Some celebrate Christmas in July, by choice. This year, we got to welcome high summer in May, like it or not.

In such extreme temperatures, wines warm quickly in the glass. It is for this reason (temperature control) that the white wine glass is smaller than the red wine glass. With a smaller pour, you drink the wine before it warms, keeping the acids vibrant and the wine racy, fresh and showing to best advantage.

Hosts are advised to top up a guest's glass to maintain the chill, even if the volume added to the glass is just a dollop. Some resort to spring-water-filled plastic balls that are frozen and re-used (keeps the wine cold without diluting it). Others freeze grapes and toss them into the glass as an edible eye-candy that serves the same purpose.

Chill your wines well in advance and keep them cold. They will warm quickly enough in the glass when the mercury is pushing 100 degrees.

So, in anticipation of a very hot season ahead, here are some thirst-quenching whites that will allow you to cool your heels.

Banfi Principessa Gavi 2010, Piedmont, Italy, $14: This is one of my favorite summertime whites. There is a core of crisp, almost-ripe pear and tart apple that dances, all tangy and spritzy, across the tongue. The finish is clean, crisp and refreshing. It's made from the Cortese grape, whose name is derived from the Italian word for "courtesy." To drink a glass of this is said to be a courtesy to the throat. It is liquid lace.

This wine also comes in a delicately sparkling version called Principessa Perlante ($17). It is graced with the same almost-ripe pear fruit, hint of apple and nice, bracing mineral finish. It just has more sparkle. The packaging is upscale and very classy. Here's a wine that makes a statement the minute you put it on the table. It's a natural for Sunday brunch. It is sealed with a driven cork, not a champagne cork, so there is no muscle involved in getting the bottle open. A simple corkscrew will do the deed.

Palacio de Bornos Verdejo 2010, Rueda, Spain, $11: This is a generous wine that spreads broad across the palate like a small breaker across a very level flat of sand. It is gentle and balanced with enough acidity to give it freshness and enough body to make it satisfying. The flavor profile is pure, fresh apricot. It's simply delicious.

Hugo Gruner Veltliner 2009, Austria, $12: This wine also has beautiful packaging. It's the quintessential "spring wine" as it tastes of chlorophyll, woodruff and sugar snap peas. It, too, is broad across the palate, but with enough acidity to keep it fresh and interesting. A very satisfying and refreshing glass of wine.

Banfi Le Rime Pinot Grigio 2010, Tuscany, Italy, $10: Good stuff here, a pinot grigio with true character. The flavor profile is just simply summer-fresh honeydew melon. It's pure, easy-drinking and without a doubt the universal crowd-pleaser for summer picnics 2011.