Eight wines to drink if there's a prosecco and sauvignon blanc drought

The world’s drinks press can’t decide if there is a prosecco drought this summer or not. There is going to be a shortage of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, though.

It’s hot and tense outside, and that’s all the excuse we need to look for alternatives.

Prosecco is designed as an aperitif but is often treated as a summer quaffer for all-day drinking. It often has a sharp but short-lived attack from its fizz, followed by sweetness and not much else in the mouth, sometimes some apple or pear. It’s also extremely good value. Sauvignon blanc tends to make great aperitifs and New Zealand ones are generally good value. I find it too acid to be an all-day drinking wine.

So in terms of substitutes we’re looking for a simple, good-value, thirst-quenching drink that doesn’t challenge the palate or the wallet.  Here are eight that have caught my attention recently.

If you’re thinking champagne, most disqualifies itself on price grounds alone, and because it is more complex than its Italian counterpart. Having said that, I am a fan of big brand Piper Heidsieck brut, for its simplicity and ease of drinking. It's widely available in Hong Kong, at around HK$330 a bottle.

France does, though, produce other sparklers, such as cremant de Bourgogne. If you haven’t heard of this wine before, that’s because it makes up about 1 per cent of the region’s exports. This is made the champagne way, although aged for less time, and from similar grapes – a little aligote is added to pinot noir and chardonnay. This drink is far more in line with prosecco prices, at HK$160/bottle from burgundylist.com.

For a more unusual sparkling wine, try the malbec from Cahors that goes under the name Somnam Bulles, a pun on the French for sleepwalking. Fabien Jouves is known for making easy-going, very fruity wines with fun names like Le Vin Qui Rap or Tu Vin Plus Aux Soirees. The sparkling red is no exception, but it does come towards the top end of our price criteria – it’s HK$100 a glass or HK$420 a bottle at La Cabane on Hollywood Road, Central.