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The
Summer Side of Wine
by
Randal Caparoso and Jane Faris
Was
it Horace who said, "thirst comes with summer?" Along
with thirst comes a bevy of foods associated with pools, patios
and starry nights on a deck. Summer brings the smoky smells of barbecued
chicken and sweet, buttery ears of corn, potato salad studded with
crunchy celery or sweet-hot peppers, peel-and-eat shrimp, vegetables
with ranch or blue cheese dips, and even plump, oily, grill-slashed
Polish dogs waiting to hit the beds of white buns with ketchup and
mustard. Throw in some muscle-bound and leggy models, and you've
got yourself a beer commercial. Maybe that's the problem many people
have with fine wine—it doesn't quite fit in with the fun and
foods associated with summer. This is not necessarily the case.
 A
buttery-textured, lusciously apple-like, yet perfectly dry California
Chardonnay that's been aged in slightly smoky French oak barrels
goes considerably further than a beer towards complementing rock-salted
chicken inundated with smoke from the grill. Another example is
grilled chicken slathered with a vinegary sharp, sweet, mildly spiced
red barbecue sauce…what beer can provide the easy, natural
fruit tartness and sweetness to balance out the tingling sensations
of the marinade, which are found in almost every good Riesling from
Germany's Rhine or Moselle River, or from California or Washington
state?
Surely
it wasn't beer that Horace, and the early Greeks and Romans, drank
to quench their summer thirst, but a variety of wines entailing
the full spectrum of tastes given by the grape. Wine has the acidity
to freshen the palate, sugars to balance salty or spicy food sensations,
tannins (in the case of red wines) to help digest meat fats, and
just enough alcohol to give a sense of body without the heat or
headiness associated with spirits.
So
what are the ideal wines of summer? The wines with the highest percent
chance of matching barbecued meats and other summer foods are those
that are light on their feet, fresh and breezily scented, full of
zip and yet oh-so-easy to drink. The following is a short list of
all-time favorites recommended with one caveat: never buy any vintages
that are more than two years old (a 1999 vintage in 2002, for instance,
would be too old). Summery wines are, by definition, eternally fresh
and youthful!
 Zardetto,
Prosecco Brut (Italy; $9-$12)—This is a Northern Italian
sparkling white wine that is not an Asti Spumante, but something
dry and clean as a whistle. The fragrance is subtle—a rising,
dough-like yeastiness mingling with citrusy scents, hinting at strawberry.
The best thing to do with a good Prosecco like Zardetto's may be
to drop in some sliced strawberries, or better yet fresh peaches
or a dollop of peach schnapps, and drink it like a breakfast of
champions. Then again, a box of sushi or sashimi, lomi lomi or ceviche,
and any manner of pickled or salted fish and vegetables would also
do just fine with this fruity, lemony-edge sparkler.
Kris,
Pinot Grigio (Italy; $9-$12)—A flash of mineral, steely
dryness, citrusy freshness, and exuberant perfumes of pear, lavender
and licorice: there is almost no better all-purpose white wine than
an Italian Pinot Grigio, and Kris is as good as it gets. It is its
pervasive minerality that allows it to handle seemingly everything
that swims, from a really good tuna sandwich to a slab of tuna or
swordfish charred on a grill and lavished with fruity, cilantro-laced
salsas, lime butters, soy vinaigrettes or peppery ponzus.
Murphy-Goode,
Alexander Valley Fume Blanc (Alexander Valley, Sonoma; $9-$12)—
Year-in, year-out, this winery produces the quintessential California
Sauvignon (or "Fume") Blanc-light and snappy, dry as a
bone, with a mouthwatering, grapefruity zest underpinning a fresh
scent of tropical fruitiness (such as mango and passionfruit). Need
I say more? Pass the raw oysters, the clams and mussels. Don't worry
about what Tabasco ketchups or vinegary mignonettes will do to this
wine. Fry 'em with bacon or bake 'em with béchamel…the
Murphy-Good Fume may be easy, but it's solid enough to freshen the
palate after every bite, which is exactly what a summery wine should
do.
Bonny
Doon, "Pacific Rim" Riesling ($8-$11)—This is
Santa Cruz-crazy Randall Grahm's attempt to make the Riesling grape
palatable to the masses: pretty much dry and palate bracing, but
with an incisive, flowery fruitiness and a whisper of sweetness.
Even the most hardened dry-wine lovers, after all, appreciate the
flavor of fruit in their wines just as they appreciate foods laced
with sugar, like duck in orange sauce, pork and apples, dim sum
in sweet-sour dips, or salads in sweet balsamic vinaigrettes. Which
is precisely the reasoning behind the Pacific Rim Riesling-something
reasonable, something fresh, and something able to cross most gastro-cultural
boundaries. Even Grahm's sourcing is global: the wine is a blend
of California, Washington state and Moselle River Rieslings. One
world, one wine...why not?
Rose
di Regaleali (Italy; $8-$11)—Made from indigenous Sicilian
grapes, this is always a completely dry, rosy-pink wine, and its
fleshy, mouth-watering flavors allow it to cross all kinds of food
barriers. Red barbecued chicken is a no-brainer; so is meatloaf
in an herby, mushroomy or tomato-laced gravy. Wok-charring some
crisp vegetables with ribbons of meat and fluffy white rice tonight?
There's no better wine for an instant meal than an instantaneously
fresh Regaleali!
Charles
Melton, Barossa Valley "Rosé of Virginia" Grenache
(Australia; $10-$13)—This wine's luscious, cherry-bright
fruitiness makes powerful dishes even richer and more decadent.
How many rosés can do that? Every year the Charles Melton
Rosé of Virginia is as rich and full as a pink wine gets.
This is one wine that I suspect would do just as well with foie
gras and rhubarb as with grilled fish with fruit salsas, lamb kebabs
with fruit chutneys, squab with figs, duck with plum sauce, or any
dish that combines meats and natural fruits.
De
Loach, White Zinfandel (California; $7-$10)—This has been
the class of this fruity style of Zinfandel as far as anyone can
remember. Although slightly sweet, this pale pink rendition positively
brims with fruit; so much that it would almost seem naked without
some fresh, natural sweetness. While terrific with things like hibachi-grilled
salmon served with teriyaki and pickled ginger, it makes just as
wonderful an antidote for chili-spiked, barbecued meats and irresistibly
vinegary, sweet-spicy baby-back ribs.
Bandol
Rosé, Domaine Tempier (Provence, France; $14-$19)—This
eternal favorite of respected Berkeley wine merchant Kermit Lynch
is produced by the Peyrauds, the family that has inspired legions
of American gastronomes like Richard Olney and Alice Waters. But
this is pink wine, not the stuff of royalty. What you will always
find in Domaine Tempier's rosé is something remarkably fresh,
fluid, bone-dry yet forwardly fruity—the essence of strawberries
rolling across the tongue—finishing with a soft, stony smoothness.
If you think "Mediterranean" as you uncork a bottle you
really can't go wrong…ravioli and ragout, salt cod (brandade)
and anchovy, pesto and aioli, ratatouille and bouillabaisse, chicken
with 40 cloves of garlic, olives and tapenade, or leafy green herbs
chopped with vine ripened tomatoes.
"Nivole"
Moscato d'Asti, Michele Chiarlo (Italy; $8-$11/half bottle)—This
is a sweet white wine that is good enough for dessert; try almond-flavored
whipping cream with strawberry shortcake, peach pies, pear tatins
or pineapple upside-downs. Or treat it as a basic, early morning
refresher, if you happen to have something of a sweet tooth. What
better way to greet a shimmering day than with a feathery light
wine (only 7 percent alcohol) exuding the scents of lychee and rose
petals?
©
Randal Caparoso
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