Here’s to the wines of summer!

By Justin Persons
Special to the Turnagain Times

Well folks, it’s been a great winter. The skiing was as good as I can remember. Like the good ol’ days. I drank enough red wine to prevent any chance of ever having a heart attack. But that’s all behind us now. Let’s look forward to a long summer that actually has an average temperature above 57 degrees. Let’s drink some hot weather wine. Here’s to the wines of summer!
I’ve been giving a concerted effort to try as many white wines from as many different regions and as many different styles as possible. Some were earth-moving and others were like Welch’s white grape juice. I was surprised by some of my findings. I did the hard part, now all you have to do is try some of these a judge for yourself.
Do you want a white wine to go with the largest variety of food? Sauvignon Blanc is the one to call on. The always dry, snappy, mouth-watering acidity of S.B. makes it great with food. It cleans the palate and gets you ready for the next bite. Aromas of grapefruit, melon, gooseberry, freshly cut grass, and flint fill the glass. Here are the best regions in the world that you need to try: Marlborough, New Zealand. Pouilly-Fume (pooey-foo-may) France. Sancerre, France. Napa Valley, Ca.
Next grape. Believe it or not, the most versatile grape in the world: Riesling. Completely bone-dry or diabetic-coma sweet and all shades in between. Riesling has an unfortunate stereotype as just a sweet quaffing wine. Trust me when I say it’s the most complex white grape in the world. Aromas of cream custard, pears, flowers, apples, nutmeg, cinnamon, apricot, kerosene and peaches. It can have a rich, viscous mouth-feel or a crisp mouth-feel like an S.B. German Rieslings are typically on the sweeter side. French Rieslings are typically bone-dry. Australia is dry as well. Don’t be afraid to spend $30 to $40 at the store on a bottle of Riesling. Trust me! This is where you get to see how great this wine can be. Try a $5 bottle with a $30 bottle and compare. Like night and day.
Gewürztraminer is another great wine for the sun. My favorites come from France where the style is more dry. But most are on the sweeter side and are perfect for spicy food. Gewurztraminer is intensely aromatic and is quite full-bodied, more so than most any other white wine. In fact, the combination of its strong, perfumey scent, exotic lychee-nut flavor and heavy-oily texture can be just what the doctor ordered for a bar-b-q.
A new one that I’ve become good friends with: Chenin Blanc. (Shenen blahnk). This is kind of like a cross between S.B. and Riesling. Very floral aromas of flowers, honey, and melon fill the glass here. Crisp acidity and a silky mouth-feel abound. California produces dry Chenin Blanc. In the region of Vouvray, France they produce an off-dry style that has a small amount of residual sweetness. Finally, in South Africa the wine has more snappy acidity. You could drink this all day in the sun (as long as you didn’t have to work too early the next day).
Pinot Gris (pee-no gree) is another grape perfect for summer. The style ranges from crisp, light and dry-such as those produced in Italy (where it’s called Pinot Grigio.), to the rich, full bodied, honeyed styles from France and Oregon. Always on the dry side and is delicately fragrant and mildly floral with lemon-citrus flavors.
Now these are all just suggestions from my personal tasting experiences—recommendations for the summer if you will. Take this paper to Brown Jug or Gold Rush liquor and pick some of these wines out for a picnic or bar-b-q on the porch. Keep trying until you find one that you like. I used to never give white wines a chance but I finally started trying them and realized what I was missing out on. Some can be just as powerful as reds. Whites can vary so much and that is what makes them so fascinating to me. Give em’ a shot and let me know what you think. Until the next time when we’ll explore another grape and the wine it creates.

Justin Persons is co-owner of the Double Musky Inn Restaurant in Girdwood.