20 Wines Under $20: For When the Weather Is Sultry

The needs are different when it’s hot and sticky: Lighter-bodied wines, more whites and rosés than reds, refreshment rather than solidity.

Few things influence the choice of wine as much as the weather. Food is one, of course, if you think of wine primarily as an accompaniment to meals, as I do. But what you choose to eat often depends on what’s happening atmospherically, barometrically and meteorologically — that is, the weather partly determines what sort of thing you want to eat, and therefore indirectly what you drink. It’s not as simple as whites in the summer and reds in the winter, although the balance ultimately tilts in that direction. Many people are still eating foods that call for reds in the summer, but fewer, and eating a greater variety of fresh vegetables and other lighter dishes that will go better with whites and rosés.