In need of good a summer wine?

Wines are good all year, but some work better than others as “summer wine”. Below are a few of my favorites to drink during the summer months (or weeks if you live in Norway!)

Starting from the left, we have Ettore Germano’s Herzu. It is by far one of my favorite whites from Piemonte. I don’t usually enjoy riesling, but this wine is superb, especially on a hot day. Next up is Cavallotto’s Langhe Chardonnay. Always a good choice.

Moving away from white to red, we have Freisa by Bartolo Mascarello. I am not usually very fond of freisa for some reason, but it can be quite enjoyable in the summer time (don’t know why it tastes better than in the winter, but whatever). Now, dolcetto might be my all time favorite wine to drink in the summer. A glass of slightly chilled dolcetto is hard to beat. Mauro Veglio and Elio Altare make excellent dolcetto, so you can’t go wrong there! After dolcetto comes barbera and Vietti’s La Crena might be the best of the best! Although it is a heavier wine and might be best to enjoy with food, barbera is still a very good choice! Last but not least we have Langhe Nebbiolo. The Rinaldi “nebbe” is fresh and not too heavy (although world class and on Barolo level) so if you can get your hands on this, you will not be disappointed!

Notice I did not mention barolo. Not because barolo is bad or because I don’t drink barolo in july, but because when I think of summer wine barolo is not the first thing that comes to mind. On a hot summer day I prefer a light wine, without too many tannins, and the wines mentioned above fit my “criteria”.

Do you have any favorite summer wines?

Most of these you can find at Vinmonopolet (or they should have them) but they may be sold out. I always recommend checking online.