When I uncork a bottle of wine this time of year, I remember with a chuckle something Florida State’s legendary football coach, the affable Bobby Bowden, once said before a late summer game with a defending national champion team about to play on Bowden’s turf in Tallahassee. “If we don’t beat ‘em,” he said prophetically, “the heat will.” Hot weather is serious business here and whether playing football or choosing wines, you ignore wisdom and common sense at your peril. Lighter clothing, uncomplicated food and chilled wine go better with soaring temperatures.

As the days get muggier, we know that Dog Days are looming but we endure while still enjoying outdoor living. Grilling and outdoor feasts remain wildly popular. The Georgia Shakespeare Festival headquartered on the beautiful Gothic campus of Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University has patrons dining outside, uncorking bottles of wine and enjoying a picnic, a romantic prelude to the summer productions of The Comedy of Errors and Tennessee Williams’ Southern classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Barbara Werley, the Sommelier at West Virginia’s Greenbrier, learned all about searing heat during her stints at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace and the Arizona Biltmore and has plenty of advice for hot weather wine choices. “Those bold Cabernets, while forever delicious, might not be quite as comfortable now as they were in February. Because meals likely are now lighter, you should first determine what you are going to eat and you’ll find that selecting appropriate wines is much easier.” And throw out the rules, she advises. “Wine is like art: you like Georgia O’Keefe and I love Picasso. So, we both love art and share common ground. White wines from Spain like Albarino and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc are delicious with Southern-style food and Pinot Noir is great wine for any time of year.”

Recently, I went horseback riding at North Georgia’s Zion Farms, a bucolic retreat and equestrian center. Before saddling up, I had a memorable lunch with one of my favorite Southern belles, Lynda Allison, the renowned Atlanta-based wine importer. We ate, drank and shared stories with owner Robert Cooper and daughter Rena and sampled a few of Ms. Allison’s recent acquisitions from Europe while enjoying one glass after another of her 100 percent Chardonnay white Burgundy.

Between bites of fresh rolls, arugula, turkey and veal with a soft sauce, we tasted an array of Ms. Allison’s summer selections she designed for Southern dining. Her newly arrived Albert Bichot Tavel 2003, the famous rose of the Rhone, is elegant with seafood salads and Mediterranean fare. The Beaujolais-Villages, always a value priced superior red wine that truly begs to quench a thirst, which, according to Ms. Allison, “…is perhaps the best wine for a Southern-style dinner party because it is so adaptable.”

I am an oyster addict and love them raw and briny, with a taste of the ocean. While enjoying Ms. Allison’s Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis, a 2003 vintage, another non-oaked Chardonnay with balanced fruit and minerals that work magic with oysters, I remembered how divine Champagne and sparkling wine is with a dozen on the half shell, particularly Argyle from Oregon and Domaine Carneros from Napa, which are both popular in this region.

I wonder if “Big Daddy” and “Maggie the Cat,” two of Mississippi-born Williams’ finest characters, in order to beat the heat, sipped glasses of Champagne or sparkling wine before dinner in their Plantation house? These are the ultimate coolers which stimulate the appetite and tell your guests you care, something Southerner’s do with ease and grace.