Before summer is totally gone I want to talk about my nominations for wines of the summer. What are the best wines for warm days, late sunsets, BBQ, and poolside? I think I have some answers for you.
I have researched, tasted, read, and have come down to some excellent results for what I think will make a fabulous paired summer. I had to first decide how many wines to nominate and yes there are a lot of great summer themed wines out there but 1 was not enough, 2 seemed like a weird number, 3 could work, and if I chose 4 then it seemed like I should at least do 6 at that point. So three is the lucky number this year. Also to note I am not judging these wines. I chose them for different reasons and it is not a direct comparison. Honestly I could have chose Rosé for all three options because that is how much I heart Rosé wines but that might seem a little bias haha. So I am mixing it up for the fun of it and have some amazing wines for my happy wino readers to consider. It might be hard to find these producers or even grapes, but at least it might spark some curiosity to try a new varietal and a new region you didn’t know made fantastic wine.
I knew at least one wine would be a rosé styled wine. Let’s talk about what rosé wines actually are first. Rosé wine are made by taking red grapes and making them in white wine style. Red wine gets its color from the grape skins and by soaking and fermenting the wine on the skins the color is extracted. In white winemaking there is little to no skin contact therefor we get clear to yellow hued wine. Now with limited skin contact time, rosé styled wines can develop colors ranging from light pink to magenta. Since the early 2010’s rosé wine have soared in popularity and have produced what I would call a completely flooded and submerged market for rosé wines. With all those wines there are very good and the very bad so how do you know what to pick. I reached out for a little help on this one. I consulted Vinepair’s best Rosés of 2019. I am a avid reader of Vinepair and also love the podcast. Another great source of information and entertaining reads. After reading and rereading, looking up, direct comparison, and after listening through the podcast I said “What the hell lets go for it!” and try the wine that Vinepair ranked number 1 and see what all the excitement is about.
The wine is Graci Etna Rosato 2018 and I was really interested in this wine because (1) it is from Sicily, which many people might not know Sicily is a wine producing region and (2) that they are producing rosé wines. I personally have not had a rosé from Sicily until this wine, which really sparked my curiosity. Another catching fact is the wine was made from Nerello Mascalese grapes. Have you heard of that one before? Nerello Mascalese is a dark skinned grape and is the number one produced grape from the Etna D.O.C region of Sicily. This grape can also be found in Italy as well. Needless to say I was really excited about this one and giddy like a kid haha.
Nerello Mascalese
I of course made an event out of this wine and brought it out to our Fourth of July BBQ. A beautiful thing about rosé wines is that they are pretty easy to pair and usually go great with things like BBQs! We opened up the bottle and let the party begin. The wine is absolutely superb, well balanced, right amount of fruit on the palate. I picked up notes of bright flowers such as pink rose and orange blossom as well as grapefruit, basil, and spiced strawberry marmalade. The wine is medium body, has crisp acid, with a smooth rounded out creamy finish. Do you want it yet? You can find it below. Like I said rosés go great with BBQ and this did not disappoint. My bestie and her husband’s tradition is to make there brisket chili for the 4th. This is no regular chili, this is chili cook off worthy! They spend about 3 days making it, make their own chili paste from dried chilies, and use an entire beef brisket. The results are a melt in your melt in your mouth chili of amazing goodness. The chili with its slight spice, rich flavor was excellently matched with the crisp cool simple Graci Etna Rose. Drooling yet? I am! This wine is perfect for a summer day, poolside, and late sunsets.
Wine number two is from Hungry Hawk in Escondido, California and I selected their 2017 Albariño. Yes these grapes are from San Diego County and yes new vines are being planted and new wineries are constantly starting up in my hometown. More specifically there are popping up in Escondido and Ramona where the cities are 20-30 miles inland so it is considerably warmer that on the coast and the marine layer is allowed to burn off.
Temecula has established itself as a known growing region but just 20 minutes south bordering San Diego little is known about this upcoming wine area. It is still a growing trend that farmers are replacing their citrus and avocado orchards, which require a lot of water, with wine grapes which actually flourish and make high quality grapes with significantly less water. Where drought is the normal wine grapes can make an excellent investment.
One of favorite local producers here is Hungry Hawk. They are a small family owned and operated winery with Mike Hembly as the winemaker. They did not come from a winemaking background but did understand farming. Together with a passion for great farming and love of wine have been producing some really great vintages. I am a regular here! It is always a great visit with a beautiful tasting room and covered balcony with sweeping views.
They make and grow several different varietals but my usual favorite here is their Albariño. Albariño is a white wine well known to come from Rias Baixas region in Spain. Rias Baixas is situated along the Atlantic coast so has coastal weather influences for the growing season which is very much like Escondido. Albariño typically has high acidity, ripe stone fruit, and saline characteristics which make it an excellent wine for seafood!
Again not really had a exact plan in place for this meal so I started at the store. I browsed the fresh seafood section where the scallops looked really good and happens to be one of our favorite seafoods as well. Once scallops were on the menu I knew that I would make a white wine sauce to go with it. A little tip for making wine and food parings super simple; cook with the wine you intend to drink! It will help tie the whole meal together and the match flavor profiles.
Dinner was also super simple. Sometimes life such as dinner, does not need to be complex with lots of ingredients, as in this case less is more! Scallops were pan fried in our cast iron skillet. Side note- I love love my Le Creuset cast iron skillet. I use for just about everything from eggs to sauces and love that it can go in the oven as well. Rob took over for the scallops while I prepared for the sauce. But again to keep it simple and easy the sauce was going to be made in the same pan that the scallops were cooked in. It helps the sauce pick up those sultry rich flavors from the scallop. We cooked the scallops in a mixture of butter and avocado oil on a medium high heat. Once the pan came to the appropriate temperature Rob placed the scallops on one of their sides, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and allowed to cook for approximately 2-3 minutes per side, they should be seared and slightly firm when cooked well. However watch your timing cause you do not want overdone scallops!
Once the scallops are done it was my turn. For the sauce again the theme is simple. A garlic butter white wine sauce. These sauces are always good with a bit of fresh herbs so use whatever you have available. I would think the best options would be rosemary, thyme, dried basil, or fresh basil on top, parsley, or could even dried lavender. I got a few herbs in the garden so we went with thyme. Portions for the sauce was three tablespoons butter (I always use Kerrygold Irish butter), three cloves garlic, quarter cup of the Albariño, juice from half a small lemon, two tablespoons of fresh thyme, and a generous amount of salt and pepper to taste. I melt the butter and then add the garlic and lemon juice. I let this sauce cook down for about 5 minutes it will make the sauce a little thicker which I find enjoyable. I then add the fresh herbs and let it cook for an additional 2-3 minutes and done!
For a side dish we normally do some sort of veggie. This week however we got fresh golden organic potato in our veggie box this week. I am a big fan of the steamed mussels and fries dish, I see this a lot in Europe, so I made my twist on it. Instead of frying the potatoes I slice and bake them till crispy. I cut the potatoes in half then slice them crossways, so I get little half-moon shaped sliced. These potatoes have thin skins so no need to peel. I coat them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and pop them in the oven at 425 for 25 minutes.
Results were amazing, feel good, outstanding, yummy, delicious, and satisfying. Yum yum yum! The scallops along the with the wine made an excellent pairing. Didn’t hurt we used the same wine to make the sauce right? Also again was super simple so this dinner came together on a Tuesday of all days. The wine itself was extremely flavorful with flavors of melon, apricot nectarines, fresh acidity of lemon zest, and honeysuckle. With this bright acidity and refreshing flavors I nominate it as a perfect wine for you summer dinners. Easy to pair with seafood, appetizers, and light salads. Go out and try a bottle! If you can’t find one from San Diego definitely visit your local wine retailer and search for one from Spain!
Sauce Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp butter (Kerrygold Irish Butter) 3 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (Albariño)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice (juice from half small lemon)
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme
- Salt and Pepper
Finally the finale. Wine of the summer number three. I apologize a head of time but no recipe for this one as I have not found the perfect paring for it but it will be coming out soon! Be sure to sign up for my email list so you don’t miss out on it! This one might be a bit classic and compared to others maybe even a bit expected but I liked it and I think it is worth sharing with you.
For wine number three I am going with a California Sauvignon Blanc. I found this wine off a recommendation from a local wine bar owner and recent acquaintance. It was hot (haha its summer) and I had been running around all day for work for the winery. It was towards then end of my day, I was tired, hot, thirsty, and needed a break. I went to my local wine bar for something cool, crisp, and refreshing. As I am always looking for something new I ask for a recommendation, especially cause not all wines will be on the menu. And lucky me this came in that very day!
This brand goes by JNSQ which stands for “je ne sais quoi” which on their website translates to “someone that is so extraordinary and exceptional that there are no words to describe”. Okay yes its very French, very feminine, and a very different bottle, but the wine does speak for itself and I find the bottle to be actually quite beautiful.
This wine is clean and very crisp with aromas of orange zest, toasted almond, jasmine, limestone, green apple, dried rosemary. The wine is perfectly refreshing with hints of just ripe pineapple and bright lime on the finish. Drinking this wine just makes me happy and if this doesn’t describe summer then I don’t know what does. For me I would pair this wine with a summer salad with Greek style chicken, seafood, or lamb. Also I’d skip the pool on this one and save it for my backyard lunch or dinner, the bottle is so pretty I want it out for all to see cause its makes a statement all its own. Such a fun find and I am looking forward to trying there rosé!
I hope you enjoyed reading about these wines, I know I had fun sipping and sharing them! I also hoped you found out about new producers, new varietals, and regions that you weren’t aware of before and I encourage you to go out there and try something new too!
There are links to my sources and also where to buy these wines directly if you are interested. Let me know your thoughts or if you have any questions or comments. Until next time, Cheers!
https://vinepair.com/articles/25-best-rose-wines-2019/
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/graci+rose+etna+sicilia+italy’