With fall and the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic, students are back in school. I see and hear them during recess when I pass the school just down the street, a sight and sound both nostalgic and joyous. Occasionally, I retrieve a soccer ball or basketball and hurl it back over the fence to youngsters whose budding athleticism had it bouncing across the street.
When in class, do students today bend over their desks, and with pen or pencil in hand – or just as likely a keyboard at their fingertips – still write of how they spent their summer? Or might that be too personal or triggering an assignment nowadays? Actually, did students ever actually address that question, or is it a schoolroom myth? I can’t remember ever writing such an essay, but as a student I never was very attentive.
If asked today what I did over the summer, my answer would have little to do with wine. Just a couple of wine competitions, a couple of short excursions to wineries in the Sierra foothills and the Delta; no trips to Tuscany, Bordeaux or even Paso Robles. A memorable exception to our principally stay-home summer was the evening we attended the 50th anniversary celebration at Boeger Winery just outside Placerville.
Summer was more family focused than usual, given that our son and his family from Thailand were in the United States for a couple of months, including stays in Sacramento. Then, I learned that my son, while mainly an artist whose interest in alcohol runs largely to novel cocktails of his own creation, nonetheless appreciates white wine, and seems to have liked the Chablis, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc I poured more than the California and Australian Chardonnay. My daughter-in-law’s taste runs more to Burgundy and Pinot Noir, and we had a few she seemed to enjoy.
In short, my current book of tasting notes is unusually shy of entries from this summer. Caught up in family moments, I even neglected to take notes on the Chablis, Pinot Noir and other wines shared with the family from Thailand. If asked to write of the more intriguing wines of the Summer of ’22, however, these would be at the top of the list:
Dry Creek Vineyard 2021 Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc ($16): This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Dave Stare family’s Dry Creek Vineyard just outside Healdsburg. During that time the winery has built its following on consistently clear, varied and focused interpretations of Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. But almost from the start the winery also has turned out a vivid and refreshing take on Chenin Blanc, relying mostly or solely on grapes from the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta just south of Sacramento. Vintage after vintage, the Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc has been so steady that it was an easy choice to include in my forthcoming book, “The Signature Wines of Superior California: 50 Wines that Define the Sierra Foothills, the Delta, Yolo and Lodi.” While you watch for it, pick up a bottle of the Dry Creek Vineyard’s 2021 Clarksburg Dry Chenin Blanc and savor its exceptionally aromatic suggestions of spring wildflowers, currents of tropical fruit, including papaya, lean build and zesty acidity. It may not be dramatic, but it is reliable and versatile. We enjoyed it with both the first caprese salad of the season and a lemony shrimp pasta.
Concha y Toro 2021 Rapel River Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc ($15): Summer in Sacramento, especially this year’s frequent and long heat spikes, calls for well-chilled white wines that refresh and divert. As a consequence, the refrigerator at any given time is apt to hold more Sauvignon Blanc than any other varietal wine. The Concha y Toro 2021 Rapel River Gran Reserva was one of three different samples of the varietal that the winery sent me just as summer was about to get under way. All are bargains that respect Sauvignon Blanc’s assertive fruit and razory acidity when the grapes are grown in a cool setting, but the Gran Reserva was my favorite for its blossoming aroma, rich texture, surprising length and punchy fruit and herbal flavor, mostly grapefruit and jalapeno chile pepper. Summer is over, but through the fall this Sauvignon Blanc has the moxie to continue to light up the dinner table.
Alexander Valley Vineyards 2021 Sonoma County Dry Rosé of Sangiovese ($20): I know of no links between climate change and the rising popularity of pink wines, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the former is influencing the latter as wine enthusiasts cope with warmer and drier weather by embracing cold, light-hearted rosé wines. At this year’s California State Fair commercial wine competition, 114 rosé wines were entered. Judges concluded that the best of them all was the Alexander Valley Vineyards Sonoma County Dry Rosé of Sangiovese. It is an unusually brash rosé, from the depth and brilliance of its color through its robust suggestions of strawberries and raspberries in aroma and flavor. For its slight sweetness (0.6 residual sugar) it makes for a splendid aperitif wine, while its ample build and high-spirited acidity make it an amiable companion at the table, regardless of the sweetness or spiciness of the main course (think Thai curry creamy with coconut milk, or shrimp tacos with a fierce salsa).