I live in Louisiana. This year, Summer came a little later than usual, but it is no less diminished for the tardiness of its arrival.
People joke that Louisiana has two seasons: Summer and Winter.
The humidity is oppressive and, combined with the high temperatures, can obliviate any thoughts of red wine. I know that people can turn discussions about the weather into a p*ssing contest, but this is not my intention.
I enjoy white wines in hot weather, but I would like to experience more than just Picpoul, Melon, Chenin Blanc, etc…
I am looking for red wines that can be enjoyably consumed in very hot, humid (“heavy”) weather. I suppose that lighter-bodied, higher acidity/lower tannin/lower alcohol wines are best.
I live in Central Florida, which gets equally hot. As cold as my wife keeps on the A/C, I welcome hearty reds! Otherwise, a nice cool Beaujolais is a beautiful thing.
Robert, I assumed that you could relate to the issue of heat. I didn’t know if the proximity to the Gulf or Atlantic helped keep things a little more bearable or not.
I am lucky to have a small collection of Harrington wines (Corvina, Mission, Trousseau, etc) that I hope will be of help. I don’t know how cool I can drink them, and whether or not serving temperature is that important for them.
I’ve experienced warm Louisiana weather. I’d do what I normally do in my country, which is to switch to a substantial Provençe rosé (most often Tempier) or grenache-based Navarran rosado.
I hear ya. Summer sucks. At least you have a winter! There’s lots of ‘events’ that happen outdoors, so I’m always on the lookout for reds that can still work.
Beaujolais works well, but a little tough for me to get/find any amount of variety.
A regular daily drinker I have (only really get here and in Japan) is a Rhone blend of Grenache and a bit of Syrah. Light and fruity enough to drink chilled. (La Cuvee, now called Cuvee V by James).
Interesting to see you mention Corvina. Haven’t tried some lighter Italians, a Valpo might work well, have to try that.
Don’t forget rosé! Fantastic warm weather drinking when you don’t want a white…
Beaujolais, reds from Jura - Ganevat, Puffeney? Recently, had a Syrah from Herve Souhaut, was fantastic for the weather here in Singapore. Great body and fruit with some funk.
Zinfandel. Works great with summer cookout food, and it is relatively good with spicy Louisiana food as reds go. We don’t have very hot summers where I live, but we do down a lot of Zinfandel in the summer.
Just control the serving temperatures, same as with any wine in hot weather.
Drew I share your pain and am just now finally starting to adjust in what is my 4th summer down here. The last few summers the quantity of reds that I drank that weren’t part of a meal could probably be counted on one hand.
As others have noted, lighter reds help. For me that currently means gravitating towards more restrained/ higher acid Cali pinots.
Also I pay more attention to having my reds chilled to a proper serving temperature - and then maintaining that temp even after the bottle is opened. Which is a bit of a pain but worth it since room tentative is between 72-75 in our house this time of year.
Those Harrington wines are great and I’d slightly chill all of them. Really nice stuff.
As far as being great for hot humid weather, you just have to make a decision. If you have AC, turn it up and drink a big red.
Right now it’s over 100F where I am and it’s horrible. I don’t have AC. I’m sitting in front of a fan.
But you gotta make some decisions in life. Whites and rosados seem like they’re easier but they aren’t really unless you’re in the mood. So I’m having a GSM from Australia. Tomorrow, with the same weather, I’m going to have a Furmint from Austria. It’s got a bit of RS but it will be good with the chicken salad I’m going to make.
No wine is really great for the heat so I try to ignore it and carry on.
I feel for you though. Best of luck. There are always pina coladas!
Bojo is the obvious one, but plenty of those lighter styles of pinot and/or Gamay will often take a bit of chill which makes them pretty good drinking in the summer months. I am also partial to a good quality sparkling red, but I’m not sure that has much of a following outside our shores.
Drew - I would suggest Corte Gardoni Corvina Becco Rosso Veronese IGT.
This is a lighter bodied, but very flavorful and food friendly, red of surprising balance that we go through in quantity during the summer. It is inexpensive and very versatile and performs well above its price point.
