Wine Not 6

While jammier New-World reds can overpower a simply cooked dish, Sangivoese shines. Pair a powerful Chianti Classico with a seared steak hot off the barbecue, and you’ll never look back.

This Riserva reflects Querciabella’s passion for Tuscan tradition, but also the estate’s flair for innovation. Their wines are not only organic, but certified as vegetarian and vegan; so, if you’d prefer to forgo the steak, it’ll go just as well with grilled aubergines, peppers or mushrooms.

Thanks to grapes handpicked from prime lots high on the slopes of Greve, Radda and Gaiole, it’s a structured, complex wine. The 2014 vintage was a big hit with the critics.

Cloudy Bay has indisputably been the New Zealand Sauvignon standard against which all other wines are measured since 1985. Thirty odd years later, they’re still knocking it out the park with each vintage.

Now owned by LVMH, this winery has some serious pedigree, responsible for wresting us away from the traditions of the Loire and defining a whole new style of Sauvignon. The 2019 has many of the grapefruit-y hallmarks we’ve come to expect from Marlborough, but also that trademark Cloudy Bay refinement and restraint. It’s the kind of wine you’ll always find an occasion to open.

Château d’Esclans’ signature rosé is synonymous with Provençal elegance. Nothing sets the tone for an evening like a glass of Whispering Angel, whether you’re sipping it on the beach in St Tropez, poolside at a hilltop villa, or under a parasol in your garden at home.

Why is it the region’s most coveted cuvée? Year-in-year-out, this Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Carignan blend hits just the right note between fruity and floral, crisp and refreshing. Pour chilled as an aperitif or with summer salads over long, lazy lunches in the sun.