Summer wines: 'My favourite bottles of wine I have drunk at dinner this summer'

Chilled, super chilled or even poured over ice, rosé wines, from Provence, southern France, Italy and even Australia has been poured and enjoyed.

But it has to stop sometime, and in my household that is because there has been rebellion in the ranks.

While I have enjoyed exploring the rosé regions, taste wise, other members of the household have commented that they have missed the usual variation of flavours that normally accompany their dinner.

Even on really hot days, reds have been requested, often after half an hour in the fridge to keep the flavours fresh and the alcohol under control.

So, there has been a variety of wines making the important leap from tasting table to dining table. Some have been good, some very good and some absolute stunners.

Here are my six summer stunners, selected not just for their magnificence, but also for their flavour for money.

White wines

Joseph Mellot Menetout Salon Les Thureaux 2023, Roberts and Speight £16.89: Step away from the big, green flavours of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc to the Loire where wines are made from the same Sauvignon Blanc grape but in different soils and climate. There is citrus, yellow capsicum, a touch of newly cut grass and a sprinkle of herbs, but above all there is the crunch, like walking across a pebble beach. Team with starters.

Newton Johnson Family Vineyards ‘Southend’ Chardonnay 2023, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa, Harrogate Wines £21.99: The lovely Newton Johnson estate has strong Yorkshire connections. It was founded by Dave Johnson, born in Horbury, near Wakefield who went to the Cape as a child and who rose to become a Cape Wine Master.

Now with his sons, Gordon and Bevan, making the wine and running the business, they make excellent Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays as well as other grape varieties.

Beven was in Yorkshire recently showing a range of wines and in terms of flavour for money, the Southend Chardonnay is one to try.

The grapes come a cool vineyard directly opposite the main Newton Johnson farm, which means they ripen slowly and keep their lively, vibrant acidity. There is some oak, but so little it just fades into the background, enhancing texture and structure. Fresh tasting and elegant in style.

Red wines

Gigondas 2020, Blason du Rhône, France, Waitrose £20.65 down to £17.65 until 30 September: It seemed quite odd for a dinner guest to bring a bottle of hefty red wine on one of the hottest evenings of the summer, but by the time we had got through aperitifs and two (light) courses of dinner, it was just the right wine to open with cheese, and it showed magnificently. Gigondas is one of the top villages of the Rhône, promoted to its own appellation 50 years ago, and it offers great flavours for money.

With a blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah this has ripe black and red fruits, savoury depth and a edge of spice.

Pinot Noir Resonance Vineyard 2018, Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon, Penistone Wine Cellars £39.86: This was a real treat of a wine, poured at ‘Restaurant 1890 by Gordon Ramsay’ at The Savoy in London alongside a wonderful piece of Suffolk Texel lamb.

Just so you know, I wasn’t paying for the privilege of dining in such smart surroundings, and it takes more than a free dinner to persuade a Yorkshire girl to write something nice about a wine.

Resonance is a ground-up development started in 2012 by Jadot from Burgundy. They even persuaded their retiring winemaker, Jaques Lardière to steer this new project for several years.

Early vintages were good, but it has taken time for the wine to smile and now it is definitely on form. Gentle, silky and complex it has the warmth of Oregon sunshine, with the framework and depth of fine Burgundy.

Sparkling wine

Champagne Drappier Rosé de Saignée NV, France, Hic! Ledston, £52: There are two ways of making rosé champagne. One is by blending some red wine with fermented white juice before the second in-bottle fermentation, and the other is the more difficult method of macerating Pinot Noir grapes for several days to develop just the right pink colour before the first fermentation.

This saignée method takes skill and patience, but it produces outstanding wines, with a deeper colour than most blended rosé champagnes. Alongside the deeper colour comes an abundance of aroma and flavour.

At first, there are floral notes then red berry aromas, and on the palate wild strawberry and redcurrant fruit, a generous rounded texture, with a hint of spice and fresh finish.

This is a rosé champagne that really loves food. It combines perfectly with shellfish, grilled fish and even roast lamb, served pink of course.

Ferrari Maximum Blanc de Blancs, Italy, Latitude Wines, £36.99: It must be difficult when the name of your business is Ferrari, but in northern Italy, the name Ferrari is a bit like being called Smith in England.

Back in 1902 Giulio Ferrari learnt how to make sparkling wine in Champagne, in particular how to age it to produce the best flavours.

He then returned to Trento in Italy to set up his own company which he called Ferrari. Having no children, Giulio eventually passed his business to the local wine shop owner, whose family name is Lunelli and that same family still own the company and make the wine.

They have 100 hectares of organic vineyards, planted with Chardonnay grapes, at high altitude on the slopes of the Dolomites, and transform the grapes into delicious sparkling wine, using those same techniques Giulio learnt a century before.

Why should you pay Champagne prices for Italian sparkling wine? Because it is really excellent. Maximum Blanc de Blancs is a dry, elegant wine, aged 2 years on its lees to give crisp apple fruit with honeyed toasty notes and a long finish.

Ferrari Trento was the official sparkling wine partner for Formula 1 racing for a while, but as a small family firm they got squeezed out by a big-name champagne house.