Casual weeknight meals call for an easygoing bevy. If you're a wine lover, you probably have a stash of your favourite house red or white. And for those hot summer nights, nothing will do but the cold beers that are ready and waiting in the fridge.

Our daily drinks of choice have definitely come a long way from our grandparents' days. They might have reached for wine and beer too, but it was likely to be a fortified label or a cheap and cheerful lager.

These days, our collective palate is much more adventurous - and increasingly discriminating. Wines such as tempranillo and pinot grigio, perhaps once so exotic-sounding that they were saved for special occasions, are now regular guests at the weeknight table.

And even when it comes to the humble 'coldie', we're seeking out boutique versions more and more. This all makes sense as our casual meals have gone far beyond meat and two veg.

Our new meal-time favourites range from Mediterranean reds and light, sparkling moscatos to premium craft beers. These options are all extremely food-friendly and relatively easy on the wallet - though trend watchers note we're increasingly willing to pay for premium products.

In fact, sales in the Australian beverage market totalled a whopping $11.6 billion in 2007, according to ACNielsen. That's a rise of 6.5 per cent over the previous year. Beer led the way with 42 per cent, followed by wine at 22 per cent, spirits at 15 per cent, and cider and ready-to-drink products making up the remainder.

All those drinks are thirsting for the perfect match. And it's not something to be left only to restaurants. You can have fun with it at home, too, turning weeknights into something special - and it's easy if you keep a few things in mind.

Much of what we prepare in our own kitchens has its roots in traditional food cultures such as Italy, Spain and France, so Mediterranean wines are particularly well-suited to weeknight dining and other casual meals such as picnics or buffets. Light to medium-bodied wines with a savoury edge to the palate are best; they're a contrast to the heavy nature of grapes like shiraz and chardonnay.

For your favourite pasta dishes, sangiovese - which is traditionally used in chianti- is an excellent choice for tomato- and meat-based sauces, while viognier and trebbiano both have the right touch of acid to cut through the cream or butter of white sauces.

For steak nights, tempranillo is perfect, with its savoury tannins that melt in the mouth. Poached or steamed fish, meanwhile, loves riesling. Throw in some aromatic Asian herbs and spices, and you can reach for the pinot grigio or gewurztraminer. And, in general, if there's any chilli, look for a touch of sweetness in the bottle to work wonders with the heat.

An affordable wine option, without compromising our taste for finer things, would be the resurrection of the tetra pak. Two good examples are Long Flat and the playfully named Brique from Woolworths. And, they come with green credentials: each holds a litre and produces 75 per cent less carbon emissions in production than a regular 750ml bottle. The quality is extremely good due to traditional blends of reliable grape varieties.

As for beers, a prime example of boutique brews is Knappstein Reserve Lager - by far the best winery-inspired beer. It's perfect with steamed mussels in a creamy sauce or a spicy prawn laksa.

If you'd like to try some new beers but aren't sure what to choose, here's a general rule: small producers tend to brew more complex, richer flavoured beers, while larger ones go for clean, cleansing ales. That means if you like chardonnay, go for small producers; if you're more a sauvignon blanc sort, go for mainstream.

The trick is to keep it simple - remember, you're not only matching your drink to the dish, but to your casual mood.