The TASTE case: 6 wines to drink this month

For pay day celebrations: DMZ Chenin Blanc 2017

It’s been a long, lean month. So when your phone pings to announce your salary has landed, you’ll want to celebrate with an exciting wine. This one from De Morgenzon has a vibrancy that exhilarates the nose and the palate – lightly floral flavours of yellow apple, honeydew melon and apricot, with a complex, supple body that balances luscious fruit and crisp acidity.

For laid-back Sunday nights: Ken Forrester Grenache 2016

Get into the right headspace for the week with a bottle that’s bright and uplifting, as well as pleasing and delicious. The Ken Forrester Grenache inspires with its inviting fruit-filled bouquet of strawberries, raspberries and pomegranates – sprightly and succulent with a mouthwatering freshness.

For lazy weekend picnics: Neil Ellis No Sulphur Added Sauvignon Blanc

Whether you’ve gathered with friends around tables laden with alfresco fare or are romantically à deux with your checked blanket and wicker basket, always include a wine like this: uplifting as a summer breeze, with wafts of gooseberry and fynbos, and the juiciness of melon, granadilla and white peach.

For the last days of summer: Villiera Merlot 2015

When you’re thinking back on good times shared, and also looking ahead to what the year holds, you need a bottle to suit your mood. This wine is velvety soft, rounded and smooth. There’s ripe fruit with blackcurrant and mulberry, a hint of mint and an enticing spiciness. A laid-back mouthful to inspire you.

For popping on that special occasion: Villiera Brut Rosé Non-Vintage MCC

Two essential prerequisites for a potion to sweep your Valentine o their feet: it must be bubbly and it must be pink. This MCC is a seductive salmon pink with a frothing mousse, enticing strawberry and raspberry flavours, a beguiling light spiciness, and a final explosion of cascading bubbles.

For long brunches: Spier Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2018

You’ve worked hard to prepare a variety of dishes for your guests – fresh fillets of fish, bubbling sausages and creamy scrambled eggs – so you’ll want a versatile wine to match. This one has apple, lemon and a zingy lift from the Chardonnay, while the Pinot Noir adds richer, darker red fruit, with body and texture. Perfect for dishes ranging from light to rich.