Wine For Spring Days

The coming of spring is an important time in the life of the winemaker. The vines are starting to show new life as new shoots appear and the year of wine making starts again.

Spring also brings in us the yearning for sunny days and with that comes the hunger for different food and drink. Spring often means leaving those red wines that you have come to love over the winter period behind and start to rediscover rosé wines and white wines, which we associate more with the sunshine.

So what are the great wines for spring days? What is it about certain wines that make them ideal and others that just don't work?

Probably the best thing to think about when choosing a spring wine is how you will be drinking it. Is it to go with a certain type of food? Is it for a celebration? Or is it just because you want to celebrate the beginning of the new season and would like a bottle of wine to make everything seem new and spring like?

If you are looking for something special to go with food, here are a few options of what might work. If you are enjoying fish or seafood, why not go for a Loire Valley Muscadet? This is an underrated wine because it is usually fairly inexpensive and is lighter in alcohol. It works really well with seafood and evokes memories of French fishing villages. This is a great wine to make you think about your summer holidays and because of its relatively light alcohol content, it won't make you feel at all light headed.

If you are enjoying a roast chicken why not go for a Chablis? This wine is light in flavour but not in alcohol content. It is subtle but fresh in its flavour, with a zippy acidity that cuts through the soft juicy flavour of the chicken. If you are enjoying a cheese dish, why not go for a Rioja? This will compliment the cheese and remind you of days in Spanish bars enjoying the tapas.
If you have a special occasion to host, now is the time to break open a bottle of sparkling rosé. There is something about the light, fruity taste that will go well with anything you choose to serve. This will get any party started or round off a dinner party nicely.

Fiona Muller has been writing for over 20 years. She is a qualified journalist and has worked in food and drink writing for the last few years and about spring wine. For a range of spring wines, including a specially selected case of spring wine, go to laithwaites.co.uk.