Top Summer Wines For Any Season Especially Summer 2010

Some of the better wines tasted recently. Ain’t summer grand?

2007 Bera Canelli Moscato d’Asti $15 (?): A Louis/Dressner Selection which almost always bodes well. This bottle was left over from summer 2009 in tBoW’s cellar and from 2008 on the store shelf! In other words, a Moscato d’Asti ain’t supposed to go past its release summer and here we have one two seasons over the limit. At three years old it was showing plenty of flavors of peaches and ripe pear juice. Light weight, delicate spritz and at this alcohol level don’t we have to get the current release? Delicious. 5%
2008 Vin de Pays des Gaulles $18: A Kermit Lynch import. Very light and tastes like Pinot Noir! Which is interesting because it is Gamay which can taste like Pinot Noir. This wine is made by the Lapierre brothers and is meant to be a U20 wine now that their Cru Beuajolais have climbed closer to $25. We liked it but the light viscosity and the very light color left us wanting. Given the robust Beaujolais Cru wines on the market for a small and value laden increase in bucks we made our decision. We liked the wine but frankly we would rather spend $25 for a Morgon or St Amour. You might think differently. 12.5%
2009 Chateau du Rouet Cuvee Reserve Tradition $20: We purchased this in a split which is the ideal summer wine package. This Rosé wine has proven a winner for the past three vintages. We love it. 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah blended perfectly so that it tastes like neither. Dry with delicate fruit. In a split you can have it every night! We will be buying more. 12.5%
2007 Simon Bize Savigny les Beaune $33: A Becky Wasserman selection from a typically BW seasoned Burgundian winemaker who is exactly the kind of unknown-to-me producer that I expect will impress. [ed. Bize winemakers pictured at top; credit to the Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France website] This is the village level wine. A little online research shows Patrick Bize who runs the operation has many cuvees. Here is a nice blog site that goes into the wines with more depth (and from where we lifted the opening shot). This wine was served excessively chilled which turned out was not a bad thing. The lime and orange notes stood out and the temperature was quite refreshing on a summer evening in LA. Normally we might save half a bottle or so. Should have bought more proving it is hard to go wrong with Becky Wasserman wines. The one we want to taste again. And again. 12.5%