What a great meeting! We met during the dog days of summer, in the midst of record humidity, to choose great summertime wines -- those wines that you sip while sitting on the porch in the middle of August, or even better, while sitting in the air-conditioned headquarters of the DiVine Company Wine Club. This month's meeting was hosted by Donna, who had actually planned to have the meeting at her place in the backyard, but the rainy forecast pushed us inside. Near as I can tell it did not rain, but location didn't matter. We were assembled and ready to evaluate this month's wines.
This turned out to be a great theme for us because it led us in some new directions. As our regular members know, we are not by and large white wine drinkers, nor do we enjoy roses. If we do drink a white, most of the time it's a riesling (just keepin' it real). But here we were, charged with choosing summertime wines, so our usual reds just wouldn't do. And we even had a "no riesling" rule! Harsh! So we were forced to open our minds and palates to new things, and we did pretty darn well: explored a couple of new grapes, and even tried a rose we liked. And we tasted some really nice summertime wines. In keeping with our summertime theme, we also enjoyed a summer pasta salad from Mom and a refreshing, fruity dessert from Robin that the above photo does not do justice; what can I tell you, I tried.
I urge you to find some of these wines and try them; nearly all are worth the effort. Note: Aside from the one red we tasted, these are best served chilled.
THE WINNER
Conundrum 2007 California White
http://www.wineglobe.com/21234.html -- The Conundrum is basically a white wine blend from California -- a distinctive combination of sauvignon blanc, muscat, chardonnay, and viognier. The result is a very fruity white with strong peach aromas and flavors (we compared the nose to the syrup found in a Dole tropical fruit cocktail), along with nectarine, black pepper, and other tropical fruits. The muscat makes the wine semi-sweet, perfect for easy summer drinking.
SECOND PLACE
Domaine Raffault Chinon 2008 Rose
http://www.adventuresinwine.net/index.php?id=95 -- This was a fruity rose with hints of green grape and red berries, and it even had a kick to it, making it more appealing to us than many roses. We enjoyed the hint of strawberry flavor and the mouthfeel, which gave the wine body. Not only did we like it, we made it our number 2 choice.
THIRD PLACE
Casal Garcia Vinho Verde
http://tablewine.com/archiv18.htm -- Literally translated, "vinho verde" means "green grape." The wine, which hails from Portugal, is meant to be drunk young, and is absolutely perfect for summertime. It even smells like summertime air -- you know, sunshine over a field of grass and daisies -- and a little bit like Welch's white grape juice. It also surprised us by being slightly effervescent, yet so smooth, with light grapefruit flavors. Chill this and take it to the porch.
THE REST
Ceretto Blange Arneis 2007 http://www.ceretto.com/pagine/eng/vini_ceretto/monsordo_bernardina/langhe_arneis_blange.lasso -- A new grape for us, from Italy's Piedmont region, that gave our developing palates a real challenge. Mom probably has one of the most developed noses in the group and she picked up a soapy aroma, like Tide detergent. The palate was also hard to place; we tasted mustiness, grapefruit peel, and it had a nice long finish. This was a complex wine and we did like it, but it was a challenge to categorize. I will definitely get another bottle of it and taste it again. If anyone else tries an arneis, please report back to the club!
Hess Chardonnay 2008 http://www.wine.com/V6/Hess-Monterey-Chardonnay-2005/wine/88003/detail.aspx also see an interesting review of this wine here http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/284962/hess_chardonnay_monterey_2005_a_white.html -- Robin nailed the aroma on this one: roasted chestnuts. That was the first indication of the oakiness of this summertime chardonnay. The nose was very toasty with hints of fruit way in the back. The taste was an eye-opener -- grass, leaves, and lots and lots of oak and butter. The crazy thing is that the tasting notes on the back of the bottle as well as those I've seen online refer to fruity flavors like guava, pineapple, and pears, but we got none of that. Either we missed the boat completely, or everyone else is lying!
Clos de la Siete http://www.winereviewonline.com/clos_siete.cfm -- Our only red wine of the day was a blend out of Argentina comprised of 50% malbec, 30% merlot, 10% cabernet sauvignon, and 10% syrah grapes. On the nose we picked up berries, leather, smoke, and a bit of prune or raisin. The taste was heavy on tannins and heat, which overpowered the fruity taste that would have been lent by the malbec and syrah grapes. This wine seemed a bit young to us and would have benefited either from lots more breathing time (we tasted it over an hour after opening) or more time in the cellar.
Stone's Original Green Ginger Wine http://www.winechateau.com/sku14264.html?utm_source=Shopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=STONES%20GINGER%20WINE -- The surprise of the day was this ginger wine that was more of a liqueur. Made using a centuries-old recipe, this wine smells exactly the way ginger ale should smell; waves and waves of real ginger scent. The wine is somewhat sweet and best used as a mixer -- we imagined it mixed in tea or as a hot toddy, or with whiskey. Or you can try it the way we did: on the rocks, with an orange slice. So refreshing and satisfying, this drink pretty much signifies summertime.
So now you have some great wines to try during the upcoming Labor Day weekend while you're at the beach or on the porch. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer, and make the best of it; it'll be over before you know it. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 3. See you then.
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