Whe hot summer months, we like to serve cool reds. That is, red wines with flavour and class, but not too concentrated and certainly not with an excess of alcohol. This type of wine is also preferably slightly chilled. So may well have a 15-minute or half-hour fridge door. An ice bucket with tinkling cubes of ice also works very well, of course. Ideally, the wine should fog up the glass very slightly.

Lighter, summery red wines should, of course, also taste good with summer cuisine. Meal salads, fish from the BBQ or grill. White meats, cold cuts and whatnot. I would like to suggest five ideal candidates that will offer extreme summer drinking pleasure, ranging in price from €6.95 to €14.95. So it all doesn't have to cost the world.

We will start in Italy, where Terre di Sera comes from. It is a headstrong winemaker who makes this super-affordable wine. According to him, telling which grape(s) the wine is made from adds nothing to the enjoyment. Nor does he reveal anything about the region of origin. Pretty funny, because we are precisely of the 'want to know everything' calibre, but for €6.95 we are not going to bother. For that money, you have a cherry red, freshly scented wine, light in style, juicy and accessible. Serve around 15 degrees and enjoy.

Then cross the Pyrenees together and stop in the gigantic wine region of La Mancha. Here, the owners of Bodegas Tinedo have been growing everything organically since their vineyards were established. So there has never been any spraying there, quite unique. YES! By Tinedo is a juicy but full-flavoured wine. 100% tempranillo from very young vines.

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This fruit bombshell does not receive any maturation in oak barrels, allowing all the pure fruit in the wine to present itself at its best. Remarkably, this wine goes extremely well with vegetarian dishes, or as Ali B calls it: plant-based food. It was not for nothing that it was for a long time the pouring wine at the Hagedis, The Hague's nicest vegetarian restaurant, now Vegan. For €7.95, a delicate glass. Serve around 15 degrees.

Austria

Then comes Austria. That's where the wheat-growing grape grows. Because this grape contains a genetic component of the noble pinot noir, it is naturally a middleweight. Again, all vineyards have been organic for decades. However, the wine has one handicap: the bottle looks NOTHING. Hence why wine writer Harold Hamersma gave this wine the nickname 'ugly litre'.

'The World Turned Door'

But really every wine journalist that matters has written full of praise about this one litre bottle of Zweigelt from mehofer. Indeed, it was the house wine of the 'De Wereld Draait Door' café and was extensively featured in the 'Keuringsdienst van Waarde' as a reference of 'delicious wine without tinsel'. For €9.95 you can buy this obnoxiously fumed but delicious all-rounder. Serve around 15 degrees.

'What this winemaker manages to squeeze out of local grapes is unmatched in the whole of Italy'

In the region of South Tyrol added to Italy after World War II, the wine village of San Michele Appiano, or St Michael Eppan in Austrian, is home to a cooperative headed by the eminent Hans Terzer. What this winemaker manages to squeeze out of local grapes is unmatched in the whole of Italy. He garners the very highest mentions in the wine world. For summer drinking pleasure, he makes the Kalterersee Auslese Classico. Light in colour, but with plenty of character of its own. Wonderful with fish stewed in red wine, or with a strongly 'tomatoised' sauce with it. Also brilliant with pasta dishes or a tray of creamy cheeses. For €13.95, this beauty dances in the glass. This wine is also at its best around 15 degrees.

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Tokyo

We end in the vineyards of a sommelier from Tokyo. This energetic lady bought some hectares of vineyard in her much-loved Loire Valley, in the Appellation Touraine. She immediately went organic, but soon found out that Tokyo-Pouillé involved too much commuting. She eventually sold the estate to its upstairs neighbour (on the hill), Thierry Delaunay.

Gardener

He first had to bend the vineyard to his will - after all, every 'gardener' does things differently. But now, for the first time in the Netherlands, you can see and taste what he has managed to make of it. A cracker of a red Gamay de Touraine. Rarely have I seen such a beautiful expression of this grape. Dark cherry red, deep, concentrated fruit, red berries, a hint of earthiness similar to beetroot. A soft, full-bodied palate and supple tannins. This organic prodigy is called Domaine de la Brossette and costs €14.95.

More information: www.bosmanwijnkopers.nl