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Spring Wining
Now
that we’re on the downhill side of Spring and on our way to Summer, I thought
I’d shake out the cobwebs from my sleep-deprived mind and attempt to prepare
myself for my favorite season of the year and the many opportunities for
socializing with a little wine. As
many of you know, Winos John and Bob live in the Northern climes of New Jersey.
Heat, to them, is something that they see emanating from the exhaust of
the vehicle ahead of them in the daily grind.
For those of us living below the Mason/Dixon line or West of the
Mississippi, heat is here. Imbibing
the heavier red wine varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon or Rhone or Syrah is nice,
but not exactly thirst quenching on a night that Hemingway, Fitzgerald, or
Williams might describe as “stinking hot”.
On these warmer nights, I prefer Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot
Noirs, or other lighter wines. Since
I’m often outdoors kibitzing with a wino-wannabe neighbor, I need to protect
my wine from increasing in temperature (I’m sure there’s an energy
equilibrium theory that covers the reason why, Wino John, but I know from
practical experience that if it’s hot, my wine’s going to get there too).
I have seen many people resolve the temperature problem by placing ice
cubes in their wine. STOP!
Don’t do this. Wino Sharon
solved this problem in our household many years ago. The secret to keeping a nice chill on wine in the summer (or
for chilling wine that you’ve opened after returning from the store) is to
have a few frozen plastic cubes with distilled water inside. These cubes cool the wine without melting and diluting the
flavor. They come in various sizes
and shapes and are available at many stores stocking summer picnic supplies.
Amazingly, I have never seen them advertised in the wine catalogs, but
then, those folks are trying to get us to buy $1,000 wine coolers and the $4.95
pack of plastic ice cubes wouldn’t justify the glossy catalog space. For
those of you who enjoy taking a walk with a glass of wine in the summer
evenings, an additional tip is to purchase a few quality plastic wine glasses.
I’m not referring to the throwaways, but rather the heavy-duty, picnic
quality plastic glasses. These are
available from numerous sources. They
preserve the bouquet and flavor with the wine glass shape, but don’t cause you
the concern of walking around the neighborhood with a delicate glass that might
break (of course, I have worked on training my neighbors to come out with a
decent bottle of wine whenever they see Wino Sharon and me walking with an empty
glass). Hopefully,
these tips are helpful. Meanwhile,
I’ll work on posting my top 10 wines to drink in the summer.
Maybe Wino John and Wino Bob will create a list too (climate adjusted for
New Jersey). Wino
Wally May
17, 2001
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