Outlier wines for the coming summer season

As the temperatures soar, my craving for spicy, warming reds quickly recedes. Instead I long for a nice cool glass of crisp chilled white. I don't have a preferred grape; in fact, the more varied the varieties in my wine rack, the more inspired I am to make a good meal — even as the hot afternoons sap my energy and initiative.

Asked to name a few whites, most of us would immediately mention chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and pinot grigio — you know, the ones that dominate wine store shelves. These grapes can, of course, all produce wines that are wildly different. Compare, for example, an oaked Napa chard to a Chablis (100% chard by French law) or a New Zealand sauvignon blanc with a French incarnation like Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé.

Some winemakers, like Kathy Joseph of Fiddlehead Cellars with her half-dozen different sauvignon blancs, make several styles of the same variety — lush, crisp, steely, fruity, bone dry, medium dry. Each of these ubiquitous grapes has numerous possibilities. Enough to get us through an entire summer without burnout.

But hundreds of other varieties beckon and vie for attention — often failing in the face of the more familiar. You can, though, get through a spring/summer without any of the top three (not that there's any reason to ignore them — they can be fabulous). A good warm-weather resolution: try something different.

To start, how about a grenache blanc? GB, which probably originated in Spain, is best known as a blending grape in the Rhone Valley and in white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But some winemakers like to experiment with single varieties, and often these attempts yield surprising (and surprisingly excellent) results. Like the 2021 Groundworks Grenache Blanc — 100% GB. Groundwork is a project of Curt Schalchi of San Liege. Amy at The Pip insisted that I try it — she had a bottle open in anticipation of the visit that afternoon of winemaker Curt.

I loved it at first sip — intense citrus (lemon, lime), green apple, a touch of salty sea and spring grasses. I bought a bottle on the spot ($22). I hesitate to write about a wine until I've actually consumed a couple of glasses with food, so I constructed a meal meant to challenge that initial sip. How about roasted baby broccoli (from Farm Boys at Farmers Market) with EVOO, garlic, spring onions, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan over pasta shapes? The grenache was just as happy with this pairing as I was. A common lament of wine critics is that in our collective love for the big three whites, we overlook an almost universal wine critic favorite: riesling. We avoid it in part, because to some riesling equals sweet. But a few of the world's best whites are sweet(ish) rieslings. That said, I prefer mine dry and there are many wonderful examples. While you're picking up that grenache from The Pip, check out the tall and elegant bottle of Karthauserhof “Bruno” a dry riesling from the Mosel region (also $22) that will convince riesling skeptics or avoiders of the excellence and food-friendliness of this grape.

Karthauserhof estate is so named for its history as a Carthusian monastery. Winemaker Christoph Tyrell makes a series of “Bruno” rieslings in honor of Bruno of Cologne, the founder of the Carthusians. Very citrus-y (think Meyer lemon), zesty, and minerally, this energetic Bruno smells as delicious as it tastes. Crisp and versatile, it's perfect for summer sipping on the patio but is also a wonder with food. We drank it with a typical hotweather meal chez nous — an array of small plates: mixed green salad topped with steamed beets, roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto, asparagus frittata, a chunk of aged gouda with onion confit, a tin of smoked mackerel, and a loaf of sourdough bread. Perfect. And cool. The winery suggests trying it with linguine and clams in a roasted garlic-wine-reduction sauce. Sounds delicious. Maybe next time ... Besides being elegant, the bottle is feather-light. Very impressive and offsetting to my worries about imported wine's carbon footprint. I wish all wineries would follow Karthauserhof's example.

Another alternative to the big three white varieties is a blend. I'm currently enamored of the Manincor Reserve della Contessa blend — of Weisburgunder (aka pinot blanc), chardonnay, and a bit of sauvignon blanc — from Alto Adige. Although the area's in Italy, a large majority of its dwellers speak German, not surprising given that the area borders on both Austria and Switzerland, and the wines reflect that proximity. Though Alto Adige is Italy's smallest wine region, it has a centuriesold history of cultivating wine grapes — at least since 600 BC (at which point it was not, of course, 'Italian.')

Manincor (“hand on heart”) is a highly respected small producer there. Vintners Count and Countess (hence the “Contessa”)

Michael and Sophie GoëssEnzenberg are passionate advocates of biodynamic farming, and this beautiful (“flawless,” one critic gushed) blend is fermented with naturally occurring yeast in old oak barrels. The grapes come from two different vineyards, both in the Terlano AVA, an area known for its asparagus as well as its wine. Thus, Contessa is the perfect bottle for the last of the season's asparagus.

We actually drank it not with asparagus but with another tricky-to-pair dish — Pasta Con Sarde. Tricky because of its combination of sweet (currants), salt (both sardines and anchovies), fat (lots of EVOO and pine nuts), and savory herb (coriander and fennel). The dish really loved this elegant rich-but-crisp wine with its pear, apricot, and citrus notes and long stony finish. Thank you to Ryan at Wines in Tandem for this excellent recommendation.

At $35, it's a special occasion wine for us, but sometimes a special occasion just means a sunny Sunday evening and one of our all-time favorite meals, like that pasta. Next bottle I plan to try with simply-prepared fresh sea scallops, a seafood risotto or a baked salmon filet.

All three of these off-thebeaten-track whites will enhance your summer dining; they make excellent gifts, too — something your host will probably not have tried. And something sure to encourage interesting conversation at the table.

If you haven't yet been to The Pip (downtown Dixon) or Wines in Tandem (downtown Davis), visits to both should be your second summer wine resolution. You'll be as inspired as I always am after perusing the shelves and talking wine with Amy and Ryan. Both charming places offer newsletters, wine clubs, tastings, snacks, special events, pleasant seating, and excellent company. We're lucky to have them.

— Reach Susana Leonardi at vinosusana@gmail.com. Comment on this column at www. davisenterprise.com.