelf space is now given over to boxed, or to use the brand name, Tetra Pak, wine. Tetra is good for situations where glass is too heavy, dangerous (or obvious) and it would be great if some wine – at all price levels – was offered this way. But this is not the situation in our stores. The LCBO was in such a hurry to get their quota of Tetra that they ended up with a ton of garbage wine. Overnight brands. Surplus, inferior wine that wineries were only too glad to get rid of. Ideally Tetra should have been introduced gradually – from suppliers of wines that are already on the shelf. The few good wines I found are Tetra editions of wines already available in regular bottles. There was one good new brand called Baldivis, but it got pulled because of problems with the container.

Having used Tetra now for over a year I have to say I hate both the feel and sloppy pour from the package. While I may use it for picnics, I believe glass is more earth-friendly, and wine-friendly.