Wines for dinner and back porch parties, six feet apart.
by Mary Bailey
We’re not drinking rosé on café patios; we’re not having wine with dinner in restaurants.
But we’re still drinking wine. With dinner at home; with Facetime conversations; in Zoom cocktail hours, on House Party. And, sitting six feet apart in the backyard. Here’s what goes with that.
The whites
1. 2018 Drouhin Mâcon-Villages (Burgundy, France)
This is a classic Mâcon-Villages, a Chardonnay lover’s standard. Fresh and light-bodied, with subtle floral notes, the characteristic tang of warm citrus and hints of hazelnut, balanced with fresh acidity. It’s the perfect lunch wine—with a goat cheese salad, nuts and cheeses or cod.
2. 2019 Mission Hill Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (Okanagan Valley, BC)
Crisp and thirst-quenching, loaded with green gooseberry and herbaceous notes and a lovely lemon-lime quality. Six months in oak add gravity and texture. Have with a grilled cheese sandwich or the Happy Camel’s delish red pepper and feta dip.
3. 2018 Mission Hill Reserve Chardonnay (Okanagan Valley, BC)
Made with fruit from Mission Hill’s Oliver, Osoyoos, and Naramata Ranch vineyards. The majority of the juice was fermented and aged in oak, with 25 percent in concrete egg and stainless steel, giving us the best of both worlds— a well-balanced wine with lemony citrus, honey crisp apple and tropical notes. Have with salmon on the grill, roast chicken, creamy pasta.
The rosés
Not simple, not insipid; these pink wines have character and presence in spades, ideal for the cocktail hour or for dinner.
1. 2019 Capezzana Vin Ruspo (Carmignano, Italy)
A terrific wine from the Capezzana family, who have been making wine in Carmignano, east of Florence, since the 9th century. This blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Canaiolo (typical for Carmignano) is beautifully balanced and fresh, tasting of wild red berries with a lovely tension on the palate. Drink with charcuterie and Pecorino, cheesy pastas, or with salty popcorn.
2. 2019 Cantina Gorgo Chiaretto Bardolino (Veneto, Italy)
The blend of the region’s Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes comes alive in this sprightly wine. It has gorgeous minerality and savouriness from the salty soil and citrusy flavours along with Bardolino’s classic cherry notes. Chiaretto refers to rosé made east of Lake Garda. The wines are having a moment, bringing renewed attention to Bardolino, which is too often in the shadow of its more famous neighbours Soave and Valpolicella.
3. 2018 Tantalus Rosé (Okanagan Valley, BC)
Young Pinot Noir was whole-bunch fermented with old vine Pinot Meunier (plantings from 1985) resulting in this zesty and refreshing rosé. Enjoy the red berry and Texas ruby red grapefruit flavours; along with the Tantalus signature of on-point acidity keeping things fresh.
4. 2019 Mission Hill Reserve Rosé (Okanagan Valley, BC)
Expect juicy watermelon, raspberry and wild strawberry flavours in the easy-going rosé. It’s an interesting blend of 50 percent Merlot, 45 percent Syrah and five percent Pinot Noir contributing to the refreshing berry fruit. Drink with snacks.
5. 2018 Prieler Rosé vom Stein (Burgenland, Austria)
This bright Blaufränkisch is from Preiler’s vom Stein vineyard, steep, with diverse soils—mica-slate, marine limestone, loamy sand with pebbles. Its precise minerality along with concentrated and luscious red berry flavours is appealing as is the delightful spiciness. Drink through the summer and beyond.
6. 2018 Birgit Braunstein Rosé (Burgenland, Austria)
A blend of Zweigelt and Blaufränskisch grown on the schist and shell limestone of the Leitha mountains. Lively and crisp, with tremendous finesse. Intense mineral notes and flavours of juicy strawberries and red grapefruit make this wine an ideal partner to anything with bacon, duck confit, olives and potato chips.
7. 2019 Riedlin Rosé (Baden, Germany)
Limited production, Demeter certified, a glorious taste of spring. Incredible mouth feel, bold, with lots of red fruits, with balanced acidity and a long finish. Drink with grilled pork, mushrooms on toast, salmon. Wine geek note: fans of Sybille Kuntz’s Mosel Riesling will be happy to know that this Spätburgunder rosé is made at her husband’s (Markus Kuntz-Riedlin) family vineyard in Baden. It drinks well now, but you might want to put a few bottles away as it promises to age with grace.
8. 2018 Soli Rosé (Thracian Valley, Bulgaria)
This unique blend of Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Melnik (Bulgaria’s own) is fresh and fruity, with lovely wild strawberries and raspberry aromas and flavours. Great price too, around $20!
9. 2018 Chateau La Sauvageonne La Villa Rosé (Languedoc, France)
The wine has tremendous minerality, even salinity, and a beautiful velvety texture with power and freshness too. Every effort is taken to harness the freshness, the hall mark of great rosé—the altitude creates a large degree of difference in day and night temperatures; the grapes are hand-picked at sunrise; the Grenache is co-fermented with the Vermentino and Viognier and only free run and first press juice is used. This wine is delicious!
10. 2018 Domaine de la Mordorée La Dame Rousse Rosé (Tavel, France)
This classic Tavel rosé whose weight and structure, along with voluptuous flavours and textures, will encourage even the most obdurate red wine drinkers to give rosé a whirl. Made of mostly Grenache and Syrah with Cinsault and Carignan displaying heady aromas of old roses, citrus and red currant. Lots of freshness. Have with Asian food such as spicy noodles and Middle Eastern food like lamb tagine.
11. 2018 Clos du Temple Rosé (Languedoc Cabrieres, France)
Taste stone fruit, spicy green pepper, some tobacco in a characterful wine with a long finish. This complex blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Viognier spends six months in new wood on fine lees (protecting the wine, making added sulphur unnecessary). Drink with chicken skewers, hummus or vegetable pastas.
The reds for the barbecue
1. 2018 Brolio Chianti Classico (Tuscany, Italy)
A straightforward Sangiovese with floral notes, lovely soft red fruit and a long finish. Well-balanced, with easy-going tannins, this is the everyday go-to drop for pasta and burgers.
2. 2016 Cune Crianza DOC (Rioja, Spain)
Mostly Tempranillo which makes it such a great partner with so many foods. Ripe and mellow tannins, balanced acidity, red berries and liquorice, youthful, with warm spice and cocoa notes from the American oak. Rioja Crianza wines have spent one year in oak and a few months in bottle before release—a younger, fresher style of Rioja, best drunk within five years or so of harvest.
3. 2017 Mission Hill Reserve Merlot (Okanagan Valley, BC)
The grapes are sourced from the diverse Black Sage Bench (Oliver) and Osoyoos. Tasting lush and pleasing notes of fig, blackberry, plum and cedar. Have with lamb from the grill.
4. 2018 Henry of Pelham Baco Noir (Niagara, Ontario)
Generous aromas of smoky cedar, coffee and plum with flavours of black cherries; ideal with anything off the grill—peppers and sausage, bratwurst or mushrooms. Henry of Pelham suggests this wine with strawberries and fresh-cracked black pepper. Yum!
5. Caymus Bonanza (California, USA)
This new offering is multi-vintage, a bold Cabernet Sauvignon very much in the style of Chuck Wagner, with lots of ripe black fruit and smoky oak notes. An everyday cab for California Cab lovers, have with steaks and chops.