THIS new County Gazette wine column is brought to you by former head sommelier, Philippe Messy, who runs The Little Wine Shop which you can find in Bath Place, Taunton.

A Taste of Summer in a glass

THE time of the year has arrived… the smell of coal being lit on barbecues from one garden to the other.

Here are few wine recommendations for your warm afternoons and mild nights.

In terms of wines I would drink a nice chilled dry white from Romania: A Riesling Calusari, it is fresh and zesty and £8.95.

It goes down well as an aperitif but if you have decided to grill some fish, squid or seafood it is perfect too as the zestyness will enhance the flavour of the fish.

If you decided to be more traditional and follow the continental route, a nice Rosé would do the trick!

Contrarily to common belief Rosé are not a blend of white and red, but just red grape that have had skin contact with their own juice for a period of 24 hours maximum!

Somerset County Gazette:

The shorter the skin contact is applied the paler the Rosé will be.

Provence, Spanish, Greek and Italian Rosé are 99% of the time dry!

White Zinfandel are sweet and frankly in my view absolutely disgusting!

You can get away with a nice Rosé for less than £9 and it goes very well with pork.

For a red I will go for a wine that is un-oaked but has body.

This will keep the freshness but will match the ‘bbq taste’ of grilling.

My tip will be to put the red for about an hour in the fridge before drinking.

By doing this you will retain the freshness of the wine.

A wine from the Languedoc such a Corbières or à Malbec from Cahors will do the job!