Savour a Spring Wine Fling

When deciding what wine to try this Spring – why not try something new – a variety you have never tried? Then, pair it with the right kind of food, and you'll see how perfectly tuned they are to the flavours of Spring.

Spring – the season that wakes us up and stimulates our senses, delivering freshness and vitality and getting us back to enjoying the great outdoors.

Think crisp, refreshing white wines —lighter, fruit, and acid-driven dry or slightly off-dry whites served well chilled. These are wines compatible with salads, shellfish, seafood, pasta, fresh cheese, antipasto and white meats.

Contrary to popular belief, you can sip reds even after Winter has come and gone, so don't shelve your reds just yet. Many red wines have outstanding qualities in warmer weather, lighter, with lower alcohol levels, higher acidity and subtle tannins. Chilled red wines can also be excellent on a warm day.

Rather than sticking to the same old favourites, changing the wine we drink with the seasons is an opportunity to experience a broader range of varietals and pairings. As the weather warms and our taste buds start to crave fresh and clean wines, it's time to choose wines for their lightness and simplicity.

With characteristics of both red and white wines, Rosé is undeniably the first choice for many wine lovers when the weather starts to warm up – especially when seafood such as tuna, barbecued prawns, or swordfish is on the menu.

With or without food, Hunter Valley Semillon is the wine to drink this Spring. Naturally low in alcohol, Hunter Semillon is the ideal partner for the season's lighter fish and seafood meals. When young, it's great with fresh oysters, cooked prawns and white-fleshed fish. With age, it is lovely when served with smoked trout or salmon, roast chicken, lobster with burnt butter and other flavoursome dishes.

As far as dry white wines are concerned, Chardonnay is the way to go. It's the crowd-pleaser of white wines and a full-bodied option that completes any Spring evening and a delicious pairing with prawns, grilled fish, chicken dishes, pasta and risotto.

As a tangy, dry white wine that is perfectly light and fresh with fruity flavours such as pear, apple and melon, Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio is a warmer weather wine through and through and can be paired with a variety of food with ease.

With its fresh, tropical fruit characters, un-oaked style, and sheer drinkability, Verdelho is very much the all-rounder and perfect when served with spicy Asian cuisines or enjoyed on its own on a warm day. While it is widely grown throughout Australia, the Hunter Valley consistently produce some of the best examples of this variety. F

A glass of Sparkling Wine is always appropriate, regardless of the time of year. But with the arrival of Spring, a glass of bubbly feels almost mandatory. The wine's temperature and the bubbles themselves make it a refreshing, cooling beverage, and its high acidity makes it ideally suited to lighter foods such as ham, salad, chilled soup and a variety of seafood.

Pinot Noir is, without a doubt, the first go-to red wine on a warm day and is superb with duck, salmon, lamb, pork, mushrooms, cured meats and charcuterie, as well as a range of seafood. While these wines don't need to be too cold, keep them in a wine cellar or refrigerator to ensure the best taste.

Easy drinking, fresh and vibrant, Grenache is one of the more

seasonable varieties and is very trendy at the moment. Best served with wood-fired pizza, olives and warm nights, Grenache is a wine very much reflective of the Mediterranean climate in which it originates.

Made for warmer, balmy afternoons in Italy, accompanied with freshly baked bread topped with sun-ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, and olive oil, Sangiovese is ideal for chilling and perfect for warm Australian spring weather.

WORDS QUENTIN VON ESSEN