How to choose the perfect wine for aperitivo hour

Whether you go for traditional champagne or sherry, or branch out with muscadet and picpoul, an appetite-whetting glass of wine will set you up for the evening ahead Beginnings are important. As a writer, I’m all too aware of this: from the right introduction, the rest tends to flow. The same logic applies to drinks: a good beginning eases proceedings.

For this reason, I am unbendingly particular about how I take my morning coffee and, if I’m drinking, what form an evening’s aperitif should take. Life’s too short for bad beverages, after all. An aperitif is arguably less a specific drink than an appetite-whetting moment with a glass of something. But what? Typically, when it comes to wine, an aperitif will be…