Ask a wine professional
By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
For those who stay in South Florida this summer, there’s one reward: plenty of hot,
humid weather that is the perfect excuse to chill out with a bottle of wine.
“A glass of wine brightens up everything — whether you are on the back porch,
around the pool or sitting down to dinner,” says Asher White, co-owner and wine
buyer for Dolce Vita Wines in Lake Worth.
To find something refreshing, you have to put a little thought into what you pour.
For help, we turn to three local wine experts who have tips for summer sipping
as well as suggestions for bottles to buy.
When it comes to whites, you may want to avoid your favorite chardonnay because it
can get “muted and flabby” when served very chilled, says Bob Leone, manager
and wine director of Crown Wine & Spirits in Boynton Beach. Instead, look
for a wine that has a good level of acidity to stand up to the cold.
Dave Spitzer, owner of Old Vines Wine & Spirits in Delray Beach, agrees with
Leone that you don’t want a big buttery chardonnay. Instead, look for “crisper
more mineral and acidic wines that are not soft on the palate,” he says.
Spitzer recommends wines made from torrontes, white grapes from Argentina; albarino
grapes from Spain; and catarratto, white grapes native to Sicily. All make nice, crisp wines perfect for serving
chilled.
Or, select a New Zealand sauvignon blanc that has overtones of citrus such as
grapefruit. Served chilled, it’s very refreshing, Spitzer says.
La Dolce Vita’s White recommends a Chilean sauvignon blanc priced from $10 to $12
a bottle. “It’s a good wine that’s a good value for summer when the economy is
slow,” he says.
He also enjoys South African chenin blanc that has bright acidity and good
minerality without too much grapefruit flavor. He suggests serving it with
seafood, pork, chicken or a salad.
“But don’t get too caught up with pairing foods and wines. Drink what makes you
happy,” he says.
In summer, you can even pour reds if they have “what wine geeks describe as good
structure and bold fruit,” says Crown’s Leone. He’s a fan of Australian shiraz
(“Not the cheap stuff”) as well as California cabernets and red zinfandels.
Although you can drink these reds year-round, they lend themselves to the al fresco
experience, and their flavors go well with grilled dishes, he says. However, he
recommends you serve them with a slight chill, at about 65 degrees.
“A lot of people don’t drink red wine in summer because they think it is too hot,”
explains White. “But truth is they are serving the wine too hot,” he says. It’s
best to put the bottle of red in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before
serving.
Spitzer also serves lightly chilled cabernet and Australian shiraz when dining indoors
where it’s air-conditioned. But he finds some people feel that these wines are
too high in alcohol and, therefore, too heavy to drink in the outdoor heat. He
also warns that their high alcohol content (above 13.5 percent) can go to your
head quickly in our summer climate.
Instead, he enjoys a light red such as a pinot noir, beaujolais or a little more fruity
wine such as a syrah or zinfandel.
Anything described as bright and fruity can be chilled, says Spitzer, who highly
recommends that when drinking wine outdoors in summer you consume a glass of
water for every glass of wine you imbibe. “You’ll feel a lot better and stay
longer at the picnic,” he says.
White finds that many of his customers who drink cabernets in the winter switch to
chardonnays in the summer, even though some of our experts don’t recommend
serving this often buttery wine ice cold. But for those who want to stick with
reds, Dolce Vita’s White also recommends a pinot noir with good fruit, a red
zinfandel, a syrah and a shiraz. He keeps pinot noir around as a staple.
And “don’t rule out a good rose,” White says. We’re not talking about that sweet
pink wine California has used to ruin the reputation of these pretty pours.
“People see pink in a wine glass and think sweet,” White says. But that’s not
necessarily true unless the winery has used lesser quality grapes and “jazzed
them up” with sugar. A true rose is a red wine in which the liquid hasn’t been
left in contact with the grape skins for very long. It’s the skins that give
red wine its red color.
White suggests you look to wines from Mediterranean regions such as Provence and
Languedoc where roses are the summer wine of choice. Or select one of the
better roses from the Rhone region of France where the winemakers use a blend
of grenache, syrah, mourvedre and cinsault grapes. They produce a wine that
tastes juicy with fresh fruit, he says.
And when the temperature and humidity rise, don’t forget sparkling wines. Leone
recommends a Washington State sparkler that can be budget priced at about $10.
Spitzer is a fan of a dry (Brut) sparkler such as a rose, blanc de blanc or
blanc de noir. And White likes to fill flutes with prosecco, the sparkling wine
of Italy, which has tropical fruit flavors without being sweet.
With so many choices, perhaps the most important thing to remember this summer is:
“Whatever makes you happy works. Just enjoy it. There are no rules to break
when it comes to serving wine,” White says.
Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.
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