This has been a strange summer, with its waves of 70-degree days and chilly nights. Not that I am complaining – I hate the stickiness of New York summers almost more than its winters – but it has made it a little less enticing to dip into the racy whites I stocked up on at the start of the season. However, with the last days of August up in the 80s and 90s, I plan on breaking into a few of my favorites over the holiday weekend.
La Sirena Moscato Azul 2012 (Napa Valley, California) ($30) – In this age of superstar chefs and rising star sommeliers, meeting Heidi Barrett is like meeting a rock star. She is the winemaker behind wines you just can’t find on the market, like the cult wine Screaming Eagle.
That’s why I was so excited to taste wines from her own winery La Sirena, which are much more affordable and easier to find. Made of Muscat Canelli, this fresh, young wine is lightly effervescent, a little green and fresh, with pineapple and floral notes. It undergoes long, slow, cold fermentation in stainless steel to protect its tropical notes, and the touch of carbon dioxide keeps its bright acidity around for a bit longer. It’s the perfect wine for a caprese salad, with end of the season tomatoes and fresh basil.
Dominio del Plata, Crios, Torrontés 2012
(Mendoza, Argentina) ($15) – This refreshing wine has a lovely bouquet with tropical fruit, white tea, floral aromas, with a long, zingy finish. I loved its nervy and zesty acidity, which really brightened the wine against the intensity of flavors that exploded on the palate, from fresh and juicy fruits like mandarin and pineapple to more aromatic notes like jasmine tea and lime zest. It’s made to drink all day, sipping by the grill or pool during a Sunday barbecue.
Domaine de la Pepière Muscadet 2012 (Loire Valley, France) ($16) – When people ask me to recommend a wine that is lightly acidic and goes well with food, my mind immediately turns to the grape melon de Bourgogne from the Muscadet region in the Loire Valley, near the ocean city of Nantes. These wines typically have a playful and fresh flavor profile, both due to the seaside terroir and the tradition of aging the wines sur lie, and they’re typically inexpensive to boot. Domaine de la Pepière makes one of the best of these wines, lovely in its typicity. The 2012 is very expressive on the palate – light, bright, briny, with a hint of richness from the time the wine spent aging on its yeast. Its persistent and taut minerality complements its delicate flavors of lemon, apple, peach, and elderflower, and its freshness make it a delight to drink on a hot day alongside freshly shucked oysters or steamers.