The summer is winding down, but it’s still intensely hot. We’re still drinking summertime beverages at my house. As far as wine goes, that means sparkling wines, crisp whites and lighter bodied red wines. My final summer neighborhood wine tasting event featured wines that are suitable for summer sipping. I had a dozen neighbors and friends over to learn about these wines. Instead of sitting at the dining room table and tasting wines side by side, we sat in the living room and tasted one at a time. Either way works! This just felt a little more informal.
Here are the wines I poured:
Scarpetta Timido Brut Rose, 7th edition
The Scarpetta label is one of my new favorites for quality and value. Co-owner and Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey visited Dallas this Spring and had a delightful and intimate wine dinner at Royal Blue Grocery. It was such a treat to taste the Scarpetta lineup with Bobby. He speaks so fondly of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy (Friuli for short) that we are planning to visit next summer! The region is just northeast of Venice and is very close to where Prosecco is made.
The Timido Brut Rose is a blend of 70% Franconia and 30% Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir). It is a sparkling wine made in the charmat method, just like Prosecco. The color is a lovely blush and the palate is unmistakably dry. The word Timido actually means shy or blushing in Italian. Charming! It’s a food friendly wine that paired nicely with our dried Italian salami. Salute!
Winzer Krems Gruner Veltliner, 2016
In spite of its cringe-worthy nickname (Gru-V), Gruner Veltliner is a delicious and refreshing white wine from Austria. This wine was a standout at a recent Germany and Austria tasting that I attended at Total Wine. This grape was new to many of my guests, and I heard some rave reviews. Often considered an alternative to sauvignon blanc, Gruner Veltliner has a similar acidic punch, making it especially food friendly. Words like zippy and racy are often associated with Gruner, and I think these are perfect descriptors. Neighborhood Services has a Gruner Veltliner on the menu by the glass. Drink more Gru-V!
Demimo Rueda Verdejo, 2015
I often look to Spain for great value wines. While this one had an appealing price tag ($9.99), the tasting experience was less appealing. I found the Demimo to be spectacularly one-dimensional. It’s most intense aroma on the nose and palate was ripe red apple. The wine’s color was also strangely reminiscent of apple juice. Sadly, once I had this apple association at work in my mind, I couldn’t get past it. I could not identify many other elements in the wine, and therefore it seemed out of balance. It’s always interesting to introduce people to new grapes and regions, but this wasn’t the best introduction to the Verdejo grape from Rueda, Spain! Many attendees liked the wine quite a lot, so try for yourself and see what you think.
Chateau Landereau La Vie En Rose’, 2015
Ah, rose’. How do I love you? Let me count the ways… This particular rose’ is from Bordeaux and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, both noble grapes of Bordeaux. We sampled this wine from a magnum and had fun discussing bottle sizes and names from the magnum (1.5 liters) to the Nebuchadnezzar (contains 20 bottles of wine!). Large format bottles are named after Biblical kings. When I was studying for my Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) exam, I needed to learn names of the the bottle sizes in order. I knew magnum and jeraboam (4 bottles or 3 liters), but the rest were new to me. I came up with this silly but memorable mnemonic aid: Real Men Sip Bubbly Naked. This refers to Rehoboam, Methuselah, Salmanazar, Balthazar and Nebuchadnezzar. How could I forget that!
This was a crisp, delicate rose’ with typical notes of strawberry, peach and flowers. The color was quite pale, almost like a rose’ from Provence. In the magnum bottle, it appeared to have a standard light pink cast, but in the glass it was just barely tinted. Rose’ is a perfect match with so many different kind of foods. Don’t just think about rose’ as a summertime wine, it’s truly an anytime wine!
Scarpetta Barbera del Monferrato, 2015
Our second Scarpetta wine, the Barbera del Monferrato, was a juicy, delicious treat. Since the tannins in Barbera are so light, it is a great summer wine. I put the bottle on ice for 15 minutes or so before serving, because no one wants to drink an 80 degree wine. It is said that Barbera is the gateway Italian wine, and that be so. It’s nicely acidic, medium body, fruit forward and only subtly oaked. Even if you’ve moved on to other delicious Italian wines from Piedmont, give Barbera a place on your summer table.
I never recommend picking wines by the label, but this label is so fun and playful feauring a big pig!
Matthiasson Tendu Red, 2015
Matthiasson is my favorite Napa Valley producer right now. Steve Matthiasson is a highly sought after grower, consultant and winemaker. I was fortunate to be able to taste with Steve’s wife, Jill Matthiasson, at their home in Napa earlier this month. What a treat! Matthiasson may be best known for unusual Italian varietals such as Ribolla Gialla, but you are more likely to find one of their Chardonnay or their delightful rose’ on store shelves. (If you want access to the more obscure varieties, you should join their wine club!)
This particular bottling is a blend of three Italian red grapes, Aglionico, Montepulciano and Barbera. At 12.2% alcohol, it is incredibly light for a red wine. Another cool feature of this wine is the bottle itself. It comes in a one liter bottle that is closed with a crown cap. Steve was quoted as saying that this wine is for barbeques and picnics. I agree! I can also see this value-priced offering being a great base for sangria.
It has been a pleasure to lead these sessions over the summer! Maybe the summer wine club will rise again in 2018!
Note: I purchased all of the wines tasted, and opinions are strictly my own. The Scarpetta wines were purchased at Royal Blue Grocery, one of my favorite places to buy wine and do weekend wine tasting flights. The other wines were purchased at Total Wine, one of my favorite places to do Saturday afternoon wine tasting classes.
