It's good to make reasonable goals or, failing that, to make unreasonable goals and be ready to adjust them often. That's all a way of saying that no, that big box of rosé I was planning to have for summer never made it to the summer solstice. But! When I adjusted my goal, hoping only to make the rosé last until June, I achieved my goal and now I feel like a winner. However... I am a winner with no house wine now. So here are three wines that have filled the hole in my heart and my refrigerator.

Skouras White Peloponnese, Greece 750ml $10.95
This wine is the Mediterranean in a bottle (without the smarmy guys and all the tourists). It's has really nice fruit upfront and, especially on the nose, I get lots of peach and some white flower notes. I really love it when this wine gets on my palate, though. That's when the wonderful, creamy texture shows up, along with some nice, light spice. It's great to have a wine that's full of character but really easy going a the same time.

Chateau Benoit Müller Thurgau Oregon, USA 750ml $12.95
Müller Thurgau is one of my favorite grapes. It has a lot of its own character but also responds well to the wine-making techniques of different regions. In northern Italy, wines made from Müller Thurgau tend to be crisp and clean and wonderfully minerally. In Oregon, they are often made with a little (or too often, a lot of) sweetness. Elegant floral notes combine with some tropical notes and that touch of sweetness for a graceful, balanced wine. (Read more about Müller Thurgau at Craig Camp's blog)

Magdala Rosé Provence, France 3000ml $28.95
This is almost too easy a replacement. Sure it looks like wine that you'd get from a pharmacy, but that should only make you confident that these winemakers put more money into their wine than into their packaging. This little better-for-the-Earth box has four bottle's worth of light, very easy to drink and very tasty rosé inside. It's perfect for a weekend with friends or, for that matter, a weekend alone. I'm thinking doctors should start prescribing this rather than pills. (Kidding! Sort of.)

Labels: american, french, greek, rose, whites