Time to hit the beach or get social and fingers crossed for the sun to shine for us all! Whether for a classic Cornish beach day, al fresco dining or hosting a garden party, EWWines are here to help and recommend and inspire your drinks choices for this summer. As well as our cool tip for service temperatures of lighter red wines we will highlight a few of our mixed case favourites and a few sundowner Cornish Gins.

Red Wine Temperature

For the temperature of red wine, particularly lighter and mid weight red wines, our top tip is to chill them lightly, for 20 to 30 minutes in the fridge before drinking if you are at home or pack into your cool box before setting off for your favourite beach or for your al fresco adventure. If you are too impatient to wait for your wine, try popping an ice cube in your first glass while your wine is chilling! What we hear you cry!! Chilling red wine for up to half an hour is not as sacrilegious as it may sound. What it does is highlights the fruit, herbal and floral characteristics of your red wine, makes it fresher, more focused and more refreshing and lowers the perception of tannins. Please do give this a try, there is nothing better in the sunshine, we promise.

Sparkling Red Wines

Yes, you read that correctly, sparkling red wines! Most sparkling wines are white or rose (we have plenty of those for you to choose from too!) but sparkling reds have long been traditionally produced in the Apennine regions of Italy, more recently Australia and now even in Cornwall. They are a chilled delight with a BBQ, summer roast dinner or for a takeaway date night treat. We have many choices of red sparkling wines, including a Welsh Biodynamic Pet Nat, the brilliant Ancre Hill Pet Nat Red.

Our favourite just now is Camel Valley Sparkling Red 2021 - 100% Rondo (hybridised grape variety) made in the traditional method (same method as Champagne) in Cornwall by Camel Valley, this wine is just such good fun. Brambly dark juicy fruits and hedgerow character meet delicate bubbles and a dry finish. This is our ultimate BBQ companion of the summer! Best served well chilled. Be quick, our stocks are limited of this brilliant Cornish sparkling red wine.

Paper Bottles and Canned Wines - Perfect for Summer

We love these formats! As well as potentially offering large carbon reductions when compared to glass bottles, they are perfect for taking to the beach or sipping in your hot tub, avoiding the possibility of broken glass and much easier to recycle! They also hold the temperature of the wine for longer than a glass bottle so perfect for summer sipping!

We have a range we are proud of including Cantina Goccia’s paper bottled red, white and rose. The bottles are made from 94% recycled paperboard and food grade liner to hold the wine. This British designed solution is over 5 times lighter than glass and they use significantly less plastic than a plastic bottle and both components are easily recyclable.

Cantina Goccia is a sustainably focused winery hailing from Umbria in the heart of Central Italy. The three wines blend local native varieties with popular international varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Why not try all three this summer? A white, red and rose all delicious and great summer sipping, more information HERE.

Al Fresco Dining Magnums

We have over 1,000 wines in store to choose from, and our specialist team love to help. Whether for a special occasion, particular budget or to pair your dinner menu so please do ask us when you next visit us. Now Al Fresco, hopefully in the sun, with friends, we have a just the answer in our large range of magnums and bigger format wines, perfect for your long leisurely al fresco dining needs. A visit to our magnum row is not to be missed!

A favourite sparkling magnum option is the eye catching, wallet friendly Vilarnau Organic Brut Reserva Cava which is a great centrepiece for any table. The Vilarnau winery is a beautiful avant-garde winery less than 20 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, close to Barcelona in Spain. Expect bright notes of crisp apple, ripe pear and brioche.

Mas de Cadenet, Cotes de Provence Sainte Victoire Rose is certified organic and available in magnum! This really is as good a Provence style rose as we have ever tasted. It is full of red fruits, white peach and delicate floral notes and subtle dried herbs. It is perfect with a Nicoise salad or grilled leg of lamb or just for summer sips with your lucky friends.

Summertime Mixed Cases

These offer fantastic savings and most importantly, fantastic sipping! You could browse our full offering and we will highlight a few of our favourites below in case you do not have time to browse.

Coastal Wine Cases – All £70 for x6 bottles. Choose from our Red, White or Mixed. All the vineyards have a coast proximity which often offers unique microclimates and often a cooling influence in warm regions – think of our fresh Atlantic breeze here in Cornwall. This would slow ripening and aid acidity retention which makes for a fresher style of wine, possibly with a little hint of salinity in the wine for good measure which we love and think of as seasoning as a good chef would always add a little of the ultimate flavour enhancer, salt.

Kumeu River – The Chardonnay Case 2022! This is the ultimate celebration of one of the world’s best Chardonnay producers. Perfect for Chardonnay lovers! From the incredible 2022 vintage, four of the iconic Single Vineyard Chardonnay Wines (one of each) and two bottles of the Estate Chardonnay. See why these wines have such rave reviews for yourself while our stocks last. We think they are the most Burgundian Chardonnays from outside of Burgundy we have tasted yet. We also have a few of the Single Estate Chardonnay’s in our Magnum row too, which are just spectacular.

Sunset Gins

Before we wrap up, lets remind you about gin! Nothing better than a Cornish sunset with a gin and tonic to match the colour of the sky! But we like our gin classical with just a little colour...

Padstow Rose Gin is £48 and was a gold medal winner at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2022. This gin combines pink peppercorns with roses but this is dry, light and subtle with no sweetness and is rather good with slim line tonic, ice and a Cornish sunset, perfect!

Bude Cornish Sunset Gin is a bit of a bargain at £31. Like much of Cornwall's coastline, Bude is renowned for its spectacular ocean sunsets and this pretty pink gin has cardamon, raspberry and rose and is as pink as the last light on a summers evening! Pair with your favourite mixer for the “Perfect Sundown Drink” as the Cornish Distilling Co. suggest.

Thanks for reading, we hope you visit our award-winning wine warehouse soon and enjoy your summer!