Spring is here! With the Spring Equinox launching the season last week and the upcoming holidays of Easter, Mother’s Day, and National Wine Day soon approaching, white and rosé wine season is fast approaching. These are all appropriate days to enjoy a nice glass of wine (or two). With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, we’re rolling right into the season that calls for light, refreshing and crushable wine. We’ve selected 8 of our favorite white, orange, and rosé wines to try this upcoming Spring and Summer. We’ve also selected these wines because we felt like they’d pair well with some of our family’s favorite traditional dishes that you may see grace your table during these upcoming holidays.
Many of us celebrate the upcoming Arizona Spring season with brunch because of apparent reasons, like the Arizona weather being the perfect temperate in the mornings to enjoy being outside and not melting your face off. Brunch is also the best of both the breakfast and lunch world. Because let’s be honest, who doesn’t want something savory and sweet?
Brunch-forward holidays typically include pastries and sweet dishes like Scones, French Toast, Crepes, and Fruit Tarts. If you want to plan your dish ahead of time, try an easy overnight French Toast casserole like this one by My Baking Addiction. You may also plan for a few savory breakfast items, like a casserole or cast iron skillet recipe. Some of our favorites to make include baked Eggs Florentine, Shakshuka, Quiche, or a vegetable tart.
And one of the most iconic dishes always served during my family’s Spring holiday gatherings was the classic – Deviled Eggs. Now, this dish has seen quite a few “modifications” in recent years. I’ve personally enjoyed Deviled Eggs with bacon on it, different types of fresh herbs, and even caviar on top, but my favorite is still the classic version. Whichever way you decide to make yours, it’s a fabulous way to make good use of the eggs you hard-boiled and dyed.
And if you aren’t a morning person and skipping brunch this year, then maybe more traditional dishes served at dinner time like Glazed Spiral-cut Ham or Rack of Lamb might be gracing your table. If that’s the case, then one of our red wines might be better suited for the meal, like Montesecondo’s Sangiovese ‘Chianti Classico’ 2017, Mary Taylor Merlot ‘Bordeaux Rouge’ 2016, La Soeur Cadette Gamay ‘Chénas’ 2016. These wines only name a few of the reds we offer that might pair well with your upcoming holiday dinner celebration. But let’s get back to why we’re here, because this blog is really about crushable, refreshing white and rosé wines. So, without further ado, here are our picks for the wines to try during Arizona’s upcoming Spring and (endless) Summer.
White Wines
2018 Martha Stoumen Post Flirtation White Blend – $20
40% Roussanne, 23% Colombard, 17% Marsanne, 15% Muscat Blanc
Bright citrus with a hint of white flower blossoms; salty minerality; dangerously drinkable. Drink chilled.
The weather and soils of CoCo are reminiscent of the Mediterranean, with a hot landmass, sandy soils, and a near-constant cooling wind coming off of the frigid salty waters of the Carquinez Strait. The resulting wines are full of summer flavors, slightly salty, and highly drinkable. In 2018 they blended in some earlier season Colombard to illuminate the brightness of this wine. This old vine Colombard is versatile, as it maintains the same sugar level and acidity on the vine from August to November. When picked in late August, it reminiscent of a featherweight Basque Txakoli (while their late-season Colombard going into their Honeymoon has more Chenin-like characteristics). As fun as it is to make, this wine is even more fun to drink.
2016 Bakari Garganega’ Vino Bianco’ Sparkling – $15
100% Cortese, Bianco Frizzante IGT, Italy, 12.5% Alcohol
Bakari is a collaboration of five wine-makers involved in the world of natural and biodynamic wines. Spontaneous fermentation in steel with indigenous yeasts, “second fermentation in the bottle with the addition of must from dried Garganega grapes” [metodo ancestrale], unfined, unfiltered.
Hazy gold in color with mellow aromas of lemon, pineapple, and a hint of coconut. Delicate lemon, citrus blossom, pink grapefruit, a trace of marzipan, and pineapple glide atop consistent tight fizz with fresh acidity. Lemon zest accents the mineral-driven, crisp finish.
2016 Le Sot de l’Ange Riesling – $18
A French Riesling; this is a tropical and balanced white Vin de France wine. Fermented and aged in elongated “cigar” barrels (as Quentin calls them due to their shape) made from acacia instead of oak and bottled unfiltered. Aromatic, yet much tauter and mineral-forward on the palate.
Orange Wines
2018 Partida Creus, ‘CX’ – $25
This wine is 100% Cartoixa Vermell that has spent 90 days with skin on. Exotic and inviting, this wine has flavors of musk, pepper, and pink grapefruit. This 2018 vintage displays more fruit than phenolics with galangal undertones and feathery phenolics, it’s enticing and fresh.
Partida Creus is a winemaking team made up of Massimo and Antonella, originally from Piedmonte, Italy. Based in the Tarragona region of Catalonia, the project’s idea was to work with historical, often overlooked local varietals that in many cases were not recognized by the D.O. of the area: Penedès. The couple sought to buy and restore old vineyards, working with very expressive varietals. Which they make into an impressive number of different wines.
Furlani “Macerato” Vino Spumante – $25
100% Pinot Grigio, Italy, Bottled by Matteo Furlani, 11.5% Alcohol
Light pink/coral in color with aromas of fresh herbs, pink grapefruit, hay, buttery popcorn, and crushed rock minerality. Tart red currant, strawberry lemon, red grapefruit, and earth are glossed with twinkling fizz and snappy acidity. Chalky minerality and citrus zest linger on the tangy finish.
Made by Matteo Furlani, the 4th generation of the family to farm these tiny plots of vines. Located 700+ meters in altitude, in the Dolomites of Trentino, northeastern Italy. The estate was always farmed organically, without any chemicals. Matteo has taken this natural approach further, adopting biodynamic methods. This wine sees ten days of skin contact with spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. Frozen grapes must be added before re-fermentation in the bottle during Spring. There is no added sulfur and no disgorgement.
Rosé
2018 LoFi Cabernet Franc Rose – $18
Santa Barbara County, Central Coast, California, 12% ABV
Mike Roth and Craig Winchester are the two guys behind Lo-Fi, a fun brand identified by a vinyl-record label design and delicious organic fruit for all their wines. The 2018 rosé is a whole-cluster Cabernet Franc from Santa Barbara County made in neutral barrels with native yeasts, almost no sulfur, and no additives. This wine is so pure that it deserves an “ingredients” list on the back. This might sound strange because wine is presumably made up of just grapes, but it isn’t always, especially when talking about conventionally produced wines. Conventional Winemakers can make adjustments and over 60 types of chemicals or additives to “correct flaws”.
Fuller medium-bodied, dry. Salmon-pink color and an herbal-pear nose, this 100% Cab Franc show excellent structure over the dense, dry palate of red apple and currants. It finishes with tannin and bright acidity.
2019 Andi Knauss La Boutanche Trollinger Rosé – $18
100% Trollinger, Württemberg, Germany
“La Boutanche” is a French slang term meaning “grab the bottle and go!” Trollinger is an alpine grape variety that is also known as Schiava in northern Italy.
Salmon-pink in color with aromas of stone-fruit, citrus fruit blossoms, melon, and salty limestone. This wine is light-bodied, with notes of red fruit, strawberries, nectarine, and savory undertones. It’s bright, crisp, and dry, with a hint of spice on the finish. The finish is zesty, bright, and clean.
Perfect for a day at the beach!
2018 Meinklang Frizzante Rosé Österreich – $15
A lightly sparkling Pinot Noir with a hint of sweetness on the palate. This comes from Burgenland in Austria and is the type of wine that will woo your senses with flowers, red strawberries, and vibrant freshness.
This wine could be described as “off-dry,” but pairs perfectly with food that has a touch of sugar or a cheese and fruit plate. This is a great wine to enjoy with food!
All of our wine listed in our online shop at greyhenrx.com is on sale and listed at only $1 over our wholesale cost! To shop wine today, please visit HERE. To book a reservation for Platform 18 or The Grey Hen Rx, please read our reservation policy prior to booking.
