Five Delicious Wines to Uncork July 4th (And Enjoy All Summer Long)
“Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilized pleasures.” -Michael Broadbent
Summertime is all about outdoor dining, backyard gatherings, seasonal ingredients, and anything grilled. The tastiest dishes are composed of accessible, peak-of-freshness ingredients and call for wines that are bright, food-friendly, and decidedly unfussy. The focus should be on fun and community, what I fondly call “table fellowship.”
Let your wine selections support your menu and soiree without angst. As always, I will recommend a category of wine. Sure, I will offer suggestions, my own wines included, but the goal is to consider a broad spectrum of wine choices rather than seek out a particular bottle. Ask your favorite, local fine wine shop to recommend something within your budget that speaks to place, authenticity, and your own palate. Without further ceremony, let the uncorking begin.
Every Celebration Deserves Bubbles
Bubbles just feel festive. Bubbles are a fully immersive sensory experience: from untwisting the metal cage to the pop of the cork to the gentle prickle of fine grain bubbles on your tongue. As you can see, I adore bubbles. Luckily for me, pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay are the traditional grapes for Champagne, bubbles grown and vinified in the Champagne region of France. And yes, they are delicious. But most other varietals (well, many other varietals) also lend themselves to sparkling satisfaction. And many are equally delicious.
Have You Ever Tasted a Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc?
Hanna Winery makes a scrumptious sparkler in the traditional methode champenoise. With lime and tree fruit on the nose and a complex palate with citrus rind and chamomile, this bottle screams summertime pleasure. This wine pick hits every note for a summertime favorite: delicious (naturally), food friendly, lower alcohol (so you can enjoy a glass of bubbles before your dinner wine) and crafted from an unexpected wine grape.
Photo by Sheri Giblin
I enjoyed this bottle so much I reached out to Hanna’s owner and proprietor (& cookbook author!), Christine Hanna, for her favorite sparkling wine and food pairings.
Like me, she leaned into the zippy citrus, noting this wine pairs spectacularly with “anything Thai- fresh spring rolls, larb salad. Brings out the kaffir lime and lemongrass in the wine.” I couldn’t agree more. Ha! Elevate your favorite take out treats with a sparkling sauvignon blanc.
If you can’t locate Hanna’s sparkling SB in a store near you, despair not. Look for domestic bubbles made from non-traditional choices (i.e. not pinot or chard). Or look abroad, to Cava from Spain, for example. A dear friend and colleague was consulting winemaker at Codorníu, so I’m partial to their bottles. But honestly, anything bubbly hits a celebratory note.
CAD - Chardonnay All Day
If you’re a card-carrying member of the ABC club, you can stop reading here. If you didn’t know “ABC” is an acronym for “Anything But Chardonnay,” please read onward. When I am fresh out of ideas for a summertime meal, I resort to the “put it in a salad” trick. Roast veggies and put ’em in a salad. Leftover chicken breast? Oh yeah, put it in a salad. That Tupperware of quinoa that you intended to eat for lunch on Tuesday? Obviously, put it in a salad. The New York Times recently posted a White Bean Salad with Roasted Cauliflower (recipe by David Tanis). Clearly, everyone enjoys a hearty summer salad. I made this one just to pair it with my chardonnay.
The nice thing about chardonnay + a mish-mash salad, is that you cannot go wrong. There are soooooo many styles of chardonnay on wine retailers’ shelves that you’re bound to find something that you enjoy.
From a steely Chablis to a sumptuous tropical number, chardonnay is a chameleon that runs the gamut from unoaked and fruit forward to heavily toasted and rich. None are intrinsically better or worse that the other.
It’s all a matter of style and site. But this makes chardonnay exploration all the more exciting!
Since I source my chardonnay from the Heintz Vineyard in Sonoma County, I am looking for recipes that amplify the wonderful lime zest and citrus blossom that Charlie’s fruit brings to bear. And since, a salad is glued together by its dressing, you need a good tangy one. Here is my recipe for miso tahini salad dressing. You can play with the citrus, but I like lime as a foil for nutty tahini and mild sweetness from the maple syrup.
In mini prep buzz together:
1 cup cilantro
1/3 c lime juice
1/3c tahini paste
1 round TB miso
Juice one lemon
Salt
2 garlic cloves
About 1/4 c maple syrup
lemon juice as needed to thin
Rose Pairs With Anything (Except Perhaps Asparagus)
I make a rockin’ rose of pinot noir. If you purchase and enjoy mine, thank you! But here I cede the spotlight to some of my favorite colleagues and women winemakers crafting oh-so-yummy summer roses.
Trombetta Family Wines Rose of Pinot Noir is juicy and food friendly, a perfect accompaniment for outdoor dining. From a mother-daughter duo, this wine offers both a heartwarming story and outstanding winemaking credibility. Daughter Erica is a superstar winemaker with a killer palate. Her mom Rickey is a chef and hostess extraordinaire with a passion for elevated hospitality. Here’s what Erica shared when I asked about her favorite summertime rose food/wine pairing:
“Smoked salmon toast with cheese!” [dramatic pause] “But also my mom’s prosciutto and melon with pistachio pesto!” I heartily agree that pistachio pesto sounds divine. Sweet, juicy melon mirrors notes in her rose while the salty prosciutto offers a contrast to the wine’s ethereal, fruit forward character. That’s a 1+1=3 kind of pairing!
The Bacigalupi family has been farming Sonoma County for generations. And their winemaker Ashley Herzberg is a long-time friend, mentor, and colleague. You can’t go wrong with this festive, pink stunner.
Lindsey Otis makes wee batches of blink-or-you’ll-miss-it wines. Her grenache rose is stellar. Stellar!! Sign up now for alerts to future vintages (since I think her 2021 is already sold out).
And if you need any more inspiration, check out this list of 10 super fabulous and utterly delicious Sonoma County roses.
Rose on Vacation
Feeling blue since you’re stuck at home while your besties are posting from Positano? I got you. Let’s lean into a category I’m calling “Rose on Vacation,” a nod to roses crafted in locations for more exotic, romantic, and spectacular than where you currently reside.
Into this category I present the UVIB Ile de Beauté - Terra Santa - Rosé from Corsica. Raise your glass if you’d rather be sunning in beaches of Corsica than working on your computer? Hence, rose on vacation. I’m sharing this wine not for you to track down the identical bottle but to encourage you to explore the roses both domestically and internationally. This particular rose was charming, just lovely! It’s crafted in a winery cooperative from both traditional and indigenous wine grape varietals.
And it’s from Corsica, which is fun and cool and offers a neat story alongside the bottle. You can read about this wine here, but instead I encourage you to seek out a rose from someplace unexpected, beachy and even tropical. If you can’t be on vacation, do send your tastebuds abroad!
Pinot Noir for the Win
I craft many different single vineyard pinots. My passion is pinot. So, it should come as no surprise that I am here hawking my favorite grape. But let me reiterate why pinot noir can be your go-to summer sipper.
photo by @jasmiinephotography
Firstly, pinot noir is a low tannin grape. If you’re sweating it out under a heat dome, a heavy, chewy high tannin wine is probably the wrong choice. Pinot noir is light and elegant, offering a serious and complex wine without the serious, mouth-drying tannins.
Secondly, being lighter bodied, pinot noir shines alongside summertime classics like grilled salmon or roasted veggie tarts. Grown in cooler climates, pinot noir is a high acid grape, so the resulting wines are vibrant and bright. High acid wines make your mouth water and always go well with food.
Lastly, well, pinots are yummy and span the gamut from boldly fruit forward to savory and nuanced. Pinot noir is grown all over the world, from coastal California to Oregon to New Zealand to Burgundy, France.
And with that knowledge, you can toss pinot into the “Grapes on Vacation” category as well. I don’t have a favorite pinot to share. But know the best pinot noirs speak to place and site and microclimate, telling the story of the growing season and region.
I recently paired the NYT recipe for Peach and Molasses Chicken (recipe by Nicole Taylor) with my Anderson Valley pinot noir.
Here’s what makes this food-wine combination magical. Cooking the peach jam with molasses deepens the flavor with a layered richness that compliments the cranberry and sour cherry notes in the wine. Anderson Valley is a cool climate region, and the resultant pinot showcases lovely juicy acidity, which cuts right though the gooey sauce and rich thigh meat. I encourage you to explore pinot noir as a go-to summertime wine category.
And Last But Never Least…Zinfandel
Zinfandel and barbeque is almost cliché. Almost! This classic summertime pairing endures for good reason. Sweet, sticky molasses barbecue sauce is lip-smacking alongside plum, cocoa, and berry-rich zinfandel.
Here’s a fact that may surprise you: zinfandel is a high acid grape. Yup, you heard it right. You heard it from me. It’s we misguided winemakers who let zippy fruit hand too long so acid plunges. But picked just right, zinfandel sings with blue fruits AND great acidity that compliments a hearty grilled rib or tender smoked brisket.
My zinfandel is sold out, has been since February. But so many great zins abound, especially here in California. But since we’ve been showcasing women in wine and small production wines that speak to place, please hear this shout out to Nalle. April Nalle is a pal and force, balancing viticulture and parenthood, she is an ambassador for her family’s legacy winery. Nalle wines are authentic, delicious, and absolutely speak to place. No summer gathering is complete without this classic pairing- zin and BBQ.
April Nalle / Kerith Overstreet at Sonoma Winegrowers, Post Oak, Houston
Here’s to a summer replete with great gatherings, great friends, great food, and great wines. The allocation for our summer release is currently closed. But if you’re planning to be in Northern California this summer, I hope you’ll consider a visit to Bruliam WInes.