You unfurl a red checkered blanket in an inviting spot in the grass under a lushly flowering lilac. Miniscule lavender petals drift gently on the mild breeze as you pull paper-wrapped morsels of Camembert, aged Gouda, and creamy blue-veined Roquefort from your basket and line them up with a loaf of freshly baked crusty French bread, a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, and your favorite roast garlic hummus. It’s your ideal warm weather picnic, splendid both for its utter simplicity and for its robust complementary flavors and textures.
An inspired wine pairing to elevate your picnic from simple to sublime? Our go-to this picnic and BBQ season is Les Dauphins Côtes du Rhône Réserve. Available in a strawberry and lychee-scented Rosé as well as an ultra crisp Blanc with notes of grapefruit and freshly cut grass, Les Dauphins wines provide the ultimate pairing with the fresh flavors of the Mediterranean, indoors or out, we suppose—but why would you want to confine bottled sunshine like these wines to a dim, dusty dining room?
At under $12 per bottle you won’t feel guilty indulging with Wednesday afternoon tapas on the beach or Sunday evening on the porch swing watching the sun go down—any day, actually. Picnics and porch swings just got a little sunnier.
