SAVAGE GRACE | “UNDERWOOD MOUNTAIN” RIESLING 2016
(Columbia Gorge, Washington) $22 (750ml)
The idea of a riesling born in a gorge that’s been carved out by glaciers is appealing in summer—especially if that riesling is vivid and minerally with a fresh slap of acidity. I like rieslings that come onto the palate fast and focused. Chilled cold, there’s nothing better to drink on a late weekend afternoon when you’re spending a few hours in the kitchen, cooking. You can’t do that with a 15 percent alcohol wine (this one’s just 11.7 percent).
89 points KM
Available at Savage Grace
Which of the following combinations is made up of all white grapes?
- A. valdiguié, albariño, torrontés, parellada
- B. albariño, malagousia, pinot grigio, canaiolo
- C. grillo, macabeo, riesling, ribolla gialla
- D. touriga nacional, trebbiano, sémillon, chenin blanc
Scroll down for the answer!
“The inseparable connection in southern France between wine, food, and the earth reminds me that wine is a gift from God. In a visceral sense, drinking Châteauneuf-du-Pape and eating local sausages becomes a way of transcending time, of experiencing that which, though it may seem temporal, is, in fact, timeless.“
—Steve Edmunds, co-owner, Edmunds St. John Winery, which specializes in Rhône-style wines made in California
A MUST THIS SUMMER
Italy’s legendary summertime cocktail, the Bellini, is a combination of icy-cold sparkling Prosecco and fresh white peach juice. The drink was invented in the 1930s at Harry’s Bar in Venice, which employed one man each summer—when peaches were ripe—to do nothing but cut and pit small, fragile Italian white peaches (never the yellow variety) and then squeeze them by hand to extract the juice. Today, many Bellinis are made with frozen white peach juice and any sort of sparkling wine, but the old fashioned way with real peaches and Prosecco is how we like to do it.
VERAISON
The time in summer when grape berries change color signaling the onset of final ripening. White grapes go from green to yellow, and red grapes go from green to red.
C.All of the above are white varietals except valdiguié, canaiolo, and touriga nacional. A variety from southwestern France now virtually extinct there, valdiguié is grown in tiny amounts in California where it used to be known as Napa gamay. Grown all over Central Italy, canaiolo is a permitted grape for Chianti Classico. Portuguese touriga nacional is a key grape for Port production.
