I can’t remember a time when there were as many refreshingly drinkable reds for summer as there are today. I don’t think it’s just my own taste that’s changed but I’m increasingly attracted in summer to red wines that are light to medium in body, that have little or no oak, and that do a wine’s job, often just lightly chilled, of refreshing the parts. These are wine that don’t leave you feeling that you’ve been dealt a right hook to the stomach of oak, an uppercut of tannin to the mouth and then floored by a whack of knee-shattering alcohol.

The New World deserves a share of the responsibility for the loss of the nubile pleasures that used to come with France’s lighter reds such as Beaujolais and the Loire’s Chinon, Saumur and Bourgeuil. Beaujolais shot itself in the foot by twisting the gluggy gamay grape out of all recognition, and Italy didn’t exactly cover itself with glory when it came to valpolicella and bardolino. Yet so much has changed for the better that today, we can look once again to the refreshing qualities of the gamay grape of Beaujolais or cabernet franc from the Loire, to the juiciness of local Italian reds and to the charm of New World pinot noir.

The mouthwateringly fresh and vibrantly pure fruit quality of Gianni Voerzio’s 2007 Dolcetto , £14.25, Lay & Wheeler, with its undertones of black cherry and dark chocolate, is irresistibly seductive and beautifully balanced; equally Vincho-Vaglio’s fresh, ripe dark berryish ‘I Tre Vescovi’ Barbera, £7.99, Waitrose. Same goes for the succulently cherryish and summer puddingy 2008 Morellino di Scansano, £12.95, Lea & Sandeman (020 7244 0522). For something a little more unusual, yet lightly spicy and peppery, the Verduno Pelaverga, Fratelli Alessandria, Piedmont, £13.25, Berry Bros. & Rudd (0800 2802440), is a distinctive, charming summery red made from the obscure pelaverga grape.

The Loire is home to the cabernet franc grape and its deliciously herbal vivid qualities are beautifully encapsulated in the 2007 Saumur Champigny from Château de Targé, £9.99, buy 2 = £7.99, Majestic, a wine whose vibrant cherry fruit and freshness makes it the perfect picnic red. A tad more serious with a lovely rip sweet red fruits quality tinged with capsicum, the 2008 Saumur-Champigny Tuffe, from Château de Hureau, £11.43, bottle / case, Haynes, Hanson & Clark summer offer (01451 870808), is classic and beautifully balanced. The Languedoc can do this too, even if the fresh cherry and slightly more rustic qualities of the 2008 Domaine Les Yeuses Cuvée Le Sirius Rouge, £6.99, buy 2 = £5.99, Majestic is better suited to barbecues.

I’m in no rush to return to Beaujolais, having devoted a piece in June to its renaissance, other than to mention the succulently cherryish 2008 Beaujolais Villages I tasted recently from Domaine Rochette, £10.75, Lea & Sandeman, £9.75 bottle / case. No cornucopia of summer reds would be complete without the class of New World pinot noir, of which I have two current favourites, one from Chile, the other, New Zealand. From Chile, the opulent rhubarb and red berry fruits flavoured 2008 Viña Leyda Cahuil Pinot Noir, £14.99, Waitrose wine direct and 3 branches, is full of savoury-fresh acidity. From New Zealand, once again, the excellent Craggy Range comes up trumps with the 2008 Craggy Range Zebra Vineyard Pinot Noir, Central Otago, £17.49, Majestic, a fragrant, strawberryish pinot noir that’s simply irresistible.

Something For the Weekend 24 July 2010

Under a Fiver

2009 Tierra y Hombre Sauvignon Blanc

From Chile’s cool, Pacific-influenced Casablanca Valley, this dry aromatic white made by Roberto Carrancá is redolent of fresh gooseberries with a herbal, capsicum-like undertone and a refreshingly zingy aftertaste. £4.99, down from £6.49, Marks & Spencer.

Under a Tenner

2009 Viña Leyda Costero Riesling

Another dry white from sea breeze-conditioned vineyards close to the Pacific, this is an aromatic Chilean dry riesling whose crisp and mouthwateringly dry aftertaste comes with a summery lick of lemon and lime zest. £8.74, buy 2 = £6.99 , Majestic.

Splash Out

2007 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier

A blend of shiraz with a splash of viognier bringing floral lift to this red from Victoria’s Yarra Valley, this is an opulently smooth and spicy, blackberryish take on the northern Rhône’s Côte Rôtie. A summer’s barbecue special. £10.99, Sainsbury's.