Spring Wines (The Usual Suspects)

As we had a spurt of nice weather up here in Seattle (read as: the seemingly endless onslaught on drizzle has almost come to its yearly four month hiatus), my friends and I have finally been getting a chance to enjoy what we call 'spring wines' out on a patio or standing in someone's backyard. Naturally, we enjoy rosés and whites throughout the year depending on what we're eating, the time of day, or what happens to be open, but bright, sunny weather makes a white seem especially apropos.

It's too bad, really, that so many people (perhaps young men, in particular) shun wines that aren't red. I have a semi-funny story about that, actually:

I was sitting at a café about a year ago, happily drinking a glass of rosé while awaiting a meal, when a couple wandered in and sat near me. The gentleman suggested that the server bring him a glass of "whatever is good" (which sometimes comes across as vaguely insulting as it did in this case). The server suggested the rosé I was enjoying to which the man replied, "Absolutely not -- only women and gay guys drink rosés!" Half of the place cringed; Seattle isn't the town to spout off ridiculous nonsense like that. The server didn't blink, though, and said, "Well, sir, the gentleman a few seats from you seems to like it." The offending customer looked over at me and I said, smiling, "Guess which one I am?" He didn't skip a beat: he immediately looked at the server and said, "A rosé sounds wonderful." He ended up drinking two glasses -- I like to think he's a convert, though it's conceivable that he isn't. :)

I'm not suggesting you go to the length these cats go to in their appreciation for pink wine...

At any rate, whites and rosés deserve more respect than they tend to get (particularly here in the States). I'll be putting up a few reviews of whites and rosés over the course of the next few days, but for now here's a few suggestions for picking out accessible & enjoyable whites and rosés:

• Spanish whites, especially those with little oak on them, generally tend to be quite accessible and geared for warm weather. One good way to introduce yourself to the whites of Spain is to look for wines made from Albariño (especially from the Rias Baixas region) and Verdejo (behr-they-ho) grapes.



• A decent/good white Burgundy or Bordeaux can be quite within the reach of the average consumer. A white Burgundy will tend to be made of Chardonnay and have dramatically less oak (and less of a buttery mouthfeel) than, say, a "typical" California Chardonnay whereas a white Bordeaux will probably be made of Sauvignon Blanc and/or Semillon and yet taste quite a bit different than a New Zealand wine made of the same varietal.