GOOD FOOD GUY
DRINKING IN THE CHANGES
Taken from this month’s Cotswold Life magazine
WHY SUMMER DRINKING SHOULD REFLECT THE CHANGE IN SEASON
For some people, the start of summer is the sign that it’s time to stop slaving away over the Sunday roasts and fire up the BBQ instead, to pour away the soups in favour of spin-drying freshly-picked salad leaves and to nibble on a delicate picnic instead of the doorstop sandwich that has sustained you through the winter months.
But, for me, as soon as summer comes, all I’m thinking about is ‘what am I going to drink?’ Now, before you call Alcoholics Anonymous on my behalf, let me explain. It’s not that I want to drink more in summer, it’s that I want to drink different. I just find that I naturally want to change my drinking habits in the summer.
So, as soon as the mercury hits a balmy 18°C, I’m going from white wine (which all my friends who are red wine purists say isn’t real wine) and I morph into rosé (again, which I will get pilloried for, but I’m man enough to own my pink plonk habit!).
Whether you’re the occasional social drinker or enjoy an everyday tipple, I genuinely do think that we change our drinking to suit the season. It’s a bit like when we say we love the seasons because of what each one brings, I think that’s true of drinking. We simply like to drink differently in the summer to how we drink in the winter.
That does mean that when I get to the end of summer, I’m sick of drinking rosé and I’m kind of done with cider. But just as with each season, the cycle continues again the following spring, when I’m thinking ‘I’m so looking forward to not drinking Indian pale ale, or lager, or heavily oaked chardonnay, and doesn’t that rosé look tempting on the supermarket shelves…!
Here in the Cotswolds, we’ve got a huge range of fantastic drinks producers, whether they be brewers, cider producers, or spirit distillers. I think one of the exciting things about summer drinking is the fact that we can choose from so many great local products.
We’ve got fabulous local rosés, both still and sparkling, many of them award-winners and which have a hint of classic English summer fruits and hedgerows; we’ve got some of the best cider in the country thanks to a long tradition of cider-making using traditional techniques and heritage cider apples; and we’ve got some of the most innovative and forward-thinking spirit distillers who are creating gins, vodkas, and summer cups using botanicals foraged or grown right here in the Cotswolds.
Summer drinking is like summer eating – make the most of it while you can!
GUY’S TOP SUMMER DRINKS
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Rosé Wine
I love a good pale, Provencal rosé but don’t let the shade of pink put you off trying some of the Cotswolds’ own versions. At Woodchester Valley Vineyard, the new release of the Pinot Rosé 2021 has just hit shelves and despite its deep pink blush, it is dry, crisp and refreshing.
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Cider
I could list 20 Cotswold cider-makers and still have room for more, but for a refreshing, easy to knock back on a hot summer’s day bottle, it’s got to be Pearson’s Medium Cider. I love that it’s clear, low on tannins and has a slight fizz – but be warned, it’s definitely stronger than apple juice!
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Gin
G&T is one of my all-time favourite tipples for summer, and with the explosion of artisan gins – many of them local – on the market, I could have a different one every night during the season. But, for something truly special, take a snifter of Cotswolds Distillery’s Wildflower Gins.