Greetings from my holidays. I have written articles from abroad on wine trips and have been known to squeeze a lot of words and numerous articles from a quick 3 day trip. By the time the first article gets published, I am usually back in the office and flogging wine to my wonderful customers. This time is different, as I am sitting in an apartment in Nice and still plan to be here by Thursday’s paper. I have interrupted my holidays to write this article as the kids have a siesta in the next room. Since I am on holidays and it is past noon, I am sipping on a beer as I write, in true Hemingway style with a little drop of illusions of grandeur. We left a very wet Cork airport last Thursday to arrive into a heat wave. I am melting in the 32 degree heat – and that’s just in the morning. The normal sea breeze is but a faint puff and locals mix with tourists in an undercurrent of unspoken contrariness. And why you may ask am I not quenching my thirst with wine, instead of beer. Because it’s a heat wave – I thought I mentioned that.

Nice Port at 1am - still about 28 degrees

How does one indulge in one’s favourite tipple while enduring such heat? It is a question that may affect many of you while on holidays this summer as most of Europe is at the start of a period of oppressive heat. Here are a few tips that may be of use while drinking wine on your holidays. The main one is obvious but absolutely essential to avoid a holiday hangover. When out for your meal and enjoying your wine, drink at least equal amounts of water while having the wine. I always have two glasses on the go, water and wine, and would often go through at least two carafes of water during a meal. You are losing fluids at a very quick pace in the heat and alcohol only accelerates it. I know I am now going to jinx myself for tonight, but I rarely get a hangover abroad. There was of course a trip to Sunderland for a football match with the Laffansbridge gentleman’s club a number of years ago which resulted in a woeful mix of ale, beer, wine, ale again and all at a ferocious pace. My requests for water were laughed at in equal measure by my Killenaule relations and the miners from the North East of England. I was quite ill. It is football and alcohol that lead me to the article. I went to watch the World Cup final last night in a pub on the port called Ma Nolans. The place was jammed and the doors were open so the air conditioning was effectively useless. There was sweat pouring out of the Dutch, Spanish, French, English, Irish and all manner of other nationalities that crammed in there. As the night progressed and the heat and tension with it, a girl collapsed and had to get medical attention. Heat and alcohol are not good bedfellows. So what is one to do, especially if you usually prefer Red wine?

Spanish Fans on Nice Port after World Cup

If you like Rosé, it can be a great summer drink as it is light and very refreshing. It can be served cold as ice and often that can also mask the actual winemaking. Local wine is always a good choice as it is cheap and usually free of too many dodgy elements. It rarely has to travel far so doesn’t need much preserving. It can be rough as a badger as well. You need to find one you like and off you go. I am afraid I am going to name drop a little, so apologies in advance. A few years ago I was down in Provence to meet some suppliers and two friends of mine came along for the break. At the weekend we went down to a famous seaside village and the two lads had gotten a taste for Rosé. I was in and out to an internet café dealing with work issues so I wasn’t drinking. It was around the time of the Cannes Film Festival and who walks down the harbour only Stephen Spielberg and his wife. We all said hello and he said hi and waved. A couple of hours later and I had lost count of the Rosé the boys had gone through. Stephen and his entourage passed back up and said “You guys still here?” and gave a very friendly smile. One of the lads turned to him, deadpan, and said “We’re only trying to have a quiet drink. Will you just leave us in peace and stop harassing us”. To his credit, Mr. Spielberg roared laughing and apologised for disturbing us. The reason for this story in a wine article? Like I said, I was name dropping, but it did have Rosé in it and the lads were up the next day with no, or very little effects. I am not condoning excessive alcohol consumption in any way and especially in the heat. For me wine is best served at the dinner table, but when men of a certain age get a little unexpected holiday, they tend to go a little mad, or maybe it’s the heat.

For you red wine lovers, the best advice I can give you is what I am doing myself. Ask for chilled Red wine (it should be cheap and local) when out and about, or buy a basic bottle from your neighbourhood independent wine shop and stick in the fridge 30 minutes before opening. It is very refreshing and tastes quite nice as well. Avoid big red wines unless you want a little help dozing off for your siesta. Alternate with the water and enjoy your evening speaking French, Spanish, Italian or some hybrid of them all. Next week sees me on my odyssey to find the next big wine and I have a week’s work in the vineyards. I will be posting blogs and tweets direct from Provence, Languedoc, Roussillon and Bordeaux.

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For anyone who would like more information and can’t make it into the shop, please feel free to contact me at info@rednosewine.com

“Life is much too short to drink bad wine”