BARTENDER'S WINE EXPERT:  JOSEPH DELISSIO

With each change of season, different rituals come out of hibernation. In sports the baton is gently passed from football, basketball, and hockey to baseball, golf, and tennis. Winter clothes are exchanged for summer wear, and teenagers who "hung out" at the mall are now doing time at the beach.

Bartenders are excellent barometers of the different seasons. Once requests for Irish coffee, Port, and cognac lose ground to piña colada, strawberry daiquiri, and beer, any bartender worth his salt can tell you its summertime.

The ritual of drinking wine is enjoyed during all the seasons yet, even here, there are some seasonal tendencies. For most, summer is the time for white wines. While there are several reasons for this, the most obvious ones are temperature and acidity. White wines served cold are simply more refreshing and easier to drink in warm weather than red wines. Whites also possess higher levels of that crisp, tangy, mouth puckering acidity than red wines and it is this refreshing acidity that keeps us coming back for more. Certain red wines are summer friendly. Rosé's, French Beaujolais, some Spanish Rioja's, light Italian Chianti, and Dolcetto, which by the way may all be served slightly chilled. It is interesting to note that all of these reds are also naturally high in acidity.

Keep in mind not all white wines are created equal because some whites are much better suited to summer drinking than others. The heavy oaked (too often over oaked) Chardonnay can be heavy and overpowering. Wines very high in alcohol may also be wearing on the taster, and very sweet wines lacking acidity may taste syrupy and cloying. Let's take a look at the best white wines for this summer.

Champagne and sparkling wines are near the top of this list, however, today's topic is still white wines.