New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc For Summer

Summertime is the heyday for white wines and rosés. Maybe the most appreciated white during the heat of summer is a cool and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc. Nobody does SB like NZ, and the Appellation Marlborough Wine is where some of the most satisfying New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are made. Need a map of the appellation? Here it is right here. 

Spy Valley's 2022 Satellite Sauvignon Blanc is all Marlborough fruit, overseen by viticulturist Adam McCone for winemaker Wendy Stuckey. The Sauvignon Blanc grapes were plucked mainly from the Johnson Estate vineyard. Alcohol is easy to take, at 12.5% abv, as is the $17 retail price. Spy Valley works closely with the New Zealand conservation group Forest & Bird. 

This pale wine shows mineral and herbal qualities on the nose. The wine smells much grassier than the previous two New Zealand SBs I sampled (Babich and Greywacke). The palate shows a boatload of citrus minerality, too, with a racy acidity. Crustaceans and mollosks are welcome here. 

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Summertime sippers - A Rioja Red

Summertime - especially this one - calls for wines that like to be served with a chill. The winemakers of Rioja want you to know that they craft many wines that go very well with hot weather - whites and rosés for sure, but even a few red crianzas like to be iced down before braving a barbecue. 

El Coto Crianza 2019 

Yes, a red wine can appear next to the BBQ grill and serve a thirsty crowd well on a hot day. To get the most from chilling a red wine, look for one that is low or moderate in alcohol, one that hasn't been aged in oak for more than a year or is oakless altogether, and one whose tannins are easy on the tongue. 

This youthful 2019 El Coto Crianza was aged in oak for 12 months and in the bottle for another half a year, which earns the wine its name of "crianza." This is a full varietal wine, 100% Tempranillo. The alcohol level sits at a comfortable 13.5% abv and the retail price is cozy, too, just $17.

It is a dark wine, one which lets very little light pass through. The nose displays more fruit than oak, which is a good sign if you plan to chill it and serve it outside. Blackberry, raspberry, cassis, anise all shine brightly, with light notes of clove and cinnamon. The palate is clean and fresh, with the dark fruit taking a bow. The tannins are maybe a little firm for an outdoor meal under the sun, but the acidity is brisk and refreshing. 

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Summer Sipper From Rioja - White Wine

Summertime - especially this one - calls for wines that like to be served with a chill. The winemakers of Rioja want you to know that they craft many wines that go very well with hot weather - whites and rosés for sure, but even a few red crianzas like to be iced down before braving a barbecue. 

El Coto Blanco Rioja 2022

El Coto de Rioja was founded in 1970. With more than 1800 acres of vineyards all over Rioja, they are the largest winery in the DO. A new winery facility was built in 2014, which specializes in white wines. 

The 2022 El Coto Blanco features 93% Viura, 4% Sauvignon Blanc and 3% Verdejo grapes from their Rioja Alta vineyard, Finca Carbonera. It is the highest elevation vineyard they own. The wine has an alcohol level of 12% abv and retails for about $12. 

While I expected a really sharp and racy nose from this yellow tinted wine, what I found was much softer. A floral note shares space with a lovely citrus component which smells more like tangerine than lemon. There is also a hint of honeydew melon. On the palate, the mineral-driven flavors lean more heavily into citrus while the acidity is zesty at best, not razor sharp. It is a very drinkable wine, one that probably fits in better as a sipper or an aperitif than a partner for seafood. 

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Chillable Red Wines For Summer

Summertime's warm weather and outside gatherings always leave people throwing a case of beer into a washtub of ice.  Red wines typically don't translate well to a backyard barbecue.  However, here are a pair of reds that take a chill very well.

They are made by Thacher Winery and Vineyard, a boutique producer in Paso Robles' west side.  Winemaker Sherman Thacher and Assistant Winemaker Daniel Callan are working with an admirable collection of grapes, from Chenin Blanc to Cinsault, from Négrette to Nebbiolo, from Viognier to Valdiguié.

The Thacher 2019 Cinsault was grown in the Glenrose Vineyard in Paso's Adelaida District.  Those Cinsault grapes came from a cutting taken off of a vine that was in an old UC Davis experimental station, a vineyard which had fallen from university ownership in the early 1900s yet was rediscovered in 1961 and found to be thriving.

The grapes were foot trodden and fermented whole cluster.  The wine was allowed to achieve malolactic fermentation in neutral oak barrels for four months, then racked into large concrete tanks where it aged for a year.  Alcohol sits at 13.5% abv and the wine retails for $36.

This wine has a medium garnet tint to it, but is full red, not rosato red.  The nose is amazing - there is a bit of raspberry, a touch of redwood and a hint of cinnamon.  I don't recall ever smelling a wine like it.  On the palate, again, amazing.  Red berries of some sort dominate - like the kind we would pick along the railroad tracks in East Texas - and there is a mild tartness and peppery quality.  The tannins are firm enough for those burgers from the grill and the acidity is refreshing.  Chill this for your backyard barbecues and everyone will want to know what it is, and where they can get some.

Thacher’s 2020 Valdiguié Nouveau hails from the Paso Robles Highlands District, the Shell Creek Vineyard.  For a century, Valdiguié was thought to be a clone of the Gamay grape, grown in Beaujolais.  It was known as Napa Gamay.  Growers and winemakers love it, but most of the vines were ripped out when Cabernet Sauvignon became the grape of the day in California wine.  It is almost extinct today.

The grapes were fermented as in a Beaujolais Nouveau - carbonic fermentation in a tank, whole cluster, and spent seven weeks on the stems and skins.  The wine was then racked to neutral oak, where malolactic fermentation happened.  The wine stayed in oak for five months.  Alcohol is low, at 12% abv and it retails for $28.

This wine is medium dark red in the glass and has a nose of strawberry and cherry, with an earthy element added to it - sort of a Beaujolais feel.  The palate offers up brilliant cherry notes and a racy acidity, along with rather firm tannins.  The oak treatment - only five months neutral - make this a great choice for backyard cookouts this summer.  Don't be afraid to ice down this unusual grape.  Valdiguié is almost extinct, I'm told.  It was once called Napa Gamay.

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Summer Wine: Bonny Doon Vin Gris De Cigare

Summer is generally considered rosé time, although I have noted - many times before - that it will serve us well any time of year. I always say the best day of the year for a nice, dry, pink wine is the day after Thanksgiving. It's a perfect pairing with those leftover turkey sandwiches after hitting the Black Friday sales or watching a few of the dozen or so college football games with a salami and a cheese ball.

The Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare is a perennial favorite, always delightful and elegant, always a Randall Grahm-sized slice of Rhônicity that's pretty in pink.

The '14 Vin Gris de Cigare is made from eight different Rhône grape varieties of the Central Coast - 35% Grenache, 18% Mourvèdre, 16% Grenache Blanc, 12.5% Roussanne, 8% Carignane, 8% Cinsaut, 1.5% Marsanne - whew - and 1% Counoise. This rosé has a 13% abv number and sells for $18. The iconic label art by Chuck House recalls the red and white relatives of this pink Cigare.

This wine is a very pale pink, like the inside of a sea shell. There is a fair amount of salinity to go along with that shoreline appearance, too. A nose of strawberries and cherries has just a slight green quality to it, while the acidity-fresh palate shows red fruit in a salty, earthy setting. A perfect match for anything from the sea - it's elegant, it's complex, it's refreshing and I'm doon with it.

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Bonny Doon Vineyard Albariño Central Coast 2013

Spring is taking its dear, sweet time about settling in this year.  Earlier this month I was still noticing baseball umpires wearing heavy jackets and gloves in Chicago.  Of course, in Chicago that might be considered routine.  The coldest baseball game I ever attended was in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend.  My eternal gratitude goes out to the nice folks who sat next to me.  They brought an extra blanket.  And to the hot chocolate machine.  It was way too cold for a beer.

Here in Los Angeles, spring comes and goes all year long.  Summer has already started trying to crowd its way in.  The tourists in rented convertibles are starting to look like they aren’t freezing with the top down.  Whether your spring is swinging, or you need some help really feeling it, an Albrariño just might do the trick.

Randall Grahm’s Bonny Doon Vineyard has a recently released Albariño that is perfect for spring, and several other seasons, too.

Yes, the iconic “Rhône Ranger” also works his magic with the Iberian grape variety.  To hear him describe his minimal intervention winemaking, though, you get the impression there’s no magic involved.  You  may even think he simply throws some grapes in a tub, sits doon, waits a while and puts on a screw cap.  That’s not true, though.  Mr. Grahm has a machine which puts on the screw caps.

The Bonny Doon website offers a brief intro to Albariño:  “Until 1989 Albariño was one of the rarest wine varieties in the world, rarely glimpsed outside the Iberian Peninsula. Since that time, this light yet vibrant white grape has become a darling of wine geeks worldwide with its preternatural ability to pair with all types of seafood, cheese and salty dishes.”

The grapes for the 2013 Bonny Doon Albariño are Central Coast fruit, all Albariño.  73% of the grapes were grown in Kristy Vineyard in the Salinas Valley while the other 27% are from Edna Valley’s Jespersen Ranch.  Grahm notes that both sites are windy and cool during the summer.

The wine’s alcohol content of 13.2% makes it a perfect choice for spring and summer refreshment.  To paraphrase the brewer’s old ad copy, it’s a great wine for "when you’re having more than one."  Production was 1,592 cases and the wine retails for $18.

Pale straw in color with just a hint of green tint, the wine looks slightly frizzante in the glass.  A ring of small bubbles cling to the rim.  One sniff brings springtime into full focus.  A floral note of hibiscus mingles with peaches, pears and citrus mineral notes.  The palate shows some very nice mineral-laden salinity riding herd over the peach and lemon peel flavors.  There’s boat load of acidity, so the wine is completely refreshing.  It's also a great food wine.  Look for some Thai food or shellfish to make it really sing.


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Top Ten Summer Wines From Whole Foods Market

The weather is heating up in the hemisphere I call home.  Summer is met with big cheers by sun worshippers, baseball fans and school children - and many of us who like to enjoy a glass of wine are opting for lighter, more refreshing fare that fits in well under the sun.

My friends at Whole Foods Market help out in that last area each year.  They have, once again, revealed their selection of Top Ten Summer Wines available in their stores.  They are also organizing a pair of “Taste and Tweet” sessions in which you can participate.

As an homage to summer, Whole Foods Market wine team has selected ten of their favorite warm-weather wines - from crisp, fragrant whites to earthy, spicy reds - all priced between $7.99 and $14.99.  That pricing will take the heat off buying every day sippers and hearty reds that stand up to grilled foods.

The Whole Foods Top Ten Summer Wines include a one-of-a-kind organic grüner veltliner from Austria as well as the old favorite Bolla Soave Classico, an Italian favorite from the 1970s that has been bottled in classy, retro packaging.

Doug Bell is the global wine buyer for Whole Foods Market.  He says, “We have found some great wines that are like ‘bottled sunshine’ for our shoppers who will also be pleasantly surprised when they see the prices of these gems.  With our selection and diversity of summer wines, shoppers can easily find the perfect bottle or two for the beach, outdoor picnic and/or backyard barbecue.”

If you’d like to join the discussion of these summery wines, do so on Twitter, during two different Taste & Tweet online chats.  Go to wholefoodsmarket.com/wine for more information about the Twitter Tastings and use the hashtag #WFMwine to follow the conversation.  Here are the dates, and the wines about which we’ll be tasting and tweeting:

Summer Wines Twitter Tasting 1 – Thursday, May 31, 7-8 p.m. CT
·     Mionetto Prosecco
·     Pratsch Grüner Veltliner
·     Tormaresca Neprica

Summer Wines Twitter Tasting 2 – Thursday, July 12, 7-8 p.m. CT
·     Kyklos Moschofilero
·     Yalumba Christobel’s Eden Valley Riesling
·     Pallas Tempranillo by Jorge Ordonez

Here’s the whole list - Whole Foods Market’s Top 10 Summer Wines: (descriptions, recipes and pairings are provided by Whole Foods Market.)

Mionetto Prosecco (Italy)
With golden apple and elderflower flavors, this lively and delicate sparkling wine has a clean, lingering finish – perfect to sip or pair with seafood.  Made with organically-grown grapes.

Recipe pairing: Mussels Vinaigrette
Cheese pairing: Fromager d’Affinois

Kyklos Moschofilero (Greece)
This light straw-colored white has melon, white rose, and citrus flavors with some fresh vegetable notes, providing a zingy, pleasant finish.  A great pairing with seafood, this is a fun substitute for Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.

Recipe pairing: Calamari Pasta
Cheese pairing: Mahón

Bolla Soave Classico (Italy)
What is old is new again with this classic Italian white with aromas of flowers and fresh stone fruit and a clean, fresh finish.  This is an easy-drinking white that pairs well with fish.  With a new vintage label created for Whole Foods Market, this is the perfect summer porch wine.

Recipe pairing: Shrimp and Mango Ceviche
Cheese pairing: Wellspring Creamery Cranberry Orange Goat Cheese

Louis Latour Ardèche Chardonnay (France)
With a toasty bouquet, this white has delicious apple notes and a crisp acidity and round finish.  This is a bargain for a French chardonnay from one of the most innovative producers in Burgundy.

Recipe pairing: Waldorf Salad with Honey-Yogurt Dressing and Fresh Mint
Cheese pairing: Mons Camembert

Pratsch Grüner Veltliner (Austria)
Made with organically grown grapes, this fruit-forward fragrant white offers apple, citrus and white pepper notes paired with great acidity for a crisp finish.

Recipe pairing: Lemony Angel Hair with Crème Fraîche, Parmesan and Artichoke Hearts
Cheese pairing: Morbier

Yalumba Christobel’s Eden Valley Riesling (Australia)
With aromas of nectarine and white peach, citrus zest, tropical fruits, and some minerality, this white offers a touch of sweetness.  This riesling would be perfect paired with apple pie and cheddar cheese.

Recipe Pairing: Sesame-Peanut Noodles
Cheese Pairing: Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog

Hogue Late Harvest Riesling (Washington)
This dessert wine offers zesty aromas of sweet tangerine, honeysuckle and apricot flavors, with hints of mint on the finish.

Recipe pairing: Grilled Fruit with Caramelized Orange Sauce
Cheese pairing: Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue Cheese

Vinum Cellars Pinot Noir (California)
With classic earthy, cola and ripe cherry flavors, this full-bodied red has soft tannins and drinks like a gem.  It is a perfect pairing with grilled salmon and pork loin with fruit.

Recipe pairing: Firecracker Grilled Salmon
Cheese pairing: Borough Market Cheddar

Pallas Tempranillo by Jorge Ordonez (Spain)
This lush, ripe red has aromas of red and dark berries, smoky herbs and spices – the perfect pairing with barbecue, shish kabobs, and Spanish chorizo.

Recipe pairing: Spanish Chickpeas and Chorizohttp://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/119
Cheese pairing: Solé Gran Queso

Tormaresca Neprica (Italy)
A blend of negroamaro, primitivo and cabernet sauvignon, this lean red has dusty aromas, black raspberry and pepper flavors, and silky tannins.  This is a top-notch pick for pepper steak.

Recipe pairing: Skillet Fajitas with Jicama Salsa
Cheese pairing: Drunken Goat

Columbia Winery Merlot (Washington)
With black cherry and plum flavors, and mint and smoky undertones, this merlot is the perfect “go to” wine for burgers and eggplant parmesan.

Recipe pairing: Eggplant Bolognese
Cheese pairing: Parrano

Bubo Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
Rich layers of black cherry, blackberry, spice and cedar create a jammy red for pizza, barbecue and sangria with berries.

Recipe pairing: Grilled Vegetable Pizza
Cheese pairing: Grafton Classic Reserve Cheddar Aged Two Years


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BRISTOL’S HARD APPLE CIDER BRISTOL’S HARD APPLE CIDER

The Southern California thermometer nudged up over the 80 degree mark in early March, and the contacts on my Facebook page were all gassed about getting out and grilling a steak.  It always amazes me when that first 80-degree day rolls around.  The roads to the beaches are clogged, outdoor restaurants can’t get enough tables on the sidewalk and the grills are a-blazin’.

It amazes me because, generally speaking, Southern California weather is not too far off the 80-degree mark all winter.  Why people in Los Angeles feel they need to be “spared from old man winter” is confounding to me.  

Sure, Southern California has its share of days when the high temperature doesn’t get out of the 50s.  You should hear the complaining then.  Folks in Michigan and Vermont and Ohio consider a high in the 50s to be the harbinger of spring.   

The SoCal beaches are crowded all year, sidewalk tables are always an option and we can pretty much grill anytime we like. Why wait?

Even so, after a long winter of fighting off that 60-degree chill with a 65-degree red wine, I have my own little springtime celebration.  When that 80-degree mark hits SoCal - while other parts of the country are still having to shovel snow - I like to break out a summer beverage.  

I purchased Bristol’s Hard Apple Cider at the Lone Madrone tasting room in Paso Robles for $12.50 in the summer of 2011, and I understand the cider is sold out now.  

Credited on the label as being produced and bottled by the Traditional Company of Colfax, California,  I couldn't find any info about that organization.  The apples come from See Canyon in San Luis Obispo and the cider carries a 6.6% abv number.

The Lone Madrone website says this about the Bristol’s Hard Apple Cider:

“This Zummerzet style cider was fermented in retired oak wine barrels and stainless steel tank. The cider is finished in bottle with champagne yeast a practice which yield's tiny yet vigorous bubbles. Made with See Canyon apples, it is dry, dry, dry with with crisp apple on the palate.”

The bouquet is all apple, all the time.  I was a little surprised, since I expected the influence from the oak barrels to be more significant.  It’s a very nice aroma, quite fresh and intense.  The palate offers more apples, and a generous amount of bubbling action in the mouthfeel.  As advertised, it’s dry, not sweet, and it went quite well on a warm afternoon with a fresh tomato salad.

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SUMMERY WINE ON A SUMMERY DAY

Recently, my wife had a hair appointment in Beverly Hills, followed immediately by a girlfriend lunch, also in Beverly Hills.  I dropped her off and ran a few errands, but still had a lot of time to kill in Beverly Hills.  I turned to the wine.

I had been meaning to explore few wine-oriented places in the Hills of Beverly for quite some time, and this sunny Saturday afternoon seemed perfectly suited to the occasion.

It was around noon - okay, it was 11:32 - when I walked into Enoteca Drago on Cañon Drive.  There are, maybe, a dozen Italian restaurants in Beverly Hills.  About 11 of them are owned and operated by the Drago family.  That’s alright by me, as I always have wonderful food and a thoughtful wine list at a Drago restaurant.

Enoteca is even more focused on wine than the other family locations, since it is a wine bar.  The menu offers 11 different flights of wine in the $15 - $20 range, while single glasses are in the $9 - $23 neighborhood.  The wine list has lots of variety, including late harvest selections, Ports and Grappa choices, too.  There’s also a complete menu of Italian fare to pair with the wines.

I chose a flight of three medium-bodied, semi-aromatic white wines for $17.  Included in the flight were the following wines, with my tasting notes:

Greco di Tufo, Terradora DiPaolo, Campania 2010 -
Richest color of the trio. Apricot and ocean on the nose, golden apples with a hint of honey on the palate.  Minerals abound, great finish.  Greco is an Italian grape, thought to be of Greek origin.

Sauvignon Blanc, Joel Gott, Napa Valley 2010
Palest of the three, almost clear.  Grassy and fruity notes make up the nose, with melon and herbal notes present. Peach and apple cobbler flavors are on the palate.  The cobbler is a complete surprise, but it works.

Gavi, Villa Sparina,  Piemonte 2010
Medium straw in color the light nose is very hard to pick up.  What is that lovely taste?  It seems like cantaloupe or honeydew.  There’s a lot of minerality, too.  Wine from Gavi area of Piemonte is made exclusively of the Cortese grape.

I ordered the calamari alla griglia with this flight.  All three wines pair well with the calamari, the Gavi matches it the best.  The Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc went best with the rapini.  By the way, when grilled calamari is offered, it should always have the grill marks on it.  It does at Enoteca Drago.

After checking in with the wife and friend at Cafe Roma (oddly enough, not a Drago restaurant) I was invited to go away a while longer, as the chatting got out of hand.

Just up the street is Il Pastaio.  Yes, it’s another Drago restaurant.  This place looked really busy and festive at 1:00 or so Saturday.  As I approached, a guy in a big, white Cadillac pulled up, with Italian music blaring at festival volume from his car stereo.  As he made the corner, with the window down, he looked over at the sidewalk lunchers and led with his finger to the music.

The mobile maestro was obviously enjoying the moment to share his passion, and I overheard a guest comment, “Wow, that’s real.”  Indeed.  I stepped inside and took a seat at the bar.

I only examined the wine list for rosé, as that’s what I really wanted.  The Chiaretto Provenza is $10.50 by the glass.

Made with Groppello, Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera grapes, the wine hails from the area near Lake Garda in the northern part of Italy.  The winery, Azienda Agricola Provenza, is located in the Lombardy region.  Lake Garda has a special microclimate in which palm, olive and lemon trees thrive practically at the foot of the Alps.

The wine is a nice, rich, salmon color and the ice cold status at which it’s served makes it a little hard to discern too much on the nose.  The palate shows bright cherry and strawberry fruit with a hint of raspberry tartness.  The wine is dry and crisp - very refreshing.  The finish is good, and minerals are the last thing remembered after the sip is gone.

STEPPING STONE BY CORNERSTONE ROSE 2010

We have tasted and written about the Stepping Stone Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc Cuvée Musqué from Napa Valley's Cornerstone Cellars.  Both are great wines for warm weather sipping.  The winery also provided their rosé for our perusal.

Winemaker Jeff Keene did a fine job on the two under-$20-whites we tried, and his efforts with the pink produced similar results.

The Stepping Stone Corallina Rosé is made of Napa Valley Syrah, carries a very moderate 13.9% abv number and retails for $18.  Cornerstone says the name "Corallina" is Italian for "coral," which is a pretty fair description of the color of this wine.

A beautiful nose of strawberry fruit and Pez candy sails along on an herbal undercurrent.  There's no cloying sweetness here, not even close.  It's bone dry with a zing of acidity right off the bat.  The slightest trace of white pepper gives way to a beautiful layer of cherry and strawberry flavors overlayed with minerals.  This wine will be welcome on the deck all summer, and on the lunch table any time of year.



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STEPPING STONE BY CORNERSTONE SAUVIGNON BLANC CUVEÉ MUSQUÉ 2010

Yesterday we tasted the Stepping Stone Napa Valley Riesling.  Napa Valley's Cornerstone Cellars also provided Now And Zin with the Sauvignon Blanc from their affordable Stepping Stone line.  It's a Musqué clone, it's a great summertime wine and it retails for $18.

This racy white wine is made from a clone of Sauvignon Blanc called Cuveé Musqué, a highly aromatic version of Sauvignon Blanc crossed with the Muscat grape.

Stepping Stone's Musqué has an alcohol level of 13.5% abv.  It's very pale in the glass, a very clean appearance with almost no color at all.

The nose is quite aromatic, musqué, if you will.  The aromas of grassiness are most pronounced, but they stop short of some of the cruder descriptions people tend to use for Sauvignon Blanc at its most expressive.  A strong citrus scent is also present, grapefruit to my nose.

The palate is full of minerals - wet rocks - and a bracing acidity that is most refreshing.  There’s a citrus streak a mile wide, bountiful with limes and grapefruit.  A zestiness on the finish leaves a crisp, clean feeling and the traces of minerals persist a long while.

We still have the Stepping Stone dry rosé to try, which we will do next week on Now And Zin.


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SUMMER ALREADY AT THE BEACHCOMBER IN MALIBU

The calendar did not reflect it, but the weather didn't notice on a recent trip to The Beachcomber on the Malibu Pier.  It looked and felt like summer to me, and I enjoyed a couple of summery beverages during a long lunch with the mom-in-law.  Some may quip that lunch with a mother-in-law is always long, but she and I always get along just fine.

Kona Brewing Company's Longboard Island Lager got things off to a great start.  It's really yellow, with a nice head, white and fluffy.  The taste is very clean and the hops are fresh with a touch of malt and a citrus edge on the palate.

Service was quite slow, so another beverage seemed appropriate.  I opted for an Edna Valley white wine I know and love, the Tangent Sauvignon Blanc.  Grassy minerals and a nose full of citrus notes lead to a palate loaded with lemon zest and wet rocks.  It pairs extremely well with sunshine and Mahi Mahi.

OJAI VINEYARDS ROSE 2007

We'll keep the summertime wines rolling with a look back at a rosé I had a couple of summers ago and enjoyed immensely, the Ojai Vineyards Rosé 2007.

This pink comes in a clear bottle that really shows off the beautiful salmon-colored contents.  The diamond-shaped label shows it to be a California Table Wine at 14% abv.  It's a blend of Grenache, Mourvèrdre, a touch of Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc.

A floral sense dominates the nose, with notes of cranberry and strawberry.  On the palate, bone dry!  That's always a pleasure.  How disappointing is it to taste a rosé and find it to be a pretty little candy bar?  Not this one.  It sooo wants some food.  This wine would be great with the usual pairings of salad and fish, but I think it would also pair well with heavier fare, like pork chops.  I had mine with some crackers and extra sharp cheddar, and it scored.

Run by Adam Tolmach and his wife, Helen for more than a quarter century,  Ojai Vineyards is probably best known for their Syrah.  Adam writes on the website, "In the old days we used to make it dark, soft, and full to the point that it could have been confused with a Pinot Noir.  The wine was a meal in itself.  But I have turned away from that style; I now prefer rosés light and zippy-so much easier to slurp with lunch on an unbearably hot day."  The '07 sure fit the bill.  I understand their '08 rosé contained Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, while the '09 sports Roll Ranch Syrah with a spot of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc.

If you have found it difficult getting your hands on a variety of Ojai Vineyards wines, you should note that the Tolmachs plan to open a tasting room - for the first time - with a target date of July 15th.  The tasting room will be in the historic firehouse at 109 South Montgomery Street in Ojai.  Sounds like a jaunt to Ojai may have just popped up on the summer calendar.

CORNARO ROSSO VINO DA TAVOLA

Here's a fantastic summer wine that looks and drinks like a rosado, even though  it's marketed as a red by the folks who make it.

This light red is 11% abv.  It comes from Italy's Veneto region, produced by Cantina Montelliana, a cooperative that's been making wine since the 1950s.  They're in the Treviso province and take grapes from Montello and Colli Asolani.  Exactly what grapes they take is a mystery to me - perhaps someone more knowledgable than I on Italian wine can fill in the blanks.  It reminds me a lot of Refosco, and I would not be surprised to find it is fermented without any wood.  It is a Vino da Tavola - table wine - and as such is unregulated by the Italian wine beaurocracy.

Whatever grapes are in it make the wine as dark as a rosado, a ruby red tint I can see through it easily.  There's a trace of tiny bubbles clinging to the sides of the glass.  In fact, the wine shows just a touch of frizzante, especially when not chilled.  The nose is so fresh and perfumed, like a basket of fresh-picked cherries.  The taste is not sweet, but it is rather reminiscent of a cherry soda from a flavor standpoint.  There's a fairly big strawberry profile, too.  Throw in a hint of spiciness and you have a light and delicious red that tastes great slightly chilled for a summer day.

The wine's nice acidity makes it a cinch that it will pair with salads, pasta or even chicken, pork or veal.  When served cold, a really grapey taste comes in.  Reminiscent of, but not exactly like, the taste of Spanada wine from back in the '70s.

RIVERBENCH PINOT NOIR ROSE 2009

With the weather unseasonably cool in Southern California recently, it seems almost a shame to crack open a nice Central Coast rosé.  Part of me feels I should wait until a warm, sunny day when I can lounge about on the deck and soak up the Laurel Canyon quiet.  Another part of me feels that if I open the rosé, summer will come.  Of course, someone on the east coast may have tried that, and look what happened.  Triple digits.  I'm throwing caution to the cool ocean breeze and opening a rosé from the Santa Maria Valley.

Opening the Riverbench  '09 Pinot Noir Rosé is a little more difficult that opening most wines.  They have sealed the top of the bottle with a beautiful, pink wax enclosure.  Inside the clear bottle they have placed the beautiful, pink wine.  It's a rich-looking pink - not quite red, but not pastel, either.   This pink wine is produced in the saignée method, in which the juice is bled off from the skins. It's all stainless steel and rather full-bodied for a rosé.  It's 13.8% abv.

The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine come from the Riverbench Vineyard.  The nose is lovely, with cherries and rose petals.  A slight earthiness shows up on the palate, but the fruit does not hide.  Fun flavors of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and citrus abound.  The bracing acidity may take you by surprise.  The wine is nice and dry, and it finishes that way - for a long time, the way it should.

SANGRIA WINE

With summer here and patio parties no doubt on your agenda, I've been writing a lot about some nice white wines and rosés that are so good for warm-weather outdoor get-togethers.  These are fantastic summer drinks, and for my money, whites and rosés can get me through any summer, with a few hoppy beers along the way.  There are a couple of other items on the summer beverage menu into which we should take a look.  One of those is sangria, a wine punch that originated in Spain.

Sangria is usually made with a bottle of red wine, thin-sliced fresh fruit and sparkling water, soda or ginger ale.  For every bottle of wine used, use about half that amount of the other liquid.  I've noticed a lot of restaurants that serve sangria are also serving a version made with white wine.

It's made by the pitcher, and most people use either wine that is already open or what we'll generously refer to as "bargain wine" to make their sangria.  As for the fruit, oranges, apples, pears, peaches and grapes are always good, but one of the beauties of sangria is that you can use whatever fruit you like or happen to have around the house.  A tropical sangria, with pineapple, passion fruit or mangoes is a nice twist. Strawberries are good, too.

You can't go wrong with a nice Spanish wine - I'm thinking Tempranillo for red Sangria or Albarino for white - but feel free to try a wine that's a favorite of yours, or one with a flavor profile that will bring out the taste of whatever fruit you are using.

Here's the basic sangria recipe:

1. Cut the fruit into thin slices to maximize the surface area.  Two cups of fruit per bottle of wine should do it.

2. Pour the wine into a pitcher and put the fruit into it.  If you are serving it right away, cut the fruit into wedges and squeeze the juice into the pitcher, tossing in the squeezed rinds as you do.

3. A lot of recipes call for a half cup of sugar, but if you are watching your sugar intake, you can leave it out.  The fruit itself contains enough sugar for me.  If you do use sugar, use simple sugar, not granulated.  The simple sugar will dissolve, granulated won't.

4. Try to make your sangria ahead of time so the fruit and the wine can marinate together.  Keep it in the fridge for a day, if possible.

5. When you are ready to serve it, then add the sparkling water, soda or ginger ale and serve over lots of ice.
There you have it - instant party.  That was easy.

Sangria always seems to be a real crowd-pleaser, and it's a taste treat which should be enjoyed often throughout the summer.  You have the basic steps, now start experimenting with your own personal twists.  Leave a comment here and tell us how you do sangria.

SUMMER WINE PAIRINGS FROM WINE EXPO

I feel like the emcee who asks a question, tips the microphone toward the guest and has it ripped from his hand.  It's not a completely unexpected feeling, as I went into this "Wine Merchant Wine Pairings" week fully aware of the lengthy and lavish locution to which Roberto Rogness is prone.  Roberto is the general manager and wine director of Wine Expo , 2933 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica, CA.  You can reach Roberto and his staff at 310.828.4428 or 1.800.WINE.EXPO.

His treatise is so full-bodied and informative, there's little for me to do except take the day off and turn the microphone - er, blog - over to him.  Here is Roberto's full discourse on wine pairings for the summer menu.  As always, he delivers good advice as well as good reading.


"Nothing more Summery or Italian than Fizzy Reds and Quality Preserved Pork Products (Hard Sausages, Head Cheese, Prosciutto, Lardo, Lonza, you name it):

Are you MAN enough to drink a Fizzy Red?

Yes Drill Sergeant!

Things happen here at your favorite wine emporium that we couldn’t make up if we tried but THIS one really made an impression: Three Sundays ago a cab pulled up and two United States Marines in full desert camo and toting full packs got out.  They came in and it turned out that they had JUST gotten off a plane at LAX after a long deployment in Iraq, were on their way home to see their wives and that their wives had mentioned some wine they really liked that they had to buy HERE: Picchioni Sangue di Giuda and
Il Falchetto Brachetto d'Acqui!  When we mentioned that the common wisdom on such wines (red, fizzy, very fruity and a bit sweet which makes them fabulous with salty snacks) was that they were a bit "girlie", one of the young infantrymen said, "When Mama’s happy, I’m happy.  That’s the battle plan sir."  Well, in that case, Semper Fi Marine, carry on, welcome home and let her try some of these next time:
Azienda Agricola Martilde, Rovescala, Oltrepò PaveseMartilde is one of our favorite discoveries in the Brave NEW World of the Oltrepò Pavese: a full service vino-teria making ten or so bottlings ranging from dry and delicate whites to insanely concentrated reds, all grown with molto rispetto for nature by a couple who have become good friends of ours, Antonella Tacci and Raimondo Lombardi.  AND they all have fabulous art labels (painted by Antonella) depicting the animals on the estate.

Martilde OP Bonarda Frizzante Gianna 2007, Lombardia $19.99 ORGANIC
Antonella and Raimondo’s entry into the local arms race over who can make the most convivial and fun fizzy red: Darker and lusher than either Agnes Cresta Ghiffi or the Picchioni Sangue di Giuda, this one is going to win even more fans to this fun category.
 Castello di Gabiano, Monferrato, PiemonteThis winery quietly operates in an alternate universe from many of their neighbors whose Nebbiolo based wines are all about power and tannins and long aging.  Instead, they produce fantastic examples of DOCs rarely seen outside of Italy that are known for their elegance and restrained beauty.

We are proud to bring to the market for the first time the wines of the Gabiano, Rubino di Cantavenna and Malvasia di Casorzo zonas.  These wines are sure to delight you with their unique blend of history, poetry, grace and charm...

Castello di Gabiano Malvasia di Casorzo Il Giardino di Flora 2007, Piemonte $23.99
"The Garden of Flowers" seems intriguing enough but that literal take on the name of this wine is only the start: it is a tribute to the nymph Flora, idealized by Botticelli in his portrait of Simonetta Cattaneo (the platonic love of Giuliano di Medici) entitled "La Primavera".  What it TASTES like is another thing altogether: one of our staff exclaimed "It’s like Brachetto on CRACK!" the first time we opened a bottle.  Translation: insanely concentrated flavors of ripe and spicy red and black berries, a skoonch of teenage love and a pinch of "Oh! My! GAWD!" plus just enough sweetness to make it delicious with either fruit or chocolate cakes, tarts, cookies and truffles or some full flavored cheeses (and its just 5% alcohol so you can have more and then some more!).  We predict a big fan club for this so, remember, we warned you...

Terre da Vino, Barolo, Piemonte
These guys were our find of the year at VinItaly 2009: a modern cooperative cantina in the heart of the Barolo zona with 2800 small
growers tending 5096 hectares to chose from but dedicated to quality AND value for money!

Terre da Vino Freisa d'Asti Frizzante 2008, Piemonte $14.99
So...what the hell is Freisa?!? It is a very traditional, very local variety grown in the vineyards of and drunk by the makers of great Barolo.  Why haven’t you seen one before?  You could say it is the beautiful and enchanted daughter whom they packed off to the convent so the whole town wouldn’t be fighting over her.  She smells like violets, spices and ripe red cherries, is medium bodied, hauntingly delicious.......and slightly sparkling!  Serve chilled with antipasti and friends. This is a party in a bottle with lots of fruit but not too sweet and about half the fizz of Champagne.  Try it with BBQ (Korean or Carolina!), Tangerine Spiced Beef, Salumi and Cheese and a sunset.....improvise.

Terre da Vino Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco Dolce, Piemonte $16.99
Our notes from VinItaly: "Sex on wheels! So fragrant and fun you could drink a whole bottle.  Ali will go crazy with this in Hawaii and we need an endless supply here in Santa Monica too."  This is RED Malvasia with a wondrous nose of ripe red berries and rose petals, just a touch of sweetness, full pressure fizz but just 6.5% ABV.

Cantina Sociale di Puianello, Quattro Castella, Emilia-Romagna
We met these guys through a friend of a friend (ciao e grazie Arrigo!) and were immediately impressed by their almost surreal professionalism.  Their stand at VinItaly was like a Formula One pit stop: Marketing Director Vittorio Maltezze welcomed us in perfect English, we sat and within seconds a crack staff went to work and for nearly an hour glasses appeared and were replaced like magic, top flight Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and cured pork products materialized seemingly out of thin air (with their salt, spice and sweetness levels matched to each new wine), technical and marketing brochures in English landed next to each new glass, mineral water filled our glasses, spit buckets were dumped and replaced without us even noticing let alone asking.  And the wines? As the company motto says, "É buono, è un Puianello" (it’s good, it’s a Puianello)!  Now for the story:

In 1938 five grape growers in the hills of the tiny hamlet of Puianello near Reggio founded a co-op so they could make wine instead of selling grapes and thereby see a little more of the profit on the fruit of their labor (and they located the cantina at an address on Via Carlo Marx, quite fitting for a Cantina Sociale, don’t you think?).  Over the years more growers joined bringing more land so that today there are 330 members producing a large range of wines in many styles with a focus on the traditional frizzante and spumante styles of the zona, red, white and rosato, ranging from bone dry through "amabile" (amiable or friendly) to dessert wines.
We tasted over twenty of them and brought in four that fill some holes in our ever expanding omniverse of fine fizz. 

Puianello Lambrusco dell’Emilia Rosso Amabile, Emilia-Romagna $12.99
Very dark and packed with full throttle spicy black fruit, finished just off-dry (but more than balanced by the bubbles and natural acidity of the Lambrusco variety).  At this price you can pound it with classic pasta Bolognese, BBQ (Texas, North Carolinian, South Korean, bring it on), pizza or brunch and still pay your bills.

Puianello Lambrusco Grasparossa Amabile Luceria, Emilia-Romagna $15.99
This is serious, just OFF DRY, red (well almost black) wine that you can serve with almost anything and has the added food matching advantage of medium but persistent effervescence and the fact that you serve it cold.  The perfect solution for hot days, hot foods or hot dates...it’s versatile.

Puianello Ancellotta dell’Emilia Dolce BonDaMat  $11.99
100% Ancellotta with a dark red color, intense rose petal and violet notes on the nose followed by lots of ripe berry fruit and medium sweetness on the palate.  In their brochure the enologist says it is "similar to the more trumpeted Brachetto Piemontese but at lower cost" and that just about nails it.  Already a sensation with local Italiani, get yours before they buy it all....


The LA Times' Jean T. Barrett on the joys of Lambrusco:
"AND WHAT of the reds? An antipasto array that includes smoked and cured meats calls out for the classic wine pairing with charcuterie, Emilia-Romagna's frothy Lambrusco.  What? you ask, incredulously.  Are you referring to that fizzy sweet drink that many of us cut our wine teeth on?  Hardly.  True, most Lambrusco exported to the U.S. is pop wine, but the best bottlings from quality-oriented producers in the DOC zones around Modena and Reggio display a lush fruitiness and fizz as well as firm acidity and tannins that contrast deliciously with the salty, rich flavors of dry salami, prosciutto and other charcuterie.  For an even drier and
bolder version, sample Puianello's Contrada Borgoleto Lambrusco Reggiano. It is deep garnet in color, intensely jammy and tarry in the bouquet, and tastes like dark cherry soda while being absolutely bone dry.  Please pass the salami . . . and the olives . . . and the crostini. . . "

Giuseppe e Ricciarda Caprari, Reggio Emilia, Emilia- Romagna
Lambrusco is a very mysterious wine: most people will never admit to drinking any yet, as Carl Sagan might say, every year millions and MILLIONS of bottles are made, sold and enjoyed.  Somehow when someone opens a bottle of quality Lambrusco, the contents seem to vaporize as if by magic and everyone forgets their old college war stories of bad run ins with Riunite, Cold Duck or worse.

Cantina Caprari was established in 1927 and the current generation are making the best wines ever with a strong eye towards traditional methods, styles and culture (the Foieta is named after a traditional bowl used to consume broth, wine and filled pasta all
in one go to fortify the vineyard workers for their tasks) while taking advantage of newer technology where it fits in.

Caprari Lambrusco dell'Emilia Dolce Frizzante 2008, Emilia-Romagna $14.99
The softer, sweeter (but not too sweet) sister of our beloved Foieta (below), this rocks with fruit and cheese, spicy red sauce Q, picnic fare or just a sunset and a friend....

Caprari Lambrusco dell'Emilia Secco Frizzante Foieta 2008, Emilia-Romagna $23.99
BONE Dry, deeply colored and flavored with bright fruit and spice, this can be served with a wide range of plates: Penne Arrabbiata, real Smoked Bar-B-Que, your family Lasagna recipe, Tandoori meats, Szechuan stir fries or a traditional holiday feast, you name it, it works.  Mmm Mmmm Good!

Azienda Agricola Andrea Picchioni, Canneto Pavese, Lombardia
Andrea is very famous here for his insanely concentrated reds from the Buttafuoco zona but this casual sipper has its own rabid fan club:

Picchioni Sangue di Giuda 2006 $14.99
Deeply colored, just 7% alcohol, fizzy but not too, explosive dark berry flavors, enough zizz to deal with anything from salty prosciutto and olive tapenade anti-pasti to red sauce BBQ or tangerine spiced beef.  We even had a customer excitedly call in once to tell us how "Everyone is going crazy for that stuff......even my mother-in-law who puts Equal in her Chardonnay!".  Uhhhhh....right.  Even though your inner weasel is large and in charge most of the time, your inner child IS hiding in there and this wine is almost guaranteed to bring him/her out to play.  20 cases only, get it while it lasts!

Azienda Agricola Fratelli Agnes, Rovescala, Lombardia
Like our friends at Fattoria di Faltognano, the family operating this winery has been doing so for so many generations (800 years in this case) that making delicious traditional wines with utmost respect for nature is encoded in their very DNA. They make such a small amount of wine and it is so famous in their zona that they really didn’t want to be bothered with all the paperwork involved in exporting any.  Well, after three years of courting them and reminding them of the great success we’ve had with their next door neighbors at Martilde they relented and the wines have become huge WINE EXPO-ista favorites:

Fratelli Agnes Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda Frizzante Cresta del Ghiffi 2005, Lombardia $16.99
This is the most traditional and typical of the local tastes: Late harvest Bonarda from 50 year old vines, finished slightly sparkling.  It is fabulous with antipasti like figs or melone wrapped in prosciutto then grilled or maybe bruschetta with Gorgonzola and Olives.  The name refers to the comb of the serious looking rooster glaring at your from the label to make sure you finish every last drop and get another glass...right away!

Tenuta Il Falchetto, S. Stefano Belbo, Piemonte
The wines of I Fratelli Fabulosi Forno (The Fabulous Forno Brothers!) have been big hits here since we opened the doors in ‘93 and we have just unloaded a new batch of their fabulously food (and wallet!) friendly wines for your enjoyment:

Il Falchetto Brachetto d'Aqui Frizzante 2007, Piemonte $21.99
Brachetto is: 1) Perhaps the most delicious thing you’ll swallow this week.  2) Red (well dark pink actually), slightly sparkling wine with a bouquet of fresh strawberries that’s almost too easy to drink (so you had better get two to prepare).  3) A pretty darn good reason for living, come to think of it.  4) Wonderful with prosciutto e melone, fruit & cheese or just good company on a sunny afternoon.  5) One of the best seduction tools ever devised.  Psych!  Trick question, it’s all of the above!!!

Azienda Agricola Podere Saulino, Novi Ligure, Piemonte
This cantina has 12 hectares of vines in the heart of the Gavi DOCG zona, mostly dedicated to the Cortese variety for Gavi but also makes a lovely Brachetto that will be perfect for your next picnic or breakfast in bed

Il Saulino Piemonte Brachetto Dolce e Spumante 2007 $26.99
This version of our most popular fizzy red has full on pressure like Champagne, a light strawberry color that follows through on the nose and palate and is just sweet enough to set off the flavors of a nice cheese plate, some salty snacks or a groovy picnic/brunch spread.  It is so good you will want to drink the whole bottle and since it is only 7% ABV we say "Why Not?".

Azienda Agricola Cascina Fonda di Marco e Massimo Barbero, Mango, Piemonte
Living in a town named after the most sensual of fruits (Mango, near Asti) the Barbero brothers, Marco and Massimo, just HAVE to make exotically perfumed nectars of seduction, right?  Well.....YES they do, and, despite the pronouncements of a recent  "authoritative" book about regional wines of Italy that you would have to go to Piemonte to find any, we’ve had them (and a lot of the others mentioned) here for years.

Casina Fonda Brachetto 2008, Piemonte $35.00
Brachetto is:  1) The most delicious thing you’ll swallow this week and almost too easy to drink.  2) Wonderful with prosciutto e melone, fruit & cheese, re-runs of Reno 911 on Comedy Central or just good company on a summer afternoon.  3) Red, sparkling wine that has an intense bouquet of fresh strawberries (and, as Miriam Makeba once noted in song, so does love!).  4) All of the above!!!"


My thanks to Roberto Rogness of Wine Expo for the great pairing suggestions, along with the fabulous entertainment.  I love the passion for wine he exhibits in his words.  My big fear is that I will learn he wrote this piece in less time than it took me to proofread it.  After this, it may take a while for me to get up the nerve to post any of my crummy little tasting notes.  We hope to have another batch of wine merchant pairing suggestions tomorrow, so please pay us a return visit.

SUMMER WINE PAIRINGS FROM ROSSO WINE SHOP

This week we're hearing from wine merchants on their favorite summer pairings. The official beginning of summer is still coming up - quickly - but many have already started preparing their summer meals. The grills are hot, the salads are cool and all we need now is the perfect wine to serve with our seasonal spreads.

Jeff Zimmitti, owner of Rosso Wine Shop in Glendale is our contributor today.  Rosso is at 3459 ½ N Verdugo Road in Glendale, CA.  You can reach Jeff at 818.330.9130.

Here are Jeff's top four picks for wines that will rock your summer.

He says quite rightly - that any grilled seafood will go well with a dry French rosé!  He recommends the 2009 Domaine Corbillieres Touraine Rosé, which goes for $13.99.  Jeff says this French pink is "made from 100% Pinot Noir.  Hand-harvested.  Naturally fermented.  Elegant style.  The result is a pale rosé wine, slightly spicy, with a vague hint of pepper.  It is a thirst-quenching wine to drink with all summer meals, and can also be paired with exotic cuisine.  It can handle some spice."

Jeff goes to the grill with a wine that can "work with a flavorful grilled salmon or some grilled pork or chicken.  It is light on it’s feet and has a nice brightness.  A slight chill can make it very refreshing."  He's talking about the 2007 Ca’ Montebello Bonarda Frizzanteat $17.99.  It's an Italian, "made with Croatina grapes that were hand-harvested from the Oltrepo Pavese DOC.  A ruby red wine with violet reflections.  An ever so faint spritz (frizzante) makes this wine a fresh drink.  Intense and vinous with hints of cherries and woodland fruits.  It is a smooth elegant wine to be enjoyed young and if you like, with a slight chill."

"This one pairs well with BBQ and spicy foods.  Worked well with Korean short ribs (Galbi).  Soft tannins. Bold flavor but good acidity."  That's the 2008 Punta Crena Cruvin Rosso, selling for $23.99.  Another Italian entry, this is "made in the tiny town of Varigotti, Liguria.  Not much red wine is made in this region and hardly any makes it to the U.S.  The rare red grape in this wine is 100% Crovino.  Ruby red in color, with light red fruit strawberry on the nose.  Flavors of robust forest berry and spice in the mouth.  Soft, clean and long finish.  We highly recommend this one!"

Jeff saves the biggest and baddest for last.  "Got to have a bruiser for those folks who want a dense wine to match up with some serious beef or sausages.  An old-school Zinfandel produced from vineyard sites that were first planted in California by Italian immigrants over 60+ years ago.  The 2008 Carlisle Winery Zinfandel Sonoma County, at $22.99, is medium-dark ruby-garnet.  Red cherries, berry compote, and notes of bittersweet chocolate and brown spices greet the nose.  Fresh and juicy on the palate with red and black berry fruits highlighted by hints of licorice, smoked meat, and earth."

There you have it - Jeff Zimmitti's four solid wines you and your summer guests will love, and the foods with which to pair them.  A big Glendale-sized "thanks!" to Jeff and Rosso Wine Shop.  We'll feature more summer pairing picks all week, so be sure to check in tomorrow.

SUMMER WINE PAIRINGS FROM MEL AND ROSE WINE, SPIRITS & GIFTS

This week we'll hear from wine merchants on their favorite summer pairings.  The official beginning of summer is coming up quickly, but many have already started preparing their summer meals.  The grills are hot, the salads are cool and all we need now is the perfect wine to serve with our seasonal spreads.

Our first ideas come from Shawn Banayan, the proprietor of Mel and Rose Wine, Spirits and Gifts.  They are located at 8344 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, CA.  You can reach Shawn and his staff at 323.655.5557.

If you are grilling some seafood or veggies, Shawn recommends Gassier Sables D'Azur 2009 Cotes de Provence Rosé at $11.99 or a bottle of Jean-Maurice Raffault Chinon Rosé at  $14.99.  Both bring strawberries to the table, and the latter is 100% Cabernet Franc.

For barbecued ribs, lamb or kabobs, Shawn suggests you try Riverbench Pinot Noir 2007 at $17.99 or Joel Gott Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 815 2008.  It goes for $15.99.  He also saysFlower Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2008 at $39.99 is a winner by the grill.

For summer salads, Shawn's go-to wines are the Kato Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - so fresh and alive you may forget the salad - for $11.99 or the Leth Grunerveltliner Steinagrund Lagen Reserva 2007 at $11.99.

Our thanks to Shawn and the folks at Mel and Rose Wine, Spirits and Gifts for the mouth watering pairings.  We'll be featuring more all week, so come back tomorrow!

BARBECUE SEASON IS HERE

The weather is trying to turn warmer.  In Southern California, it's been backsliding a bit of late.  One day we'll get temperatures which make one think summer must surely be on the express train to our depot.  The next day our shoulders are scrunched up, we're breathing into our fists and leaning into a freezing gale-force wind.  May in Southern California is just delightful.  Now June is here, and all those who grill are hoping a turn for the warmer is in the cards.

Apparently, I'm not the only one looking forward to firing up a grill.  The most recent email newsletter from Wine Expo in Santa Monica lists a few wines they recommend pairing with grilled delectables.  It also contains one of the best descriptions of "barbecue as a religion" that I've seen.  Here it is:

"Schisms, Isms and the McRibbs Heresy

BBQ is a fundamentalist religion in some areas and has at least three major sects: the Orthodox Friars of Fruitwood Smoke Slow Cooking, the Sainted Sisters of The Sauce is Boss and the somewhat exotic and hard to find Vicars of the Vinaigrette Marinade (an Eastern offshoot of the famously violent Dry Rub Rebellion of 1893). The defining of BBQ can start an argument (or even a fist fight) because (just like traditional wine styles) THESE THINGS MATTER: it is the culture, patrimony and heritage of someone you are talking about, and that does not come in a bottle from the supermarket. But, being a Big Tent house of The Q, we here at WINE EXPO are willing to arbitrate if you bring enough samples for lunch, and we have also searched the globe to find wines fit for it all so you (andyour Sweet Red Sauce loving Brother in Law) can have an ecumenical holiday weekend."

Wine Expo's website has the rest of the newsletter and those wine recommendations for your spring cookouts.  By the way, their newsletter mentions - almost in passing - that Wine Expo hopes to be pouring wine in their very own tasting room by June 2010!  I wonder if they'll set up a grill in the parking lot for opening day?