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Warmer summers mean earlier and earlier harvests for wine growers, but what do they mean for us wine drinkers? For those determined to drink red wine, high temperatures pose a challenge. Any drink should have an element of refreshment but once wine gets much above 20 °C (68 °F) it loses its precision and starts tasting more like soup. In fact one of the most common faults in more casual bars and restaurants is to store and serve red wine too warm. I often ask for an ice bucket or, in extremis, an ice cube.

It’s getting brutal out there, and while I am all for chilling down (slightly) red wines, white wines seem the best choice this summer, not least for the kind of food that doesn’t require standing over a barbecue grill. Here are some to enjoy.

A vast blue sky, a backdrop of awe-inspiring snow-covered Andes mountains, and a spectacular pyramid shaped adobe building that looked like a Mayan temple surrounded by vines: that was my first impression of Catena Zapata, one of Argentina’s most famous wineries, on my first visit almost two decades ago.

Riesling from Germany’s Mosel region can be an ideal summer wine — low in alcohol and bracing with refreshing acidity. As with this week’s great value by Karl Kaspar, it is also affordable. Keep some chilled for those warm evenings on the patio. We also have two more reds from France’s Rhone Valley, continuing my theme from last week. These are great for grilled or roasted meat.

Sommeliers go to school for years to learn how to perfectly pair wines — down to the region, vineyard, and year — with any possible dish. No one would expect that level of know-how from the average diner. But with some handy tips from sommeliers, you can make excellent choices when buying wine to go with scallops, depending on how the dish is being prepared.

Climate change in all its unpredictability has been throwing curveballs at vintners around the world. In a marginal continental climate, like Germany, warming temperatures have allowed for better vintages more often than the historical average. Yet the weather patterns — their timing, frequency, and severity — bear little resemblance to what was considered normal. These fluctuations have affected the wines being crafted and confounded everyone involved in their production and consumption.

Michael Lagau knows the power of wine: over a mood, over a meal, even over a life. After all, in the face of all manner of obstacles and hurdles, he’s been able to reinvent his career time and time again thanks to the wealth offered by the wine world.