Wine Pills

Cool wines for the hot summer, here's a little survival manual

From Pinot Bianco to Fiano via rosé and bubbles: wines with the right sparkle that can save the holidays

11 July 2025

Videoguida semiseria di sopravvivenza al caldo quando serve vino fresco

3' min read

Seasons have long since died out, and climate change makes that clear to everyone. They remain a vintage memory, a bit like the landline phone at home or summer flirtations when instead of Tinder they started on the pedal boat. The real summer starts when the refrigerator begins to look more like a refrigerated cellar than a food container, and survival also involves the right bottle. I am not talking about collector's labels, nor meditative wines that demand silence and often induce a good deal of boredom. I'm talking about a real galley for the boat, but also for the beach, poolside, terrace or kitchen at home with a paddle fan.

Let us therefore start with whites in pole position. The Pinot bianco - not only from Alto Adige - remains one of the champions of versatility: it goes easily and without much effort with starters, with raw fish but also with a mixture of steamed fish and shellfish. As far as I am concerned, a good Pinot Blanc has that fresh elegance that never tires, but it is not the only one! For example, there is Verdicchio (from Castelli di Jesi or Matelica) that can raise the level of even an impromptu dinner based on tuna in oil (the good kind in fillets) and seasonal Italian tomatoes with two thin slices of thinly sliced, beautifully scented Tropea onion. Three good quality ingredients are enough to feel good at the table, I think so. Those who want a more 'volcanic' touch should think of the Etna Bianco, which combines the freshness of the thin, ash-containing soils with that saline note that smells of rocks and of Sicily as seen from a boat anchored in a roadstead. How wonderful!

The Fiano d'Avellino comes into its own when the table fare becomes more serious, perhaps with slightly richer seafood risottos or even vegetarian dishes but, in the end, pairing it with spaghetti alle vongole (even with grattatina di bottarga) is never wrong. If you dream of Liguria, even if only in pretense, the Pigato is the answer in a bottle; and if you are more of an "Alpine" person, a Friulano, with its hint of almond, is the right white to sip while watching the weather forecast, the only one that even if it is wrong every day remains in prime time.

Then there are the bollicine, unfailing. Trento Doc, Franciacorta, Oltrepò Pavese, each with its own character - more mountainous, creamier, drier and more direct - but all sharing that ability to make every moment seem like an occasion for celebration. If you want to add a touch of the other side of the Alps, an Alsatian Crémant can do the trick without triggering Champagne guilt. And naturally a well-chosen Prosecco (no, the supermarket is not enough) remains the perfect ally for the long aperitif, even the one that turns into dinner.

Rosé wines have been the balancers of the summer in recent years; from the Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo that flirts with the reds, to the rosé from Salento that behaves like a real wine and certainly not a coloured drink, to the Chiaretto del Garda that seems to have been born to accompany holiday views and love affairs. These are democratic wines, for the beach and picnics, but also for serious conversations, if you can't avoid them.

Finally, yes, even reds have their own little place in summer, as long as they are light, fresh and without goulash or winter stew ambitions. A Schiava from Alto Adige, a Grignolino from Piedmont, a Frappato from Sicily or a Rossese di Dolceacqua, can give genuine satisfaction if served well chilled and drunk without too many questions.

In the end, and to conclude, the important thing is to always have something good to uncork, better if with a screw cap, I would add, because it is quicker.Summer wine should be like a successful holiday: light, pleasant, disengaged enough, but with that sparkle that makes you want to recommend it, as I do.