“Summertime and the living is easy…” So said Ella Fitzgerald. I, for one, agree. And of course wine is an essential part of easy living. Here are some of the wines I’m currently drinking that I think stand up well to this late Spring / early Summer season:
Domaine de La Citadelle, a rose with elegance and finesse, with generous, rounded fruit that makes it delicious on its own or for a long, languid lunch.
Purete de Silex, a very interesting and well balanced sparkling rose wine from the Loire Valley. Sip alone or pair it up with a first course: shellfish, salad or even some fruits and mild cheeses come to mind.
Domaine A. Et P. De Villaine Bouzeron: what many people don’t know is that besides chardonnay, alight is Burgundy’s other predominant white grape. Try this one from the personal estate of Aubert de Villaine, the co-Director of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and his wife, Pamela. The wine is zesty, citrusy, with some floral notes. It is lean, yet not without muscle, with lovely crisp minerality. It is a charming summer wine that will be perfect with seafood.
Petit Sale is charming wine from the Provence and everything you want a white wine from that region to be: made from predominantly clairette grapes with some vermentino, it is pale in color, mineral in character with notes of peach and lemon. It is very fresh and lively. A great aperitif.
COS Pithos Rosso: I just came back from Sicily and have fallen in love with Sicilian wines. COS in an exciting natural winery in the southeast corner of the island where they are making a really elegant, fresh and expressive red bringing together the Nero d’Avola and Frappato varietals. The vineyard is also known to use 400 litre clay amphorae, sunk into the ground, for the fermentation.
Ignios Origenes, Ycoden Daute Isora is a unique and very interesting wines from Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands that is closer to Africa than to the Iberian Peninsula. This wine is 100% babosso, a nearly extinct varietal native to the western tip of the island. While medium-bodied, the focus here is on freshness. The dark fruit and licorice palate has an nice mineral end to it. Great with grilled meats.
