Last of the summer wines

Château de Minuty M de Minuty Rosé, Côtes de Provence, France 2023 (£16.99, or £13.99 as part of a mixed case of six bottles, majestic.co.uk) Thanks to the rhythms of the school calendar, there is always a slightly bittersweet feel to the August bank holiday weekend: a few days of relaxation that also signal, like a cool hint of autumn on the seaside breeze, the end of summer. An excuse, then, to call on the last of the summer wines, the cool whites, light reds and rosés that are at their best in this season. First up, a couple of my favourite recent rosés, both of which have the capacity to take you away to sunny southern climes, starting with Provence, which is still the pick of the pale pink crop, not least the ever-elegant bottlings by Château de Minuty, which include the typically peachy-creamy, softly citrussy M de Minuty, and then heading to the Peloponnese for the subtly herb-inflected pink grapefruit and pomegranate of Gaia Estate 4-6H Agiorgitiko Rosé, Greece 2023 (£18, Harvey Nichols).
London Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, West Sussex, 2020 (£35, robersonwine.com; virginwines.co.uk) A day out at the seaside is a chance to enjoy a high-low modern classic of food-and-wine matching. There’s something about the combination of searing, scintillating acidity and pastry-shop flavours in a top-quality English blanc de blancs sparkling wine – such as that made at urban winery London Cru from chardonnay grapes sourced in West Sussex – that works so well at complementing and cutting through the fat, flavours and textures of classic English fish and chips. London Cru (or Wiston Estate Blanc de Blancs NV; £34.20, theenglishwinecollection.co.uk) might be the luxury local option, but you can get some of the same effect on a lower budget with a zippy fizz from Limoux in France’s Pyrenean foothills such as Cuvée Royale Crémant de Limoux, Languedoc France NV (£13.99, Waitrose) or a bristling Cap Classique champagne-alike from South Africa such as Graham Beck Chardonnay Pinot Noir Vintner’s Selection Brut, Western Cape NV (£13.50, Asda).
Domaine Bel Avenir Fleurie Poncie, Beaujolais, France 2022 (£17.50. Or £15.75 as part of a mixed six, wickhamwine.co.uk) As well as developing the perfect wine style for one of our national dishes, British winemakers are getting better at some of the other genres of summer wine. The glorious grapefruit, gooseberry, and cool grassiness of a dry white made from the bacchus variety such as New Hall Wine Estate Bacchus Single Estate, Essex 2022 (£17.50, newhallwines.co.uk) is every bit as good with a salad of creamy-tangy young goat’s cheese as a classic Loire sauvignon blanc such as Joseph Mellot Menetou-Salon Les Thureau 2023 (£19.50, noblegreenwines.co.uk), although neither can match the value at this crisply, pungently verdant end of the spectrum offered by the Côtes de Gascogne in South West France, and wines such as Tesco Finest Côtes de Gascogne 2023 (£7.50). One thing the British haven’t consistently mastered, however, is reds, with Beaujolais still a much more reliable source of light, sappy, red-berry-charged styles such as Domaine Bel Avenir’s Fleurie.
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