Wines Of The Week: Keep Summer On Your Table All Year Long

The summer is coming to its end for most of us, and as we are getting ready for the Rosh Hashana season, I wanted to share with you another two wines that are particularly appropriate for the hot weather. Just as we enjoy steaks all year round and not solely during the summer BBQ season, white and rosé wines should be enjoyed throughout the rest of the year, as well.

Spanish wines have strongly gained in popularity these past couple of years, not just in the general market but in the kosher wine market as well. This week, I will discuss the brand-new vintages of two delicious and refreshing Spanish wines which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do.

Celler de Capçanes, Peraj Petita, Rosat, 2016

Yes, I do realize that the title/purpose of this newsletter is not the “Rosé of the week”. What can I do, though. I like rosé as a fun, refreshing quaffer. It looks pretty, it smells pretty and it also tastes pretty. Well, when it’s well-made, of course. As far as quality is concerned, we can usually count on Capçanes to provide very good wine. While this is not at all their first attempt at a rosé it is, IMHO, the best one so far. The Peraj Petita Rosat 2016 is made of 100% Garnacha (Grenache), and it was made with the saignée (bleeding) method.

This wine is lighter in color than the previous vintages (much lighter than in the picture) and features fragrant notes of strawberries and cherries as well as orange blossom. It is light in body with refreshing minerality and plenty of balancing acidity. It is here just in time to enjoy over the upcoming holidays.

With the plethora of French and Israeli rosés this year, the Peraj Petita Rosat is a nice Spanish option which brings diversity along Capçanes’s signature of world-class winemaking with distinctive terroir characteristics.

Elvi, In-Vita, Alella, 2016

Five years. That’s how long it has been since the previous release of a new vintage of the In-Vita in the US, something which I have personally always found to be quite puzzling. Sure, I know that white wines are not yet as popular as red wines in the kosher market. I hear that. But things are and will keep moving in the right direction. This wine, however, has everything required to succeed: It is delicious, very well-made, interesting, refreshing, complex, has a relatively high ageing ability for a white wine (nine out of 10 bottles of the 2011 are still drinking very nicely and fresh) and the cherry on top, it is affordable.

A blend of 60% indigenous Pansa Blanca and 40% Sauvignon Blanc, the In-Vita 2016 unfolds, showcasing aromas of fresh, ripe Meyer lemons, grapefruit, linden and hay. Light in body but with oomph and layers of flavors as well as lots of mouth-watering acidity which should allow it to evolve and remain fresh for a few years. Long enough at least so that we will be able to compare it with the 2017, in 2018!

While this is a great summer wine, it is also a pleasure to drink throughout the year as it pairs wonderfully with rich, fatty fish dishes such as a Chilean sea bass in a lemongrass and coconut cream sauce or with a stuffed veal shoulder roast with sage, wild mushrooms and caramelized pearl onions.

Photography by Tzvi Cohen.