With Summer upon once again in the Southern Hemisphere (and everybody is predicting it is going to be a HOT one!), I thought it might be interesting to see what Forum members will be drinking over the holiday period. And with recent "beer" talk from GrahamB's thread Golden Ale has Arrived and even Cascade's "First Harvest" getting a mention by Platinum and Max in Grant's Industrial Swill thread, it appears that some of us are not thinking about consuming too many Big Red's this summer, but maybe something more refreshing!
In our household, we find that red wine (especially the high alcohol, in your face stuff) gets a bit of a holiday over this period. Although we have a bottle now and again, we find that much more Sparkling Red is consumed over November thru February - red wine made for a hot summer's day! Also beer tends to invade the drinking habits as well. We really are not white wine drinkers but do have the odd bottle of NZ Sauv Blanc now again, especially if we are having seafood on the BBQ.
What about you? What is your favourite alcoholic drink over summer?
I was very tempted to vote for Red wine as it is always the one I enjoy most, but then felt that that probably wasn't the drink I would open in the afternoon on a hot summer's day which was likely to be the intention of the poll. In these cases it is usually beer, sometimes champagne, sometimes white, sometimes a G&T.
Dave
I will still indulge in some nice red over summer but will more often turn to a cold beer at a bbq lunch or dinner. I will also enjoy a nice reisling or sauvignon blanc too. So probably a mixed bag of alcohol consumption.
I voted red, with air-conditioning to keep inside temps at a comfortable level, I just bring the red in from the aircon cellar and it quickly reaches optimum drinking temperature.
That being said, a lot of red bubbles and (real) champagne is drunk over the Christmas/New Year period and indeed throughout summer.
Cheers Brian Life's too short to drink white wine and red wine is better for you too! :-)
While I voted a bit of everything else not sure that includes cocktails and spirit mixes - especially not with Coke (shudder), G&T may be - don't like it that much and if I need a Coke it tends to be the morning after and I'll want straight Coke
David J
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
I drink a bit of everything from the list. Probably a bit more sparkling red than normal and quite a bit more beer (I still have some Hahn Millenium Ale - 1999 vintage beer bottled in champagne bottles with corks).
But my drink of choice for a summer afternoon is a Margarita Slushy.
Take all the ingredients for a batch of Margaritas and chuck them in the ice cream maker. It won't freeze but does turn into a very refreshing slushy with a bit of a kick to it.
Sharkey
I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
White wine for me - can't get enough of Rieslings at the moment, especially the 2005 Grosset PH. Cracked yet another 2004 Tahbilk Marsanne last night. And the 2004 and 2005 Hunter Semillons. Great stuff!
Add in the odd Chablis, Mersault and White Bordeaux, summer here we come!!!
(oh... and a few whites with fine, persistent bubbles will not be going astray either)
To be honest, I'll drink anything, anytime, any excuse. I'm a lush like that!
In summer however, wine wise, a lot less big reds, more savignon blancs, rieslings and rose and a case of alicante bouchet. Most evenings when I come home after work, I'll have a beer, a G&T, a southo and coke, a vodka tonic or if there's some cheap limes around, a caprioska.
Sharkey, I'm also partial to a frozen margharita and like to make a bucket of them if a crowd is coming over. Easiest way I've found is one bucket, one bottle of tequila, two bottles of margherita mix and chuck it in the freezer overnight.
If I'm hitting the clubs and dancing is involved, I'm usually on the beers. If its a picnic, it's beer and/or wine (usually Cloudy Bay SB or Rockford AB), if it's a barby it's more beer and bbq friendly reds, if it's christmas or close to it, it's sparkling shiraz or champagne.
I'm not that fussy really as long as I'm having fun and surrounded by friends.
Cheers,
Kris
There's a fine wine between pleasure and pain
(Stolen from the graffiti in the ladies loos at Pegasus Bay winery)
Usually Aussie or Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs and some Aussie, Alsatian or German Rieslings in the summer. However, we are heading into winter in Japan, so I am drinking more reds now.
Recently, I have been pretty stoked by finding out that I can get my hands on some of the highly rated Kaesler wines mentioned on this forum, ranging from the Stonehorse 2003 up to the Old Bastard 2002.':D'
I love my coopers and sparkling reds on a hot day and as the cool evening dominates, love to open a nice bottle of red.
Cheers -Mark Wickman
WICKMAN'S FINE WINE AUCTIONS FREE membership, LOWEST auction commissions in Australia. Now accepting wine for our next auction. http://www.wickman.net.au
Although we have a bottle now and again, we find that much more Sparkling Red is consumed over November thru February - red wine made for a hot summer's day! Also beer tends to invade the drinking habits as well. We really are not white wine drinkers but do have the odd bottle of NZ Sauv Blanc now again, especially if we are having seafood on the BBQ.
