Note: Sincerest apologies on any spelling and grammar mistakes, it’s been a long weekend.

It was a fine Saturday morning at Reading University and my friend Emily and I were busy positioning hats on heads and packing picnics before the big day at Royal Ascot.

Clinking along to the car park alongside the racecourse (there’s a larger group of us at this point) we looked towards the sky with a slight worry as the clouds darkened and rain threatened. It seemed we were unprepared, they really know how to picnic at Ascot, to a military standard. Amongst fancy gazebos, flower arrangements and amuse-bouches I even saw some dressed chairs like you see at weddings…

We made do with a picnic blanket, two bottles of Lunetta Prosecco provided by the charming Collyweston shop which is near where I live, some honey and mustard sausages, plenty of strawberries and various other nibbles to keep us going.

We polished off both bottles and had a couple more (apologies – I have no idea what they were) that we took onto the next picnic with a different group of friends who were celebrating an engagement. We’d got there at around 10:20am and made our way into the Queen Anne enclosure to wave at HM The Queen as she arrived at around 1pm, maybe 2. As we made our entrance, Em and I were in what can only described as a prosecco cloud, floating on bubbles and feeling divine. We were elated, it felt like anything could have happened and we’d have just sailed on through, this is what I call the perfect sort of drunk.

Anyway – we had a lovely day and although the horse racing was fantastic itself, the highlight was probably singing along to Rule, Britannia! at the end of the day with the rest of the Ascot crowd. The weather did its best to hold until all the after parties where it’s safe to say we got a bit damp.

Here’s what I remember drinking:

Lunetta Prosecco

Veneto, Italy 11%

Not only was this delicious but it gave us the perfect buzz that remained with us until at least 9pm. It’s quite a crisp prosecco, so if you aren’t into sweeter tastes then you’ll love this. You can buy it HERE for a satisfying £8.99.

San Abello Rosé 2013

Arconcagua Valley, Chile 12%

This was just what we needed in the middle of the day at Ascot. It’s a bright pink rosé and I have been told to ignore the colour in future (pale does not always mean better according to a chap called James I met on the day.) The San Abello is really refreshing with notes of strawberries as well as the crisp sharpness of the grapes to keep you from getting too giddy. Would have been lovely with some ice and some barbecued prawns. You can treat your taste buds HERE for £8.50, I’m not telling you how much they charged us, but it did come in this cute little plastic wine bag.