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‘A perfect dozen of spring white wines’
Jon Bonné - San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spring is filled with the flavors of green. With so many favas and asparagus spears on the table, wines must play along. Which makes it perhaps my favorite time of year for wines, because after thinking hard about the deep, rich wines of winter, we can lighten up and air out the cellar.
Last year I looked for a handful of whites and reds (and a spring red is a trickier creature than you might imagine); this year I'm sticking with whites.
A spring white? That notion is a fuzzy one. So I'll give a few broader parameters. If you can follow these guidelines, choosing a wine for your spring table should be a cinch.
1. No wood, or at least none you can taste. Some barrel-enhanced richness can tame what could be an aggressively edgy wine, but these wines should be fresh and crisp; it's not a time for opulent Chardonnay. They should wake you up. In spring, embrace the steel tank.
2. Green flavors. All those notes of herbs and grass and slightly tart fruit? Just what you need to match spring produce. The more lemony and bright, the better.
3. Fresh does not mean simple. Don't fall into some well-worn traps in spring wine: one-note Sauvignon Blanc; one-half-note Pinot Grigio. Resist. For about the same amount of cash, you can land in a far more delicious place.
4. Screwcaps. It's not a perfect barometer for fresh wines, but it's a darn good one. More than half of my selections had them....
2008 La Sibilla Campi Flegrei Falanghina ($17)
The concept: Ah, Falanghina. Among the Campanian whites, you have become the beloved poster child. Why not? You're like Pinot Grigio for grown-ups. Within this southern Italian region, there are many ways to express this particular grape; from this caldera west of Naples come intensely mineral versions, grown on its sandy soils, that will make you fully reconsider the grape. But really, any Falanghina will serve well.
The wine: The straight-up bottling from this modest estate (its reserve Cruna del Lago was dazzling last year) was described to me, as a selling point, as intensely salty. It is - appealingly - with green olive and brine flavors, plus dried lemon peel and fresh green herb. Sharp as a tack, direct it to asparagus with sea salt or grilled squid.
Two great articles about the wines of Mount Etna:
‘Volcanic Alternative to Pinot Noir’ - SF Chronicle, May 24, 2009
Dolcetto in the news:
‘Dolcetto is a wine of modesty’ - SF Chronicle, January 3, 2010