Wines for the hot summer

[Fat Guy]

I’ve been trying a few rosés lately. I liked the fruity Châteaux Grande Cassagne (2000) Costières de Nîmes. More flavorful than many rosés I’ve tasted. Great on a hot evening.

Last night at the restaurant Village (in the Village) I tasted my first red Sancerre (I’d had only white sancerre before):  Les Belles Vignes (1999). This was served chilled and went well with both fish and meat.

For the w/end I have a Sancerre rosé, a 1999 La Ports du Caillou, going for around ฤ. I’ll report back.

Any other thoughts? We've got to survive August yet.

[Jason Perlow x]

In whites, Off-dry reislings and alsacian gewurtztraminers are great year round. Chenin Blanc is also good for hot weather.

And of course Prosecco is great as an incexpensive sparkler. I like the Nino Franco.

(Edited by Jason Perlow x at 6:22 am on Aug. 5, 2001)

[SpiritBob x]

Hot summer wines should be simple; light and refreshing and maybe a bit effervescent with low alcohol, great acidity and the versatility to marry well with many different summertime favorite foods. They should be able to show well when served chilled – well chilled (whites: 45-50 degrees/ Reds: 50-55 degrees or even a bit lower).

Rosé, it is such a versatile choice with summertime fare, whether it’s cold chicken, shrimp on the “barby” or the annual family wiener roast, rosé is a sure winner and I drink a ton of it! From Southern France I like Mas de Gourgonnier and Chateau de Peyrassol. And from the USA Joseph Phelps Grenache Rose. Delightful

German whites are always a good choice when you want a wine that’s full of flavor, yet low in alcohol. As Mr. Perlow says correctly Rieslings are great for that. Also wines made in that style like Austrian Gruner Veltliner (Hirtzberger is terrific), Alsatian Pinot Blanc or Gewürztraminer, or Oregon Pinot Gris like from Ponzi.

Of course a flute of bubbly is so appropriate in the hot sun that it may trounce all the competition. Billecart Salmon!

Also Spanish Albarino or ice cold Manzanilla Sherry.

You mentioned Loire reds. There are some good ones. Try Lucien Crochet red and white, widely available. Great for full flavored seafood, really anything but shellfish. The loire is underrated.

(Edited by Spirit Bob at 3:47 pm on July 20, 2001)

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Robert Weaver

[Jason Perlow x]

Yes, Pinot Grigio and Tokay Pinot Gris are great choices in addition to the ones you mentioned.

Billecart is a nice choice too but the inexepensive spumantes from Italy (like prosecco) and even Reisling Sekts or sparkling wiesserburgunders (if you can even find them at your wine store) are good alternatives to champagne.

In NYC Nancy's Wine is a good place to find all these great germanics. The buyer for that store, Willie Gluckstern, is one of the biggest experts on Germanics and really knows what he's importing.

Heres a list of wine styles from Nancy's site you might want to pair with grilled foods / summer cuisine

BURGERS, STEAKS, CHOPS:  Rich, ripe reds with some sweetness Zinfandel

Syrah/Shiraz

CHICKEN or TOFU: Light, aromatic whites -- Riesling Kabinett, Gruner Veltliner

VEGETABLES: Rich, herbal whites OR High acid, herbal reds -- New Zealand Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Beaujolais

SHELLFISH: Rich, dry, full flavored whites -- Loire Chenin Blanc, Tokay Pinot Gris

FISH: Full flavored whites OR High acid, fruity reds -- Riesling Spatlese, Pinot Noir Barbera

OTHER: High acid, fruity reds -- Beaujolais

[Fat Guy]

I may have solved something that had been puzzling me. I couldn’t find a wine (red or white) that went well with spaghetti carbonara.  I discovered that red and rosé Sancerres do. The rosé Sancerre 1999 La Ports du Caillou accompanied this dish very nicely.

And thanks for all the recommendations above.

[SpiritBob x]

Eggs, the great challenger to wine! Also tomatoes and vinegar present challenges to the wine lover.

But for eggs and that would include carbonara sauce which is based on eggs, this is the reason you find it hard to match I am certain, the secret is to choose a vino with effervescence to "cut through" the egginess.

Your Sancerre rose has that slight fizziness of youth not actual carbonation but enough to dance on the tongue. I think that is what draws you to it. Even better I would suggest a true bubbly with eggs, and with carbonara perhaps a bubbly rose would be lovely, lovely.

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Robert Weaver

[Carolyn Tillie x]

Moscato d'Asti, served chillingly cold is outstanding when it is blisteringly hot...

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Carolyn Tillie

[Fat Guy]

Carolyn: I agree. Moscato D’Asti is quite refreshing. I find it a little sweet, tho, and prefer to drink it with a dessert rather than as an aperitif. I Coppi (Italian restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan) has it and it was lovely with an olive oil cake (it resembled pound cake).

Spirit Bob: I'm going to try a bubbly rose next time I have eggs. Thanks for the tip.

[SpiritBob x]

You may find that some Moscato D’Asti is not as sweet a vino as you think! Some are barely off-dry. At the larger wine shops a reputable salesman may be able to guide you to the less sweet ones. Also served ice cold suppresses some sweetness so it changes the character.

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Robert Weaver

[Jason Perlow x]

Bob: what's the difference between a Moscato and a Muscat? Other than where the varietal is grown?

I had one from Israel recently, and it was definitely a dessert wine...

[SpiritBob x]

Jason they are one in the same!

When we speak of Muscat we mean Muscat Blanc. There are also three other Muscat grapes (Alexandria, Hamburg, and Ottonel) but Blanc is the one used most in the production of wine for the table. The very same grape is call Muscat in France and Moscato in Italy. The scent of Muscat is easily recognized many people call it "orange." But it occurs in a very wide variety of wine styles because once the grape is grown it can be picked at different times and it also can be subject to different techniques of viticultural manipulation. All those wine producting countries in the Mediterranean basin make their own style from this grape and they can range from feather-light and bone-dry, to low-alcohol sparkling, to very sweet and alcoholic almost syrupy, even fortified wines too!

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Robert Weaver

[Preet Baba x]

I believe it has been said that Muscat is the only wine that tastes like grapes.

[Manny Shapiro x]

I have been drinking an excellent Prosecco for the last few years.  It is Loredan Gasparini.  The wine has a fruitiness which is usually missing  or overwhelmed by the effervescence in other Proseccos.  It also finishes very pleasantly, no dullness here.  Drink it not only in the summer but before a feast on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Salut!  Manny Shapiro

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mannyshp

[Fat Guy]

Manny Shapiro: very good idea.

I’m glad Prosecco was mentioned. Yesterday, I bought a bottle of Santa Margherita, di Valdobbiadene (Brut)(around พ). Good for the days when you’re not splashing out and celebrating with champagne, but want something that holds its sparkle more than home made white wine spritzer. Worked well as aperitif and accompaniment to spicy food.

[Jason Perlow x]

Thats a really good wine, that Santa Margherita.

I bought 2 bottles of a spanish cava yesterday that came recommended by a local wine merchant in Piermont (they guy accross the street from Xaviar's), each about 12 bucks a shot, I'll let you know how they fared against the Nino Franco and the Margherita.

[Tommy x]

very good, if not a tad bit overpriced.  i guess i'll throw in my 2 cents here:  i've been enjoying a Reisling from the Finger Lakes this summer.  it's called Salmon Run, and it's a bargain at 9.99 a bottle.  made by a winemaker called "Dr. Frank", who does some other nice work up in the Finger Lakes with pinot noir (a bit pricier at 22-25 a bottle).  

it's light, crisp, a bit fruity, and quite refreshing.  great with citrus-y salads, lightly spiced dishes, and certainly great on its own.

cheers.

[Jason Perlow x]

Tommy . this finger lakes reisling you speak of is a sekt (sparkler)  or just a regular reisling?

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Jason Perlow -- Director eGullet.com Community

[Tommy x]

it's just a plain ole reisling.  :)

[Bux x]

It's nice to see genuine enthusiam for rosés. They've suffered such abuse from Americans. I've had surprised reactions from people who just assume no one with any pretension to sophistication would drink rosé.  True my mother drank rosé because she thought it was such a pretty color and could substitute for both red or white and therefore the perfect all puspose wine for those who worried about "the rules."

There is something about its all-purposenesss that does hold true. When dining outdoors I find rosé goes with a wider variety of food than it does indoors.  We have a roof garden and refer to a group of light summer wines as "roof wines."  Rosés are at the head of the class.

A couple we've liked are Chivite's Gran Feudo from Navarra and Bonny Doone's Vin Gris de Cigare from California. The first should run about ů-8 and the second a buck or two more. The Mas de Gourgonnier had a bit more body. I recall seeing it on the upper east side  for a great price in the Wine Shop on First Avenue just a few weeks ago, but I'll bet they're sold out.

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Robert Buxbaum

http://www.worldtable.com

eGullet Community Coordinator, France

[yvonne johnson]

The other night we had a very pleasant New Zealand Riesling, Villa Maria, 2000.  It had body, some floral hints and was much less sweet than some other rieslings I've tried e.g., Chateau Ste. Michelle 1998. Can't recall exact price, but it was not expensive.

[Edward de Sa Pereira]

My absolute favorite “roof wine” is Portuguese Vinho Verde.  In Europe it has no cachet whatsoever and is all but unknown in the US.  Basically it is a very, very light white made from grapes that are picked way too early by most standards. This yields a wine that is very tart, lemony, green-tinged (hence the name, green wine, in Portuguese), almost – but not quite –sparkling, and very low in alcohol (5% as opposed to 12-14% for most other wines).

For those who are interested in this sort of stuff, Vinho Verde is a Portuguese DOC (equivalent to a French AOC).  The main grape is something called albarinho, grown on pergolas, and harvested prematurely.  The wine is typically put up in blue bottles to make it look really green.  Most of the trendier wine stores in New York stock it at about Ŭ/bottle which is all it’s really worth.

The fun part is drinking it ice cold in the hot sun.  The low alcohol content, tartness, and quasi-fizz gives you the impression you are drinking something close to soda pop.  You can easily drink a whole bottle and think you are feeling nothing.  Until you stand up…

[Bux]

I'm always pleased to see serious posts about cheap wines and Ŭ a bottle falls well below just inexpensive these days. The other day I read a usenet post by a guy who wrote that someone else was lucky because they could still enjoy wines that cost less than ฟ. I understood what he meant, but found it an irritating comment.

I assume the Portugese albarinho is akin to the albariño of Galicia in Spain just north of Portugal. It also grows overhead in vineyards that looked like nothing else I've seen in the US, France or Spain before. I've not known it to be picked early, but it's a wonderful wine with seafood and I've found the least expensive to offer both enjoyment and the best value. Not too expensive for the roof nor too inferior for a good restaurant in the winter.