Last week we covered summer fishing. When it’s too hot to fish at 5 p.m., what does an old man think about? You guessed it … summer wines! Our winedrinking habits change along with the rising temperatures – more light, chillier, white wine and rose, and fewer heavier reds and chardonnays. Today we will suggest a few wines that fit the bill at this time of year, wines you might want to try.
First of all, pinot grigio, the light, dry, slightly fruity wine from Italy. Although how you pronounce it doesn’t affect the taste, here’s my approximation of how serious wine-drinkers say pinot grigio: pee-no-gree-jo, with the accent on the gree and forget the t. One of our favorites is a box wine, Bota Box Pinot Grigio. It runs about $16 at both Walmart and HEB – that may sound high, but it is really inexpensive … the box hold three liters of wine, equivalent to four ordinary wine bottles. In fact, the Bota Box is not really a box of wine at all … there is a plastic bladder in the box that holds the wine. Like all the box wines, a great virtue is that when you pour a glass, air does not get to the wine. As a result, the wine stays fresh for 30 days or more. The downside is that three liters is a LOT of wine. If you like to try a different wine every night, you may end up with a fridge full of boxes. For us, a box is very handy and has become our summer house white, and if one of our wine-drinking friends stops by, we don’t have to scramble to find a cold glass of wine. By the way, the Bota Pinot Grigio is not from Italy, it’s from California. One winedrinker described this as, “Lively aromas of golden delicious apple, ripe pear and fresh spring flowers. This medium-bodied wine has flavors of honeysuckle and apple with a light, vibrant finish.”
You will find plenty of pinot grigios to sample. If you want to go upscale, try the real Italian Santa Margherita (around $20 at Total Wines) which is smooth and delightful.
Another of our summer favorites is Sauvignon Blanc, originally French, but thanks to an enterprising Frenchman who took the grapes to New Zealand, it has become a New Zealand staple. How do you pronounce that? About like this: sō-vēn-ˈyänˈbläŋk, with or without the k. What does it taste like? Here is the vintner’s description of the Oyster Bay, a wine available in most of our stores: “Elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavors. Brilliant clarity, extraordinary aromatic flavors and refreshing zest. Citrus notes and tropical flavors, youthful, elegant, and fresh.” Want a fancier wine? Try the Cloudy Bay ($25+), a truly refreshing Sauvignon Blanc. I won’t list some tasting notes for the Cloudy Bay … if I did, I’d probably be compelled to jump in my car and drive south to get one! One good thing about Sauvignon Blanc is that at all price ranges it is delightfully delicious.
Bota Box also has a boxed Sauvignon Blanc. It is notable because the Wall Street Journal wine writer, Lettie Teague, recommended it a couple of weeks ago: “Both well-made and well-priced … a soft, fruity, easy drinking white made from Chilean fruit and produced in Napa Valley.” The vintner notes were, “... a zip of citrus, melon and a touch of minerality on the palette.”
We tasted both the Bota Pinot Grigio and the Sauvignon Blanc. Our tasting reminded us of a saying about husbands from an old friend in rural Arkansas: “Not a dime’s worth of difference.” We liked them both. The Sauvignon Blanc did show the minerality in the finish and it stayed on your tongue.
One good thing about the Bota wines is that they have small, three-glass boxes available for about $4, giving us a chance to taste it without investing in a whole box. The small box is indeed a box, not a bladder in a box, so once opened, it is open and like a regular wine bottle is subject to air getting to the wine.
A very dry white wine, Torrontes is an Argentinian wine. You won’t find it locally, but the big stores to the South usually have more than one. It reminds us of the dry mountain slopes where it is grown around Salta in northwest Argentina. Like sauvignon blanc, it doesn’t age well, so buy it only a year or two old. We had a bad experience at Specs one time when we were very glad to find Torrontes from a vineyard that we had visited, Columne. We were so glad to find it that we didn’t bother to check the date on the wine. When we got home both our bottles were 2016 wines – too old, and even had a yellow color. Cynics that we are, we guessed that Specs had probably put the 2016 (this was 2022) on the front of the shelf to get rid of them. We took the wine back to Specs and had no trouble exchanging it for the year-old vintage. Sometimes it helps to know a little (about as much as we know) about what you are buying. Drink those whites young!
We couldn’t end this without mentioning a very popular summer bubbly, Asti Spumante. Available in all price ranges, a quality Asti Spumante is fresh, light-bodied and has a delicate palate of oranges, pears, apricots and peaches, which balances against the crisp acidity. Although sometimes thought of as an aperitif or dessert wine, it goes well with many summer dishes. It also does not age well, so get a bottle as close to the bottling date as you can. One advantage of Asti is that it is typically only 7-9% ABV, so an extra glass doesn’t send you reeling.
Are there summer chardonnays? Yes, indeed. In summer, my friend Dave and his wife change their house wine from Franzia Cabernet Sauvignon to Franzia Chardonnay. We haven’t tried them, but we’d guess a bit “charonnay-ish” for our taste. A crisp, Sancerre or Chablis Chardonnay may be a bit pricey, but can be a wonderful light summer wine!
As you can see, when summertime comes there are lots of choices for summer wines. One notable wine we have left out is rose. Why did we leave it out? Because that is our next article! As usual, our advice is find wine to your taste. If you have a favorite that we didn’t mention, let us know and we will share it with everyone. In the meantime, send us your comments, [email protected]. Remember, nobody has the right to criticize your taste: de gustibus non disputandum est – there’s no accounting for taste.
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