The 3 R's of Summer Wine Drinking

June in Seattle is not a summer month. Junuary is what we call it. It's wet and cool and indistinguishable from January here. Usually. But not this year. We had a record-tying 29 days without rain, and July has continued a mostly dry, hot summer. Summer usually begins here on July 5th, so most years, this is when I begin to lighten up on the food and drink more white wines than red.

But with this run of hot weather, I've been in my "clean, crisp, and refreshing" mode of drinking for some time. And, I've discovered a basic rule that has kept me happy and smiling in hot temps:

Riesling, Rose, Repeat--the three R's. Repeat after me--Riesling, Rose, Repeat.

Now, I'm not talking about insipid sweet, mass-produced rieslings, the kind that Washington wineries used to churn out for cash flow. No, I'm talking about clean, crisp, dry riesling. And, I'm not talking about anything labeled "White Zinfandel" or "White Merlot" or "White Tuiti-Fruity." These wines are clearly not white; they're pink and ashamed of it. No, I'm talking about dry rose wines here, proud and manly enough to call themselves rose.

Here are a few of my finds. All are widely distributed in western Washington and Oregon. Distributors for both states and national importers are listed below.

Triennes Rose, 2008, Provence, France. This wine comes from an estate in the south of France owned since the 1980's by two of Burgundy's titans--Jacques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac, and Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of Domaine Romanee Conti. This wine is a blend of Cinsault, Syrah, and Merlot, and possesses more body than most roses but with a sense of freshness and lightness still intact. Flavors of strawberries, cherry, and watermelon with just enough crisp acidity on the finish to ask for seconds. Under $15. Imported by The Sorting Table, Napa, CA. Distributed in WA by Cavatappi Distribuzione, Ltd., Seattle; in OR by Galaxy Wine Company, Portland.

Paul Jaboulet "Parallele 45" Cotes du Rhone Rose, 2008, France. 50% Grenache, 40% Cinsault, and 10% Syrah, this beauty shows a ripe fullness of fruit on the palate, with crisp, citrusy notes underneath. Freshness here as well and hints of strawberries, too, but the bracing acidity and richness make for a wonderful companion to grilled vegetables and burgers or just al fresco relaxation. Around $10. Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York. Distributed in WA & OR by The Odom Corporation.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Eroica Riesling,2007, Washington. Ste. Michelle has a dramatic lineup of Rieslings, most of which are great summer wines, but this is the crown jewel. Made in a joint partnership with Germany's Dr. Loosen, this wine delivers citrus flavors of orange and lime with a crisp acidity that along with the added complexity of mineral notes combine to elevate this to the level of elegance. Under $24. Distributed in WA & OR by Young's Columbia Distributing.

Penfolds Thomas Hyland Riesling, Adelaide, 2008, Australia. (Full disclosure: I previously worked for the company that owns Penfolds.) This wine joined the enormous Penfolds line up just a couple of years ago, but is fast becoming the critic's darling. Produced from fruit grown in the cool-climate Adelaide Hills, the Hyland Riesling is crisp and clean with a lemon and lime citrus streak and mineral notes that expand on the lengthy finish. Under $13. Imported by Foster's Wine Estates, Napa, CA. Distributed in WA & OR by Young's Columbia Distributing.

Notice that the roses are both 2008. The fresher, the better--so always look for the most recent vintage and drink up, don't age. Rieslings, on the other hand, can age magnificently and gain body and complexity. One of the most memorable wines in my life was a 20-year-old German riesling, an Auslese (late harvest), on the dry side, served blind at the German Wine Academy. Not one of the Brits and Americans there, me included, could identify the wine. It was fabulously rich, oily, complex, big-bodied, and exquisite. I can still taste it.

Protecting Your Wine From Yourself

When I first got into the wine business, classified-growth Bordeaux was relatively inexpensive, and I worked for a wine distributor with some of the best available. Kid in the candy store.

What I quickly discovered is that cellaring that Chateau Talbot 1982 had an enemy--Me (there's no "I" in enemy, but there is a "me" hiding behind the "Y" or why). Now, I'm only slightly schizophrenic--I'm okay and so am I--but, the Cellaring Me envisioned sitting on this wine for 20 years (waiting for that special occasion that never comes, see "Open That Bottle Any Night" below). Unfortunately, the Party-Hearty Me would invite some friends over for dinner and after a couple of bottles of more pedestrian wine, PH Me would say something like, "Oh, man, you gotta try this incredible Bordeaux I just bought." Boom, gone.

So, Cellaring Me devised a devilish plan to thwart PH Me. I obtained several wood wine boxes with lids, and I placed the wines to be cellared in those boxes and nailed the lids shut. I then stacked them on top of each other and put wine racks on top of the stack. Tough thing to do to PH Me, but somebody had to step up if I were ever to have a wine cellar.

I still have the same set up, and it still thwarts what little is left of PH Me. Unfortunately, it also means that I have a fair amount of wine I should have drunk by now. I'm just too lazy to unstack those boxes to get to it.

Cellaring wine is an inexact, unpredictable exercise. When a wine is at its peak is anybody's guess and always just a guess. Cellar conditions affect how quickly a wine ages, and few of us have perfect cellar conditions. Mine is a consistently cool, dark place with little vibration. I don't worry about humidity variations, nor should you. (Here's why.) So far, it's been sufficient. As with any cellar, I've had my surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant.

Corks, for instance, can be an unpleasant surprise in any cellar. Most corks last at best 25 years in the bottle. As they age, they contract even with the bottle on its side and the wine in contact with one end. Eventually, they fail and wine starts to drip out of the bottle--fruit fly nirvana. The contact with air is the wine's demise. This is why several of the 1st-Growth Bordeaux chateaux, Mouton and Lafite, and Australia's Penfolds regularly conduct re-corking clinics throughout the world. Great after-market service.

I've found that any wine older than a decade is probably best opened with an Ah-So, sometimes called a Butler's Friend. These two-pronged openers can often retrieve a dry cork, a crumbly cork, or any other cork in a fragile state.

And if you have a wine over 25 years old, what are you waiting for--Open That Bottle Night? How much older do you and that wine need to get?