One of the most common questions I get asked is ‘what is your favourite wine?’ with ‘what should I serve at my party?’ coming in a close second. While I love answering such things to all and sundry, my simplest response is usually ‘but what do you like?!’.

The essence of getting the best drinks for a festive event is going with the things that you enjoy sharing with others. Having a good time is underpinned by feeling relaxed, so go simple, fun, and within a bandwidth of beverages that makes your social event easy.

For me, first up, the involvement of guests is essential. Therefore, any shindig I throw starts off with that retro-classic, a fruit (alcoholic!) punch. Punches are simple, delicious, and can be ladled around with a joy of sharing. There’s a sense of engagement that immediately brings people together. Step one for a good party.

At the core of punch is seasonal fruit which can be bolstered by just about any alcoholic spirit. The booze gets mixed with fruit juice and soda, plus I usually bolster the lot with prosecco or affordable sparkling wine. I’m pretty into Australian spirits so a good local one should be on your shopping list.

Outside that, cold things are essential. What great party doesn’t have a laundry sink or a bathtub brimming with ice and decorated with an array of interesting looking cans and bottles?

I’m big on ‘something for everyone’ so usually go for accessible fizzy wine, thirst- quenching rosés, chilled reds and a few interesting examples of salty or textural white wine. Great to drink, good with food, a fun talking point. I also like getting new things all the time to keep people on their toes – ‘never be afraid to drink something you haven’t tried’, is one of my essential party rules.

For bubbles I suggest trying pet nats. These are the naturally sparkling wines that finish their fermentation in bottle, come in a kaleidoscopic array of colours and feel vibrant, natural and vivacious to drink.

Rosé is often maligned for being sweet and simple, but best examples are dry and savoury. They can be anywhere from lighter, delicate styles with pale pink colour through to more robust, flavoursome versions with deeper, ruddy hues. Rosé makes for easy drinking but is also extremely versatile with a huge spectrum of food.

Related story: Why you should be drinking chilled red wine this summer (and all year long)

I chill a lot of my red wines, so yes, call me a heathen. That being said, a crisp, cool red refreshes the palate beautifully. It can sidle up to a BBQ, stretch through a fancy dinner party, or make seafood, salads and charcuterie come alive. Even slow cooked, heartier fare does well with chilled reds, with tannin and acidity doing a good job of resetting your taste buds with each sip.

While sticking to simple choices for wine, I tend to go diverse with beer and cider. This is where experimentation, variety and expanding people’s repertoires is great fun. While tried-and-tested breweries, and their staple releases are comforting, the incredible array of beer made in Australia, and often locally, is a thrill to trawl through. Ransack the craft beer section of your local bottle-o and offer up a cornucopia of different, colourful brews.

Amongst all this it’s increasingly important to be mindful of those not partaking in alcohol. Being a considered host is essential, and those abstaining or consuming less should be valued equally to those not. Premium, proper non-alcoholic drinks are amongst the fastest growing beverage categories in the country, and the array of things on offer is growing exponentially.

I go for NON’s range of category-defying ‘wine-like’ beverages, Heaps Normal beers and things like TINA (a tea-based non-alc ‘cocktail’) and the brilliant, canned, zero-booze spritzes from Gruppetto in Melbourne that taste, uncannily, like the real thing.

Three to try

Seven Seasons Native Yam Vodka, $80

This Aboriginal owned and operated distillery is stellar, and their delicious vodka is made from wild-harvested native yams from the Northern Territory. Unique and outstanding! It’s a little spicy, a lot excellent and great for punches, or simply blended with soda and garnished with finger lime pearls.

Delinquente Pretty Boy Rosato 2022, $26

From organic grown grapes in the Riverland wine region, this is produced from lightly pressed nero d’Avola grapes – an Italian variety best known for
cherry juice-like, lighter, fresher red wine styles. Here it’s all cranberry-drink dry and tangy, a little spicy and lip-smacking delicious.

Gruppetto Spritz Camomilla Non Alcoholic, $9

This is a superbly made non-alcoholic spritz by Melbourne cocktail legend Matt Bax (Bar Americano). It’s produced in the vein of Champagne cocktails, here
using chamomile and citrus as the leading flavour characteristics. It’s dry, effervescent and feels fancy to drink.

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