Weekly Re’Wine’der – June 30, 2010
Greetings!
June? Gone already. July will be done in 744 hours. England out, Italy out, France in disgrace. The Dutch don’t make wine, nor does Paraguay that I know of. Ghana makes something called Nsafufuo which comes out of a tree and probably tastes as bad as it sounds (they call it Palm wine); Uruguay has a few good bottles; Brazil drowns in cachaca but I think we are looking at wines from either Argentina or Germany for July 11; it would be nice if it were Spanish wines but I may just console myself with bake beans and toast, a side of spaghetti and an escargot on top….and a bottle of Rioja, and then switch channels and watch the Wimbledon with a glass of Pimms. For all the excitement that the World Cup and Wimbledon has thrown up, summer has arrived in Rye and those who can have already fled. Football has kept many inside and Wimbledon has presumably spurred others into donning their whites and hitting a little yellow ball. But at the end of all that exercise, be it straining to hear the commentary over the vuvuzela horns or bouncing around in tiny whities, a glass of refreshing rosé should be on the menu – it’s the civilized thing to do. July 4th there is no football so we can really get down to the business of grilling and drinking. Weather conditions look favorable for a serious amount of thirst quenching – some light, bright flavorsome sauvignon’s, or for something completely different try a few of our wines from the Savoie or Gascoigne. When the grill’s heated up and the steaks are spitting, crack open some slightly chilled Barbera from Villa Fiorita or CastellRoig’s Negre, either one will satisfy your craving for something red, fruity, juicy and delicious.
My plan this weekend is to relax on the beach out in Southold with M&V. Some delicious cooking followed intermittently with numerous bottles of red, white, rosé and sauternes. The ‘intermittent’ will probably become less intermittent and more of a constant but that’s the beauty of having a holiday that celebrates the grill and the bottle, and it will take some planning. In order to do justice to a weekend celebrating our independence we need to confer status on what wines to drink. Whilst patriotism is probably a requirement, those big Californian Cabernets might not be the answer. In a stretch of the imagination I came up with some other possibilities that may tie in our ‘independence’ from the British Crown and yet satisfy my requirement for fresh, quaffable juice at a non-insidious price. The French played an important part in the battle for independence so I think we can pair up some French wines for July 4th – Domaine Lalaurie’s Cabernet ($15.00) will be good with the first round of BBQ’d burgers, and let’s not forget that it was the Treaty of Paris (1783) that officially ended the American Revolution, so a toast using Celebration Merlot (Bordeaux) and finishing with a glass of Chateau Rieussec 2005 would also be appropriate. Bernado de Galvez is not a household name in America but during the War of Independence he was Governor of Louisiana and Cuba and it was he who marshaled his Spanish forces on the side of the Thirteen Colonies and attacked and defeated the British in Pensacola and re-conquered Florida for Spain. He was born in Malaga and was sent by Spain to Louisiana in 1777. So I think we can introduce a few Spanish wines to the July 4th celebrations and not be accused of being unpatriotic. Anf yes of course there is room for some American wines – I will particularly enjoy some Sinskey Cabernet since it blends fruit and acidity with terrific balance and its underlying smokiness will invigorate those massive t-bones!
So this weekend don’t feel that the only thing you can drink is a gallon of Bud Light. There will be no treason in opening Spanish, French and American wines as you celebrate Independence Day.
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