Today is the official start to summer and there is just over a week left until all the kids are out of school and that plaintive cry…”I have nothing to do” begins.  But for us adults, it the official start to summer holidays, where friends and relatives come to visit or we visit them. So, with company calling for reservations at Le Vôtre Maison, now is as good a time as any to take a look at a selection of wines and beers to enjoy over the summer season.

Typically we will be entertaining around the BBQ, enjoying the company of friends and family so pricing is crucial.  This is not the time to bring out the very special wines you have been cellaring.  This is the time of year where value and flavour counts utmost in our buying patterns.

When considering pairing wine and beer with summer grilling, you should think about the style of the beverage, i.e. is it light-bodied or a heavier style.  Both styles will determine the type of food to pair it with.

Beer can be as complex as wine and in some cases, even more so.  Traditional comprised of four ingredients, water, malt, hops and yeast, the malt which is most always barley can be roasted to a certain degree, much like coffee beans, to produce a desired flavour.  The addition of hops is a very key ingredient as there are many types of hops available with varying degrees of alpha acids, which is essential to the taste and finish of the beer.

With summer wines, we seem to fall back to the standard of reds and whites but what about rosés.  If you are in any of the great wine regions of the world on a blistering hot day, what people are drinking are rosés.  These are the perfect patio wines to serve; fresh, fruit-driven wines with crisp, lively acidity.

Sparkling wines seem to be always associated with a celebration of some sort whether it’s a wedding or New Year’s Eve.  In fact, they are well suited to the summertime, seemingly able to quench the thirst and give more pleasure particularly ones produced by the Charmat method.  These sparkling wines with their effervescence, crisp acidity and lighter weight make them wonderful dinner companions.  The sparkle gives an added element that is superb with deep-fried foods like shrimp tempura or baked pastry.  Sparkling wine also counterbalances the spiciness in hot peppers and its crisp acidity cuts cleanly through dishes that are rich or a little oily like salmon or caviar along with many soft cheeses.

Summer white wines fall into the same criteria as sparkling wines…they should be crisp, clean wines with vibrant, racy acidity that borders on a mouth-watering, thirst-quenching texture.  Leave behind those heavy, oak-dominated Chardonnays and try a crisp Sauvignon Blanc from BC or New Zealand.  A Riesling from BC or a Pinot Grigio from Italy or goes well with almost any light meat such as chicken, veal, pork, pheasant, turkey or quail.

Red wines are still the favourite for the backyard B-B-Q but instead of the heavy reds of winter opt for some of the lighter, fruit-driven styles that are available.  Zinfandels are the perfect summer red with most being soft and fruit-driven wines.  For grilled chicken or salmon fillets, go with a Pinot Noir.  Or try a Gamay if you having burgers, pasta or grilled Panini sandwiches.  It even goes with fish.  If an inch thick rib-eye is on the menu, check out a Carménère from Chile or a Malbec from Argentina.

Wine Picks:

A multi varietal blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc,  Viognier, Semillon, and Muscat, the 2010 Tinhorn Creek 2 Bench White ($25.90) is full of stunning aromas and flavours of Fuji apple, grapefruit, papaya, peach, nectarine with a hint of sweet orange and honey.  Fresh acidity, great aromas and flavours of white peach, citrus and honey with rich concentration on the finish and a just a hint of sweetness.  This has summer written all over it.

The 2011 Wild Goose Autumn Gold ($21.30) is a Riesling-based blend offering a delicious combination of tropical and orchard fruit.  The palate is all flavour and texture with lush mango, pineapple, kiwi, grapefruit, peach and crisp apple with a finish of lemon-lime zest.

Finding a decent Pinot Noir is sometimes a frustrating venture, such are the problems in producing wine from the grape but to find one that really stands out is a Pinophiles dream come true.  The 2006 Brancott “Central Otago” Pinot Noir ($24.90…reduced from $33.90) is an excellent example of what this variety is capable of when grown properly and handled with kid gloves during production.  The aromas coming out of the glass are pure decadent pleasure with its rich cherry, raspberry, smoke leather, forest floor characteristics and subtle spicy oak.  The texture is pure Burgundian, soft, velvety and rich with a stunningly long, long finish.  Superb with rich meat/game dishes with mushroom-based sauces.

The Boundary Bay IPA ($6.50/650ml) from Bellingham is a pleasantly hopped IPA boasting a coppery brown colour with a tinge of orange, distinctively citrus aroma of pungent grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple and orange rind. The flavour is slightly sweet because of the maltiness but it is the palate that grabs you.  Bracing citrus and tropical flavours of grapefruit, mango, tangerine, pineapple, honeydew coupled with sweet caramel malt assault the senses with refreshing hoppy, citrus acidity on the finish.  Wickedly good beer.

One of my favourite Brown Ales, the Howe Sound Brewery Nut Brown Ale ($8.90/1L) is a rich, brilliant mahogany colour with beige two finger head, retreating to heavy lacing of foam that lasts for the whole glass.  Intoxicating aroma of roasted nuts, dried dark fruits (raisins, dates and figs), roasted malts, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate and toffee.  Lots of flavour here; nutty, dark and milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla, liquorice, very subtle dark