The severe view of picnic provisions — courtesy of a friend of mine — is that the wine should have enough flavour and guts to cope with dilution by rain and the food should fit into a raincoat pocket. I wouldn’t go that far, but I take the point.

Picnic wine usually has to stand up to a bit of rough handling of some kind, whether traditional bank-holiday downpours, soaring temperatures or a bumpy ride, so it’s a waste to pull out a precious or delicate bottle. Besides, picnic menus aren’t usually suitable for oversubtle wines. You are far more likely to be eating garlicky chicken, spicy salami or herby dips than you are dover sole. So go for wines with fruit, flavour and zing.

But even before you think about the taste, I suggest you commit yourself to screw-caps (or the smart glass stoppers that are beginning to appear on more expensive wines). It’s not just that you won’t have to fuss with a corkscrew; you will also be spared the risk of a musty “corked” wine when you are miles from the nearest replacement. Try one of these screw-capped bottles below.

Cellar notes

Canaletto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, £5.99 Full, soft red, with cherry, smoke, spice and dark chocolate flavours (Sainsbury’s; also 25cl bottles, £2.09).

2007 Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon, £7.99 Zesty herbal and mineral flavours, with a whiff of sweet smoke (Marks & Spencer).

2007 Bonterra Rosé, £9.99 Juicy, raspberryish, Californian blend of sangiovese, zinfandel and grenache. Organic (Waitrose).

Wine bluff

“Five bottles of cognac are drunk every second”

Anorak fact

And 70% of all cognac is drunk not as a digestif, but as an aperitif

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