This Week’s Tasting
Wednesday, July 22 5:00 - 7:00
Summer Whites & Reds
Light on Both Palate and Wallet

Last week’s weather has brought with it the hope that summer has finally arrived. Today we see the accompanying trademark Boston humidity that cries out for relief. Beer is good, but we’ve put together a sextet of wines that are guaranteed to cool without burdening your wallet.
We found a great value in the Maconnais. St Veran, which is next to Pouilly Fuisse, has begun to share that appellation’s luster and prices. Fortunately Daniel Pollier has kept his reasonable. His Chardonnay from the en Messie vineyard is plump and round balanced by a hint of minerality. Any white food, fish, chicken or pork.
Next a Rheingau Riesling from a small estate new to us. Michael Trenz, like generations before him had been selling his estate wines only at fairs and through the family restaurant. Then last year Germany’s authoritative Gault Millau Guide called Trenz their “Winery Find of the Year” and his Johannisberger Holle Riesling Kabinett, “possibly Germany’s best wine value.“ That vintage is gone, but the 2008 we have gotten in is very finely wrought. Atypically dry and spicy, this Kabinett will be fine company for grilled fish. Fresh sardines anyone?
Peter writes
Rias Baixas is a moist, windswept, sandy area of Galicia in northwest Spain. The conditions are perfect to grow Albarino, a grape variety that produces a light, flavorful and crisp white wine. Lagar de Basado is a small farm that is in one of the finest areas. Quite simply, the 2008 Lagar de Besada Albarino is the best reasonably priced Albarino I have ever tasted. This is a seafood wine, period. It is great with lobster and it is great with oysters.

The Reds

I met Eric Janin at a trade tasting last spring Others paid attention to the big Burgundy and Bordeaux names that were there, but I was impressed by him and the precision and quality of his winemaking. So was the Best Wines of France Guide of the Revue du Vin de France. They found his Beaujolais Villages to be at “ a level of fruit and texture that some cru Beaujolais do not attain.” To be sure the 2007 Janin Beaujolais Villages is light in body, it is still very serious and even complex with with none of the carbonic maceration that makes fruit juice of the bigger brands. Drink lightly chilled in hot weather.
In France’s Loire valley the red Bourgueils come from Cabernet Franc. The 2007 Damien Lorieux Bourgeuil Tuffeaux (that last word, dialect for a chalky outcrop) is certainly lighter than the Couly Dutheil Chinons we tasted last week, closer to the weight of a Beaujolais. It has Cab Franc’s tangy baking spice aromas, an appetite-enhancing lively acidity and a heat relieving freshness. Drink lightly chilled with grilled foods.
Peter writes
Agraria Le Rote dates back to the mid eighteenth century. The vineyards are in the northern Colli Senesi region of Chianti just outside the picturesque town of San Gimignano. When Massimo and Lara Scotti inherited the property from his father, they immediately began to replant the vineyards and redesign the winery to ensure the highest possible quality. The Chianti Colli Senesi is a medium bodied wine of remarkable depth for the price. The 2007 Le Rote Chianti Colli Senesi would be a good wine for something as simple as grilled hamburger, but would also be comfortable with a steak.

Light Wines for Summer

White

2007 Polier Sr. Veran En Messie; Aroma: clean creamy lactic, firm, rounded , fine; Mouth: fleshy round, nice breadth, very rich , old viney, nice dry richness & spice; Very Good Plus 15.99; Mixed Case, 14.39; Case, 13.59

2008 Trenz Johannisberger Holle Riesling Kabinett; Aroma: light very pretty dry and sweet, racy acid rather firm, fine, elegant; Mouth: lean fine acid, nice racy acidity, jut off dry, very clean , very pure, very fine acidity, long; Very Good Plus 16.99; Mixed Case, 15.29; Case, 14.44


2008 Lagar de Besada Albarino: Pale straw with green highlights. rich fruit aromas, peach and apricot with a floral edge. Dry, crisp and elegant on the palate. Very Good Plus 17.99/bottle 16.19/mixed case 15.29/case

Red

2007 Paul Janin & Fils Beaujolais Villages Domaine des Vignes des Jumeaux- Biodynamic; Color: very purple; Aroma: light clean a fine granitic minerality, a touch smoky; Mouth: clean on the attack, fine acid pretty, rich, an interesting earthy quality, dry dimensioned ; Very Good Plus 15.99; Mixed Case, 14.39; Case, 13.59

2007 Damien Lorieux Bourgeuil Tuffeaux; Color: light red brown; Aroma: light nutty, fleshy, clean, nice on the herbal side of franc, ; Mouth: fresh but not aggressively so, clean good acid on the attack, , but rounded, nicely fleshy, nutty on the finish, good length; Very Good 16.99; Mixed Case, 15.29; Case, 14.44

2007 Le Rote Chianti Colli Senesi: Bright ruby. Black cherry, light spice and a hint of smoke. Medium bodied palate with balanced fruit, spice and acidity. Very Good Plus 13.99/bottle 12.59/mixed case 11.89/case

7/22 Lite Wines Case: Two each of the above wines at a special price of $167