Summer wines
“Strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in spring.
My summer wine is really made of all these things,
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine,
Ohhh-Oh summer wine...”
(Nancy Sinatra: “summer wine”)
What make a good summer wine?
To beat the heat you need a refreshing acidity balance by enough fruit flavours to avoid the wine tasting too tart
Here is a selection of few good summer wines:
Sancerre, Lucien Crochet, 2008
Classic French, dry white wine from the Loire valley.
Made from sauvignon Blanc, the wine show a high acidity balance by herbaceous, gooseberries, grass and green peppers flavours with a touch of peach.
Pair it with the cheese called “crottin de chavignol”, produce in the same area.
Marsannay rose, Domaine Bruno Clair, 2008
Obviously we drink more rose during summer. But this one is the treat.
Produce in burgundy from Pinot noir, this rose is packed with red berries flavours and enhanced by a zesty acidity.
Produce by the “savoir faire” of an outstanding winemaker (his grandfather was the first to produce rose in Marsannay); you end up not only with a good summer wine but as well with a high quality wine.
Babish estate, cabernet/merlot, New Zealand, Hawkes bay, 2008
New Zealand combine two factors to produce amazing refreshing summer wines.
1- An overall maritime climate: the grapes retains lot of acidity during the ripening season
2- Pioneer in the use of new technologies, New Zealand winemakers managed to create new style of wine. Wine with a clean, fresh varietal flavours.
Chapel Down Sparkling, NV, Kent, England
English winemakers are proud to say that their soils (chalk based), climate (thanks to global warming) and method of production are similar to Champagne.
The result for this wine is a sparkling with a clean, floral and citrus flavour, refreshing, and light body.
Hard to admit from a Frenchman but: this is great, really well made!
Michael Monte
Sommelier
