Back to the summer reality
Usually when the dog days of summer roll around all I can fathom drinking is rose. For the love of hot, sticky, sweaty Times Square, waiting-for-the-R-train rose. Sometimes that means plunking down $20 and buying a rose from the Bandol region: big, lush peach-filled pink wines. The first rose I ever drank was from Bandol. Other days it means as cheap as possible, cold as ice, "I wish I could climb into the bottle" wine. Here at Vine that means Le Rose de Des Erles, from Corbieres, which will set you back a whopping $8.95.
Recently though, something has happened to my taste buds and suddenly I want red. A big Cabernet full of structure and tannin makes sense this time of year when I'm sitting in a well air-conditioned steak house, but I crave an everyday summer red. So what is a girl to do?
And this my friends, is where the French once again help us out. Chilled red is my new summer savior. Yes it's true, light and juicy little reds from France, Spain or Italy have become my new best friends. I love how much weight the wine has without being too much on a hot night. I love the feeling of sticking a bottle of red in the fridge: it flies in the face of conventional wine logic and seems, well, kind of rebellious.
So last night I cranked the A/C, roasted some chicken and cracked a well chilled bottle of Brouilly. And yes I felt luxurious and very refreshed. At Vine, $14.95 will get a you a bottle of Domanaine de Bel-Air Brouilly, which is light, fresh and bursting with rapsberries. One of the side benefits of Brouilly is that it's the perfect wine to test out your Julia Childs accent. Pour a cool glass and shriek "Brew-Leee" at the top of your lungs. It feels good, you'll see.
So mount your own wine rebellion and put that bottle of beaujolais you bought back in May in the fridge, or any light and juicy red you particularly like. Although I don't recommend it, I have one employee who will confess to drinking cheap Cabernet on the rocks. For your drinking ease, we have decided to throw a few of our favorite reds, including the Brouilly, into the refrigerator. Try one - I bet you will find that you like it as much as I do.
