Weekly Round-Up: 7 Summertime Wines You’ll Want to Drink Any Time of the Year

There’s nothing more relaxing than a leisurely summer evening. But let’s face it I know you aren’t sitting on the veranda waiting to be served a cocktail.

No, you’ve probably battled with clients, vendors, co-workers, your special someone, and your offspring to make the evening one that’s all about drinking wine while sitting down staring at the sunset or your smartphone.

If it’s too hot outside then sitting in your cool climate controlled living room with a glass of wine while staring at a flat screen is always the next obvious choice.

So, make like Patsy & Eddie my lovable and completely irresponsible Absolutely Fabulous role models and let’s get your summer drinking schedule on point. Here are seven of my favorite summertime wines…
#AbFab it up and get 7 of my favorite #summerwines, get your sarong or couch pants ready. #wineanddrama Click To Tweet

#1 Cleto Chiarli Vecchia Modena Lambrusco di Sorbara

O.M.G this Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco is full of cherries, plums, violets, and cinnamon. It’s a sparkling pale ruby that’s clean, luscious, and a tiny bit of sweetness.  Recommended by the Wine Show’s Joe Fattorini, it’s one of my favorites! Stock up on this now.

 

#2 Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut

What’s more perfect than French Champagne for summer?  Nothing!  This Champagne is creamy,  toasty, with hints of lemon curd, gooseberries, and minerals with a long clean finish. Of course it’s $50 a bottle, but it’s Champagne. You could always try a good budget friendly Prosecco which I happen to love.

What’s more perfect than French Champagne for summer? Nothing! #wineanddrama Click To Tweet

#3 D’Arenberg The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne 2014, Australia

This is one of my favorite white wines.  The Australians know a thing or two about making a great white wine.  I love the word viognier, it’s so sexy kind of like voyeur but not creepy.

This wine is a little bubbly on the tongue with a touch of graphite.  It’s tart, spicy sweet, with a lush mouth feel and long finish. It gives a warm and tingly feeling with a little nutmeg, white peach, pineapple, green mango, fresh almond, and Meyer lemon.

 

#4 Muses Estate 9 Dry Rosé Wine

This ain’t your momma’s Rosé wine.  I drank so much of this wine when I was in Greece, I started to have rosé tinted dreams.  This wine is pure bliss in a glass.

Made from 100% Syrah, the hot pink colored rosé it’s full of blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, and has a nice peppery bite at the end that keeps it from being too sweet.

This wine is my first pick to drink while shoving huge chunks of feta down my throat.

What’s a girl to do when she’s got three hours to kill before a flight back to Athens?  Look for the local winery and hope to score a couple final glasses of good Greek wine, before heading back to the mainland.

That’s when I discovered Triantafyllopoulos Winery (say that three times fast).

The winery was quiet until we came trampling in with our luggage and lack of inside voices. I think we scared the two winemakers that discovered us nosing around their vineyards.

But Michalis one of the winemakers decided he’d take us (Hellas-Ameriki’s aka Greek Americans) on and gave us a delightful private tour.  He was adorable.  I tried to get my cousin to date him, but she flaked.  My cupid’s bow is now retired.

These wines are seriously good and undervalued.  You need to order some now.

We bought two bottles and figured out how to stuff them in our already over packed suitcases to drink on the way home.

I know it may seem like I’m favoring Greek wines…You’re right.  Yes, I am Stacey, because these ARE summertime wines.

You can’t think of Greece without thinking of clear blue skies, bright white ancient domed houses, turquoise seas, and the fact that they’ve been making wine since the beginning of time.  So, drink up and pretend you’re on the Greek island of your dreams.
Drink up and pretend you’re on the Greek island of your dreams. #wineanddrama Click To Tweet

#5 Triantafyllopoulos Winery Malagouzia-Sauvingon Blanc

This aromatic white wine blend is a pale green hue and made from local Malagouzia grapes 50% and Sauvignon Blanc grapes 50%.

It’s full of key lime, white peach, white flowers, honeycomb, and mango. It’s a perfect balance of tart, fresh, and has a well-rounded finish.

 

#6 Triantafyllopoulos Winery Grenache Rouge Syrah

Rosé to die for made from Grenache 60% and Syrah 40% it’s a bright salmon pink color that’s perfectly fruity with boysenberries, strawberries, dark tart cherries, and a nice spicy finish.

 

#7 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

Ever heard of Beaujolais Nouveau day? Well Beaujolais Noveau is one of France’s favorite party days and celebrated all over the world.

Beaujolais Nouveau started as a way to celebrate the end of the harvest and to see who could get their barrels to Paris the fastest. I know some try to turn their nose up at it and say it’s a scam. But it’s wine. Chill. Out.

Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau a classic wine is hands down my favorite.

These Gamay based wines are the hallmark of Beaujolais, Burgundy, France. They are released on the third Thursday of each November which makes them technically an autumn wine.

They’re so fun and bright I enjoy it as a summertime wine. Just stock up on it when it’s released and don’t store it for more than nine months. (By the way it goes great with fried turkey on Thanksgiving.)

It’s fruity – packed with cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, fig, thyme, smoke, pink peppercorns, and brioche (a lot of people say banana) with a zesty finish.  Try it slightly chilled for 30 minutes before drinking and behold the perfect summertime red wine.

So get out there and enjoy all that summer has to offer with these summertime wines. Drop me a line on Facebook and let me know your favorite summer wine.