Sunny, summer days require particular wines. Moreover, the criteria that go into selecting wines for easy, breezy days whether they’re spent by the water, picnicking, or on an outdoor adventure, are very different than what’s needed at other times of the year. I take this selection very seriously, and criteria number one is that the wine has to be fun! 

Certain types of wines just naturally step into the role of a party starter. Bubblies, crisp whites, and chillable reds call to me and say “hey, let’s have a good time!” Packaging and closures also play more of a role at this time of year than at any other. I want it to be as easy as possible to get at that vino, so screw caps, bottle caps, and portable packaging like cans are extra desirable. If a wine can combine elements from both of these camps, well, there’s a summertime winner!

Today, I’m rounding up five favorite summertime wines that combine some of these attributes, plus a bonus extra, to inspire more good times. All of these have wonderful memories attached to them, which of course, makes me love them even more. 

I will note that in the Bay Area, “summer” kind of pops in and out throughout the year, not always in the actual summer, and definitely stretching way into the fall, so the memories shared here kind of take that looser interpretation of the season. 

Sparkling Wine + Bottle Cap: Carboniste Sparkling Pinot Noir and Albariño

Price: Both $28

Carboniste makes some of my very favorite “happy day” wines. Dan and Jacqueline Person are the husband and wife team behind Carboniste, and they bring a fresh perspective to sparkling winemaking. As described on their website, they “are dedicated to making sparkling wines that are modern and reflective of grape and place.” Most of their bubblies are made in the traditional method, but they want the quality of the fruit to take center stage rather than the toasty notes that come from autolysis. 

This is even more true for their “critter line.” In the case of their Octopus Sparkling Albariño and Sea Urchin Sparkling Rosé of Pinot Noir, the wines are made in the traditional method, but they only spend a few months on the lees after being bottled (4 months and 2 months respectively), so that what you’re tasting is really bright fruit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the toasty notes in other traditional method sparkling wines, but these wines are just so likable and full of personality. They’re both dry and crisp but are also bursting with fruit. In the case of the Pinot, it’s cherries, strawberries, guava, and watermelon rind, while the Albraiño tastes of peaches, lemon, and sea spray. It’s a sunny day at the beach in a bottle.  

If you invite me to a pool party in the summertime, there’s a very good chance that I will show up with one of their bottles. They were with me at two of the funnest pool parties I’ve been to in recent years. The rosé came with me to a pool day a group of my girlfriends planned for my 40th birthday, and the Albariño came along to a pool weekend getaway we had with several couples that was full of giggle fits.

Carboniste’s bottles are also under crown bottle caps, so it takes all of about 5 seconds to get at that tasty juice.

Additional details for the Pinot Noir here and for the Albariño here.

As another alternative, Pét Nats  also fit bill quite nicely.

Crisp White + Screw Cap: Nortico Alvarinho

Average Price: $15 

I love an impromptu dinner party. A pool day that magically turns into a dinner party is even better. Last summer, Greg’s brother Dave and his wife Julia were staying at a house with a pool and they invited us over to hang out for the day. Once the sun started to go down, we all drifted inside to make dinner. The last thing you want to do in a situation like this is to deal with a fussy, complicated meal. You want it to be fresh, delicious, and easy. I set about making a Caprese salad while Dave made a delicious and incredibly simple shrimp dish, and we grilled some bread to accompany it all. So delicious, so easy. You’ll find a non-recipe for the shrimp at the bottom. 

The food and the occasion were all calling for a crisp white wine to pair alongside, so I cracked open a bottle of Nortico Alvarinho Minho 2019 from Portugal. It’s basically a Vinho Verde (which covers the same territory as the DOC of Minho), but I suspect the production method put it outside Vinho Verde regulations. For one, this wine is completely still and has no added CO2, which is often the case for other Vinho Verdes. The goal here is to achieve and richer style, although the wine is still very crisp and bright, full of notes of peaches and citrus. It’s 100% Alvarinho – and as you might guess, Alvarinho/Albariño is one of my favorite summer grapes. 

It was perfect with our dinner, but for more pairing ideas, the winery gives the following additional recommendations: “Have it simply with corn bread and butter like country folks do in Portugal. Also a terrific seafood wine, particularly with salty, fattier dishes like fish tacos or broiled oysters.” All perfect summer fare.

The grapes are sustainably grown and you can find additional details here. 

Find more related to Albariño here and here, and Vinho Verde here. Txakolina and Riesling are two more summer favorites. 

Rosé + Screw Cap: August Kessler Rosé 

I’m not sure it’s possible to get through the summer without rosé. Can you even call it summer if there is no rosé? I make no bones about the fact that I love rosés in many styles and from around the world.  I find that versions from Austria and Germany, like this August Kessler Pinot Noir Rosé Rheingau 2018, often have a little extra bouncy, bright quality to the fruit. This one had notes of strawberries, cherries, and a touch of peach. Bonus, screw cap for easy opening is par for the course with a lot if not most rosés from these countries. 

I enjoyed this one while sprawled out on the lawn gabbing with girlfriends on the lawn at the Culinary Cabin at Lake Tahoe. 

Find additional details on the wine here. 

For just a few of my many rosé-related posts, check out:

• 2 oz Pours: Looking at the World Through Rosé Colored Glasses
  
• Cooking to the Wine: Ultimate Provence Urban Rosé with Herbed Sous Vide Chicken Breasts and Roasted Eggplant Sheet Pan
  
• 2 oz Pours: Rosé After Labor Day
  
• Cooking to the Wine: Acquiesce Grenache Rosé with a Glazed Stuffed Pork Loin Roast (And A Visit to the Winery)
  

Chillable Red: Tessier Winery Soul Love 

Price: $30

I’ve shared wines made by friend Kristie Tacey of Tessier Winery before (read my interview with her here), and I love her wines in general, but in the last few years she’s added a small collection of what I lovingly like to refer to as “trippy wines” and I LOVE these. Her chillable red Soul Love is one of the trippiest and has been one of my very favorites since she started making it three years ago. The blend changes a little bit every year. The 2020 vintage pictured above was a blend of Riesling, Trousseau, and Mourvedre, while the 2021 is made up of Riesling, Mourtaou (aka Cabernet Pfeffer) and Merlot. As the blend changes, the flavors change as well, and it’s always a bit hard to describe, but let’s go with a super chuggable, magical fruit punch of strawberries, guava, berries, flowers, a hint of pineapple, and citrus fruits. (The 2021 also has a bit more tannic grip on the finish.)

This is another “happy day” wine for me that I’ll reach for during fun times or when we’re just hanging out and I happen to be in a particularly good mood. It pairs pretty easily with lots of foods. I’ve had it match easily with a roasted chicken topped with everything from a slightly sweet soy-chili glaze, bool kogi beef, pizza, and it’s even not half bad with buffalo chicken wings – not an easy food to pair. 

Chillable reds are pretty great that way. They pair with a lot of foods you really want a red wine with, but without all the heaviness that goes with a big red wine. I don’t know about you, but I typically just can’t stomach a big, alcoholic red when I’m standing around in the sun.  There are a lot of grapes that generally can take a light chill – Gamay, for example – but nowadays you can also find lots of great examples from winemakers deliberately making wines for this purpose. A lot of times, they’re crazy blends like this one, or sometimes they’re single-variety wines made in a style that sits between rosé and typical versions they might make from that grape.

On her website, she describes it as her  “glou glou” wine (it is!) and  “is a tribute to David Bowie and the ideal picnic wine.”

All of Kristie’s wines are vegan, made from sustainably grown grapes, and natural. More info here.

My friend Adriana and I recently helped pour at one of Kristie's release parties at a rooftop venue here in Oakland. The "trippy" wines were center stage and tasting fabulous.

Cans: Maker Wines 

Prices Vary.

It’s really hard to beat a canned wine for portability and convenience. They’re also perfect to pack out for a stealthy drink, when you don’t want to open a whole bottle, and/or when you don’t want to deal with glass. It’s lucky that there are more and more producers making quality versions. And then there are some trying to take it to the next level. Enter Maker Wines. This female-run company has a great mission: 

We started Maker to offer premium wine sans the snobbery. To highlight interesting varietals crafted by award-winning small producers. To tell the story of the producer that hand crafted your wine. And to package up “wine for one” in earth-conscious cans. Because we believe high-end wine isn’t just for the wealthy, distribution shouldn’t just be for the big guys, and great stories—like great wines—are meant to be shared.

Basically, they partner with quality small producers and package their wines in sleek cans,  and tell their stories via their website and info provided packaged with the wines. Even better, a lot of the wines are made from sustainably farmed grapes and/or are made by women, LGBTQ, or minority winemakers, and the info is clearly listed on the website.  The rosé pictured, which had notes of cherries, tangerines, and flowers, and the Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc – which I really enjoyed, but isn’t pictured –  were made by Chris Christensen of Bodkin. The Chenin Blanc, which had notes of white peaches, honeysuckle, and lemons is made by Colleen Sullivan Clothier of Revolutions Wines. 

We enjoyed these cans of their Rosé and their Chenin Blanc on a walk while taking in an AMAZING sunset while staying just outside Joshua Tree.

Find more on canned wines here and here.

Bonus Round: Mommenpop Blood Orange Spritz!

Price: $38

I brought back a spritz’n habit from our trip to Italy a few years ago. Thoughts of enjoying them on various piazzas at sunset around the country are among my favorite memories of our trip. I still continue to drink them throughout the summer. It’s fun to give them a twist by playing with different vermouths and bitter aperitifs. I love the Mommenpop line of aperitifs made by Samantha Sheehan, the winemaker of Poe and Ultraviolet (I recommend both),  and her husband designer Michael McDermott. They use a lot less sugar than most versions you’ll see out there and they don’t add any dyes. My favorite is the Blood Orange, but they’re all really delicious. 

We drank these with Dave and Julia by the pool on the same day the Nortico Alvarinho up at the top.

Cheers to a happy summer!  

*****

*****

The rest of the Wine Pairing Weekend Blogging Group (#WinePW) is exploring summer sippers this month. Check out the rest of their posts: 

• Camilla’s posting “A Casual Feast and Canned Wines: Bo Ssäm + Two Shepherds' 2021 Maxzilla Piquette” at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Wendy is “Sipping Rosé and Enjoying Summertime” at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Terri’s got “Summer Time Canned Sparkling Prosecco and Pepperdew Bites” at Our Good Life
• Gwendolyn’s going with “Orange Wines for Summer Times from Austria, Mexico, Oregon, Paso Robles” at Wine Predator
• Jane offers “Summertime Nibbles with Prosecco” at Always Ravenous
• Andrea is “Sipping Pretty this Summer with Emir and Trail Mix” at The Quirky Cork
• Jeff says “Add Some Pop! to Your Summer of Rosé” at Food Wine Click!  
• Kat insists “Schiava is the Perfect Summer Red Wine for Grilling” at The Corkscrew Concierge
• Finally, Linda serves up “Washington Pinot Gris for chilling on a lazy summer afternoon” at My Full Wine Glass  

I love Albrariño and I’ve got a whole lot of it to share! In fact, we’ve got a deluge of Rías Baixas on our hands. Get your umbrellas ready. We’re headed to Galicia, Spain today and we’re going to dive right in!

Gregory + Vine PR put together a beautifully coordinated virtual trip to the region in advance of this event. In addition to samples, they included fun details like a "boarding pass"and luggage tags,  and it all came in an adorable box shaped like a suitcase. Thanks so much for a wonderful event!

I last covered this region in northwestern Spain way back in 2018. I invite you to check this post out to get an overview of the region, but here are some very quick basics as a recap:

• Albariño is the star grape. It must make up 70% of the blend. Fourteen grape varieties are permitted in the DO, but Albariño grape represents 96% of all plantings. Treixadura and Loureiro are two other important grapes, and Caiño Blanco, Torrontes, and Godello are also planted to a lesser extent throughout the region. 99% of the wine produced is white, but some red wines are made and it’s definitely worth grabbing a bottle if you see one! Permitted red grapes include: Caiño tinto, Espadeiro, Loureira Tinta, Sousón, Mencía and Brancellao. (Hopefully, we’ll get into one of those here someday.)

• The rain in Spain falls mainly in Rías Baixas. The region is right on Spain’s Atlantic coast, so it has a maritime climate that’s cooler, wetter, foggier, and much greener than most of the rest of the county. Global warming is definitely having an effect here though, and winemakers are reporting warmer temperatures leading to higher alcohol levels in the wines.

• Oceanfront property is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, cooling ocean breezes help Albariño grapes retain their crisp, mouth-watering acidity. On the other hand, that maritime climate causes a lot of disease pressure. Albariño grapes have thick skins which help them stand up to the humidity, but they can also use an extra hand standing up to all that moisture. Most vines are trained on a pergola called a “parra”. These are wire trellises that are anchored by granite posts. These can be up to seven feet high and allow breezes to flow around the grapes for maximum circulation, preventing mildew and promoting even ripening. As you can imagine though, this makes harvesting more difficult, and in this case, the grapes must be picked by hand.

ALBARIÑO’S  FLAVOR PROFILE & WHAT IT PAIRS WITH

Peaches and salt are my personal flavor markers for Albariño. You’re also likely to get a mix of citrus fruits like lemon, grapefruit, or lime. Green apple, pear, pineapple, and green melons sometimes work their way in as well, depending on where the grapes are grown and how the wine is made. There tends to be a lot of stony minerality mixed in as well, particularly with the wines of Rías Baixas. Albariño has lots of bright acidity and can be made in numerous styles, although most typical examples tend to be quite crisp and light to medium in body.

As you can probably imagine from its proximity to the ocean, the wines of Rías Baixas are a natural match for seafood across the board. I also think its acidity tends to work quite well with tomatoes and the brininess of olives. I also enjoy Albariño’s seabreezy minerality with sushi and sashimi, as well as other umami-driven dishes from various Asian cuisines. It also plays well with herbs (think salsa verde!) and veggies. It can also present a really nice fresh counterpoint to fried foods. Rounder, fuller options can also work well with chicken or light pork dishes, depending on how it’s flavored of course.

The representatives of the region I spoke with during a virtual trip to the region also recommended the wines with Pulpo a la Gallega, which they described as a simple but delicious preparation where octopus is cooked in olive oil, salt, and paprika. Sounds good to me!

THE SUBREGIONS

Since we’ve previously covered and just recapped the basics, I thought we’d go a little deeper today and explore the subregions of the area. Rías Baixas is Galician for “Lower Rias,” referring to four estuaries that reach inland, mixing salt water and fresh water as they flow: Ría de Muros y Noia, the Ría de Arousa, the Ría de Pontevedra, and the Ría de Vigo. They contribute to the area’s distinctive geography as a whole, and the terrain around each of the Rías individually gives each one its particular characteristics. The region’s five subregions are largely organized around the Rías: Ribeira do Ulla, Val do Salnés, Soutomaior, Condado do Tea, and O Rosal. Wines can also be classified under the general Rías Baixas D.O., so you may or may not see the subregion on the bottle.

We’ll get to know each of these and take a look at wines from three of the areas. RiasBaixaswines.com gives the following descriptions for the subregions. I’ve also added some production details provided by Gregory + Vine, the PR company for the region.

Ribeira do Ulla

The newest Rías Baixas sub-region, this area was registered in 2000 and is composed mostly of alluvial soil. It is located inland, just southeast of Santiago de Compostela, and east of Padrón, a town famous for fried green peppers, a popular tapa. It accounts for 3.3% of production.

Val do Salnés

Val do Salnés is known as the birthplace of the Albariño grape. Located on the Atlantic coast, it surrounds the historic town of Cambados. This is the original and oldest sub-region with the most area under vine and the highest concentration of wineries. The soil is granitic and rocky with alluvial topsoil. It is also the coolest and wettest sub-region with an average temperature of just 55º F. It accounts for 63.8% of production.

Soutomaior

Nestled in the hills at the head of the Rías de Vigo, it is the smallest of the sub-regions and was registered in 1996. Soils are light and sandy over granite bedrock. They exclusively produce Albariño. It accounts for 2% of production.

Condado do Tea

“The County of Tea” is named after the river Tea, a tributary of the Miño River. Located in a fairly mountainous area along the Miño, this is the second largest sub-region. The most inland, it is a warmer, drier area, with an average temperature of 59º F that can soar to 104º F during the summer. Soils contain granite and slate. It accounts for 21.7% of production.

O Rosal

Also lying along the Miño River where it joins the Atlantic Ocean, this sub-region forms the border with Portugal. With granite bedrock and alluvial topsoil, the vineyards are terraced along the sides of the Miño. The fishing village of A Guarda offers a picturesque setting to enjoy the foods and wines of the region. It accounts for 11% of production.

I’ll be sharing wines from three of these regions here today. I’ve had the chance to participate in a couple of different virtual tastings with wines from Rías Baixas, really allowing me to experience the varied styles and characteristics. I also buy a lot of wines from this region on my own, so I have quite A LOT of pairings to share along the way.

Some of the wines in this post were provided as samples. As always, all opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.

THE WINES & PAIRINGS

Val do Salnés

I found the wines from this subregion to tended to show the most intense minerality and the most tart and snappy fruit notes. This makes sense given that it’s the coolest and wettest of the subregions and has really stony soils.

Martin Codax Albriño Rías Baixas 2019 with Sushi

• 8 & $20: Saffron-Tomato Chicken Croquetas
  
• 8 & $20: Roasted Stuffed Fish with Sautéed Spinach
  

Here are a few more from Val do Salnes I’ve had recently and what we paired them with:

Adegas Gran Vinum Mar de Vinas Albariño Rías Baixas 2019:  Seaspray, white flowers, lemons, and white peaches. Very fresh and bright. Crisp and minerality at start and finish, with juicy, roundness on mid-palate. We enjoyed this wine with cod with olive and tomatoes on roasted potatoes. The wine became more round and peachy with the briny dish. The recipe coming soon to NibblingGypsy.com.

La Caña Rías Baixas: Round, juicy peaches lemon, a little tinned pineapple. The wine has a touch of plumpness at the very start but finishes briny and savory with minerals and hints of herbs.

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A post shared by Nicole Ruiz Hudson, DipWSET (@nibblinggypsy)

Condado do Tea

This area is the warmest, driest, and most continental of the subregions. One would expect to see rounder, lusher fruit note, perhaps even some tropical fruit flavors to go with that added warmth, and these wines do reflect that.

Bodegas Fillaboa Albariño Rías Baixas 2020 with Salmon and Pesto Green Beans

Señorío de Rubiós Robaliño Albariño Rías Baixas 2020 with Salmon and Roasted Asparagus

Here’s another bottle I enjoyed recently and how we paired it:

Valtea Albariño Rías Baixas

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A post shared by Nicole Ruiz Hudson, DipWSET (@nibblinggypsy)

O Rosal

The O Rosal subregion is right next to Condado do Tea, running along the Miño River bordering Portugal, but closer to the ocean. My impression is that it would blend the characteristics of Condado do Tea and Val do Salenes, with lots of minerality and rounder fruit notes. I don’t have as much experience with bottles from the region (to my knowledge anyways), but this bottle from Santiago Ruiz would seem to bear that out.

Bodegas Santiago Ruiz O Rossal  Albariño Rías Baixas 2017 with Shrimp Sautéed with Olives and Cherry Tomatoes

Belnd: 74% Albariño, 10% Loureiro, 7% Godello, 5% Treixadura, and 4% Caiño Blanco,  per Year| Alcohol: 13% | Average Price:  | Additional details here.

I must admit that I’m partial to the last name.

Santiago Ruiz's winery is housed in a 17th Century building and surrounded by old vines on pergolas, which sounds so idyllic. The Santiago Ruiz family’s involvement in wine dates back to the 19th Century, but Santiago Ruiz himself wasn’t able to dedicate himself to winemaking until he was 70 years old. (Goes to show, you’re never too old to live a dream!) Prior to that, he’d sold machine and naval insurance, but after his retirement, he dedicated himself to working in wine. In 1984, he founded the winery and he began to focus on improving the process of making Galician white wine. He incorporated the use of stainless steel tanks and became a firm defender of using indigenous varieties, and they plant several in addition to Albariño.

Santiago Ruiz´s daughter, Isabel, created the whimsical labels. She was planning to celebrate her wedding at the winery house and drew a little map to help the guest to find their way. As soon as Santiago Ruiz saw it, he added his name and decided to use it as his label. The text on the label is his handwriting. Rosa Ruiz, the founder’s youngest daughter, continued the legacy of the winery and Luisa Freire is the current winemaker. Today, the winery is under the Bodegas LAN umbrella, and I had a chance to experience the wine during a wonderful lunch hosted by LAN – you can read more about that here, as that post has additional pairing options for that wine.

Tasting Notes: Nicely balanced with both tangy brightness and crisp saline finish. Lots of ripe citrus fruit and a little round peachiness on the mid-palate.

Pairing: This wine paired easily with shrimp sautéed with olives, red peppers, and cherry tomatoes on a bed of spaghetti squash with a little olive oil and Parmesan. Of course, if you have manchego on hand, that would be even better.

And you’ll find even more pairing options for Rías Baixas in these articles:

• 8 & $20: Smoky Paprika Shrimp With Saffron-Lemon Pilaf
  
• Choose Your Own Adventure Spatchcock Roasted Chicken
  

*****

Join the rest of the World Wine Travel blogging (#WorldWineTravel) as take a virtual trip to Rías Baixas, led by Linda of My Full Wine Glass. Read her invitation: here.

If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join us for our live  Twitter chat on Saturday, April 24th at 8am Pacific time. Follow the hashtag #WorldWineTravel. Be sure to check what the others have on the menu.

• Steve at Children of the Grape shares Troubadours, Love, and Wine.
• Terri at Our Good Life discusses One Grape: Three Unique Experiences with Albarino.
• Andrea at The Quirky Cork writes about Albariño and Bacon: A Love Affair.
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest recommends A Region and Wine You Must Explore: Rias Baixas and Albariño.
• Jeff from Food Wine Click! shares A Tale of Two Rias Baixas Albarinos.
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm talks about My Virtual Trip to Rias Baixas.
• Allison and Chris at ADVineTURES discuss The White Wines of Rias Baixas.
• Nicole from Somm’s Table shares It’s Raining Rias Baixas.
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Sopa de Cebolla + 2020 Fillaboa Albariño.
• Martin from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog talks about Bodegas Zarate; Setting the Standard for Rias Baixas Albarino – Then and Now.
• David at Cooking Chat pairs Pan Seared Sea Bass with Albariño.
• Jennifer at Vino Travels shares Refresh Your Palate with Rias Baixas Albarino.
• Melanie from Wining with Mel takes a Wine Romp Through Rias Baixas in Galicia, Spain.
• Rupal from Syrah Queen has Your Passport To Rias Baixas – Explore Three Incredible Albarinos.
• Susannah at Avvinare posts Rias Baixas – Green Spain Entices.
• Gwendolyn from Wine Predator shares From California’s Camino Real to Galicia’s Camino de Santiago: All Aboard for Albariño 2!
• Liz at What's In That Bottle? says Pack Your Bags: We're off to Rias Baixas for an Albariño Adventure.
• Linda, your host, from My Full Wine Glass offers 5 Things that Might Surprise You About Rías Baixas, Home of Albariño.