4 Wines to Celebrate the 4th

For our special American holiday, here are four made in the USA wines that should be included in your independence day menu.  These wines have been chosen for their ability to pair with summer foods, as well as their terrific price-quality-ratio.   One is a blend, the three others are 100% varietal.  They are equally divided between white and red.  All are available online (K&L has all four).

White Rhone Blend

Tablas Creek’s “Patelin de Tablas” (Paso Robles) is consistently one of my favorite California white blends of luscious Rhone varietals such as Grenache Blanc, Roussane, Marsanne and Viognier.  It’s a real bargain for $20.

Viognier

Alban’s Viognier (Central Coast) knocks it out of the summer ballpark.  Alban was one of the first pioneers to use this white Rhone varietal on the coastal Cali.  Like all Viognier, this one serves up stone fruit, citrus layers and floral notes.  ($28)

Cabernet Franc:

This grape is the mother grape to both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Offering less tannin than its offspring, it’s the perfect summer red aperitif wine.  Lieu Dit (Santa Ynez Valley) offers a superb rendition ($30).

Grenache:

If you love Pinot Noir for its silky elegance and Syrah for its spice, then you should check out Grenache.  It’s the backbone of those beloved reds from Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  California’s Central Coast Nelle vineyards produces one of the best renditions. ($38 online)

Cheers to the red & white, as well as the blue !

Easy Drinking Summer Whites

Viognier and Vermentino are synonymous with summer.  While both of these grapes are popular in Europe, they remain mostly unknown in the US.  (But, they are increasingly popping up on our wine lists).   The two varietals can make for simple poolside drinking, but they both can also be complex, serious wines.   Viognier and Vermentino are versatile in that they can be served as an aperitif, or with a summer meal.  I especially like them with grilled fish, and they’re terrific with shellfish.  A light summer pasta (veggies & pesto, or cherry tomatoes & arugula) also work well.

Viognier hails from the Rhone Valley in France.  It is often used in blending, but in the appellation of Condrieu, it is 100% varietal.  Condrieu is ground zero for lovers of Viognier.  I am a great fan of Viognier’s perfume-like aromas (think summer honeysuckle or fragrant roses), but I also am taken with its exotic fruit profile (mango, or even sweet tangerine).  I highly recommend any of Rhone winemaker Yves Cuilleron’s Viogniers.  One of the best Viognier I’ve had outside of France is Spain’s Vall Loch from the Priorat region. Greece is also knocking it out of the park--- producer Gerovassiliou makes a killer Viognier.  For the US, I’ve not tasted anything that can beat Santa Barbara’s rendition by boutique Jaffurs Winery.  If you can find any of these Viogniers, buy every bottle they have.

Vermentino (known as Rolle in the South of France) is another rock-star summer sipping wine from the Italian Mediterranean.  Like Viognier, it can be highly aromatic.  It is similar to Sauvignon Blanc in weight and shares many of the same citrus-like qualities.  Vermentino, however, often serves up some intriguing minerality as an added bonus.  The best Vermentinos come from the island of Sardenia (Argiolas is a great producer).   Tablas Creek in Paso Robles is one of the few US producers that grows Vermentino.

Enjoy the last weeks of summer, and drink plenty of “Vitamin V.”