Choice of wines in summer

Choice of wines in summer

As I am supposed to be retired, I took a vacation of 2.5 months in my home in the south of France. I have drunk 66 wines, mainly in my house, and sometimes by friends or in restaurants. Many were drunk with my children. The consumption by category is very oriented.

36 champagnes, which is more than half of what we drank, due to the fact that by hot weather, champagne is the best.
The years: 1962, 1970, 1971, 1973 (5), 1976 (2), 1988, 1990 (2), 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 (2), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 (3), 2006, 2007, 2009 (3), 2010, NV (4).
There is a rather large variety of years.

22 red wines : Bordeaux (5), Bourgogne (2), Espagne (5), Provence (2), Rhône (6), sud-ouest (2).
And years: 1975 (2), 1982, 1984, 1986, 1994, 1996 (2), 1999, 2000 (2), 2001, 2002 (2), 2004 (3), 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015.
In summer we drink young wines because it is not the proper time to drink old wines.

6 white wines only, Provence (3), bourgogne (2), Loire (1). For my taste white wines are heavy in summer.

2 Yquem, 1989 and 1976, opened because my wife drinks only Yquem.


How did you choose the wines that you drink in summer?

Champagne, especially rose champagne, more than anything. We’ll also drink the occasional bottle of inexpensive Italian white (verdicchio/soave or similar with seafood). When drinking reds, we are more likely to drink burgundy/pinot or sangio. than cab or neb-based wines, and generally older red wines rather than younger. And we drink some beer in the summer.

Champagne!

Domaine Tempier Rose, even more so if I was summering in the south of France.

Pretty much the same mix I have the rest of the year: eclectic and geared to match the food I make, not the weather.
So let’s see, I’ve had red & white Rhones, red & white Burgundy, mencia from Spain, Chateuneuf, Loire Muscadet and cab franc, California trousseau, Rioja, Spanish bobal, Madeira…probably missed a couple.

White wines, primarily from Italy and Greece, Rose, and beer, will depend on our food choices and all do well with some degree of chilling, especially the beer.

Drank a ton of rose early on, from spring into early summer, and a few bottles of slightly chilled reds (Beaujolais and lighter wines mainly), then when it became truly hot almost no wine except a bit of champagne and other sparkling. When it gets really hot I’d rather have beer or cocktails.

Proportionately more white wine but in Anchorage AK it is rarely hot so reds remain front and center.

This year in June July and August we drank 65 reds and about the same number of white. I don’t know exactly on the whites because we buy a lot of inexpensive whites and bubbly an do not enter it in inventory.

For reds we drink a lot of Pinot in the summer because it is perfect with fresh salmon.

As for whites we drink quite a bit of Chablis with fresh halibut and in the last few years have started drinking more Rhone variety whites.

Champagne, sparkling wine, Napa cabs, domestic pinot noir.

Lots of Tercero Rose, a case of Bordeaux blanc, a few Albariños, and a smattering of Cabernets and Pinots - mostly with friends.

Most of our summertime dining is out on the patio, and food and wine choices are suited for that. It is when we consume the bulk of our Ceritas Chardonnay, followed by dry Riesling, Rose, and then Champagne. Red wine is for the occasional steak or burger, and that is when I choose a young Cab.