I think, because of the warmer weather we've been having, I've been asked a lot lately about wine and picnics. I understand that many folks (and this has not always been true) are taking bottles of wine with them on the picnic trail. Traditionally, picnics have always been about beer.

Early Picnics and Beer

In picnics from an earlier era — especially in the German immigrant neighborhoods of the Midwest — lager beer was the beverage of choice. In fact, in many of the old photos of Fourth of July celebrations, it is very common to see either wooden or steel barrels of beer sitting beside groaning tables of food or glass, with long-necked beer bottles sticking out of wooden tubs. Advertisements in the 1930's (after Prohibition), 1940's and 1950's quite often showed beer in many outdoor settings including picnics, fishing trips, hiking and hunting excursions and the growing craze of water skiing. Barreled beer, bottled beer, canned beer, full glasses and half full glasses of beer were regularly featured during this time.

During this same period it is very rare to find the same type of advertising associated with wine and the outdoor scene, and certainly not the amount of advertising associated with wine as one saw with beer where outdoor settings were featured as a backdrop.

Today's Picnics and Wine

This all began to change in the late 1970's (or thereabouts) with wine being featured in national advertising.

The three big changes in advertising were the draping of tablecloth over outdoor tables as well as nicer stemware, chic clothing and vineyard settings instead of the mountain lakes or streams tumbling down a cascade of rocks and plaid shirts. Wine became associated with the outdoors in, I suppose one could say, a preppy way.

I had a buddy who worked for an advertising firm in San Francisco and held a few contracts with some of the higher-end wineries of the time and many of the props were blazers, polo shirts, jaguar sports cars and tennis outfits. Obviously, image was playing a big part in the out-of-doors wine advertising scene and it worked well.

(I used to wonder why the wineries got to take the "high" road and the breweries were always teamed with the working, physical guy.)

In any event, wine has become a huge picnic success; and not with the simple, jug offerings but with the more complex, expensive wines as well.

Oregon Picnic Favorite: Pinot Gris

My spies tell me that the No. 1 picnic wine for Oregonians is the pinot gris, which makes sense. Gris offers clean flavors, thirst-quenching length and just the thing for the heat of an afternoon picnic.

Secondly, pinot gris is widely known for those of us living in Oregon, with the grape being planted successfully throughout most of the viticultural regions.

Rosé wine is another big choice with the drier offerings, usually Spanish, French or Northwest for the warm summer picnic in the park. Dry, less sugary rosé wines are dynamite with spicy food, grilled veggies or meats and remain thirst-quenching even when served less than optimally chilled.

I wrote quite a bit about them in last week's wine article and the popularity of the rosé scene is quite something to behold. Outdoor picnic occasions beg for these wines.

Sometimes overlooked, sparkling wines can play a fun and interesting alternative to still wines for picnics. Some years ago I attended a picnic with fried chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob and my host pulled out a beautifully chilled sparkling wine from Italy and the bubbles made the afternoon! Dry sparkling wine is so refreshing, clean and palate-cleansing. This is the perfect offering for warm summer picnics. What’s your favorite picnic wine? Let us know in the comment section. You’ll have to sign up if you’re not a member of the WOW community. But its free, you do it once, and it only takes a few seconds.

Lorn Razzano is owner of the Wine Cellar in Ashland. Reach him at razz49@aol.com.