[wine] summer sipping

Red Before Labor Day: Summer.s New Rules By ERIC ASIMOV THE weather won.t matter. Dry and bright would be ideal for stoking the grill, but even muggy heat or dispiriting drizzle won.t stanch the joyous sense of letting go that arrives with Memorial Day weekend. Aside from the holiday.s ceremonial importance . honoring the men and women who have died serving in the armed forces . the weekend means one thing to most: the unofficial start of summer. As with fashion and food, drinking assumes a more casual, easygoing tone. Yet the old rules no longer hold. Toss aside the stodgy, outmoded dogma of summer as white-wine season, for one thing. Bourbon need not be consigned to the recesses of the closet in favor of rum and vodka. For too long, seasonal drinking has been considered a matter of color: reds for the cold; roséand whites for the heat. Similar rules hold with beer. Friends may gasp as I drink a pint of Guinness in my shorts and sunglasses. They assume dark beers are heavy. But I just smile. Little do they know that Irish stout is crisp, dry and low in alcohol. It.s not color that guides the choice of warm-weather beverages, but weight. Just as woolens give way to cottons and linens, so do heavier wines, beers and spirits yield to beverages with less ballast. What seems robust and warming in the bleak cold now feels ponderous and unwieldy. By contrast, what felt insubstantial back then is now refreshing and energizing. Punch, for instance, is often associated with fall and winter holidays. Yet it can be made seasonal with the delicate spring sweetness of strawberries, and summery with the tropical tang of limes. Sure, you could settle for a bland base of vodka, but bourbon adds the perfect backbone of vanilla richness. Red wines have their place, too. Why would anybody assume that in the heat of summer the desire to drink them simply evaporates? You.re not planning to serve a Sancerre with that porterhouse sizzling on the grill, are you? Of course not. A hefty zinfandel or full-bodied cabernet sauvignon would be too much, but a good Chianti, of medium weight with refreshing acidity is just the thing, especially if you chill it ever so lightly. Commercially, Memorial Day heralds roséeason, a custom I cannot abide because I like roséear-round. Great rosé. like those from Châau Pradeaux and Domaine Tempier in Bandol; Châau Simone in Palette; Valentini in Montepulciano; and my current obsession, Domaine Ilarria in Irouléy . are as fulfilling in the depths of January as in July.s dank heat. Not all roséare as versatile, however. Does anybody really want a heavy rosén the midday heat or while tending the coals before dinner? I don.t think so. In most rosé a heavy dose of alcohol or a clumsy level of sweetness will unbalance the wine. The roséto look for are crisp, textured and refreshing. They make rosén Champagne, too, many good ones. But nothing is particularly summery about them, and they are often heavier than the usual bruts. If you want a great summer bubbly, may I suggest Cerdon du Bugey from Renardat-Fâe? This light-bodied pink sparkling wine has noticeable sweetness, but is beautifully balanced and stimulating as an aperitif or refreshing after dinner. I mentioned a bourbon, strawberry and lime punch earlier. Made with elderberry tea and Angostura bitters, it is wonderful for a crowd: refreshing, tangy and celebratory. But if you don.t plan a big gathering, simply diminish the proportions in the recipe here. It.s offered occasionally at Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, where it was developed by Damon W. Boelte, bar director for the Frankies group of restaurants, who calls it Too Hot to Hoot and describes it as summer in a bowl. .Bourbon and lime is a rare combination,. he said. .It usually goes with lemon, but with all the other ingredients, they really play well together.. More often than not, this weekend calls out for a beer or a few. I love the dry, snappy bitterness of a pilsner. Excellent versions are made in New York by Sixpoint and Brooklyn Breweries. Other good pilsners include those from Victory, Lakefront, Trö and Pilsner Urquell. I can.t help but reiterate my love of Köh, the crisp, slightly bitter golden ale from Cologne, Germany, which I find so brisk and energizing. The three brands seen regularly are Gaffel, Reissdorf and Sü and I find a lot to like about each. Stout is not the only dark beer appropriate for summer. I especially like porter, too. But thoughts of summer beer would not be complete without a nod to Belgian and Bavarian wheat beers . fresh, spicy and intrinsically refreshing. Look for Belgian styles from Allagash, Hoegaarden, Southampton Publick House and Jolly Pumpkin; among the many producers of Bavarian-style hefeweizen, look for Franziskaner, Schneider Weisse, Brooklyn and Ayinger. After rosé most wine drinkers reach reflexively at Memorial Day for whites, as if they.re the equivalent of white belts and shoes: enjoyed for the summer and stowed after Labor Day. I hate to say it, but that thinking is as dated as instant coffee; sure, you.ll have something in your glass, but why deprive yourself of so much pleasure? I especially like reds that are lightly chilled, not to refrigerator temperature, but just enough to feel cool in the glass. Beaujolais, of course, but also Cerasuolo di Vittoria, the lovely, enticing light red from Sicily. Valle dell.Acate, COS and Occhipinti all make excellent versions. Look also for frappato, one of the constituent grapes of Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Many other Italian reds go beautifully with a light chill, whether Chianti, barbera, dolcetto, Valpolicella or lesser-known grapes like teroldego from Trentino or cornalin from the Valle d.Aoste. And if you need a full-on refrigerator blast, how about an icy cold Lambrusco from a top producer like Lini, Medici Ermete or Vittorio Graziano? Or perhaps one of the more restrained pinot noirs from the Sonoma Coast of California? Ross Cobb of Cobb Wines makes excellent pinot noirs that are delightful lightly chilled, particularly those from the Emmaline and Coastlands vineyards. From Spain, try the reds from Ribeira Sacra, a stunning site in eastern Galicia. I especially like D. Ventura and Guíro wines. Now, just because I.m touting reds doesn.t mean I.m immune to the charms of summer whites. Far from it. I love a crisp Sancerre, especially those that show the terroir rather than simply the fruitiness of the sauvignon grape. Look for producers like Gérd Boulay, Lucien Crochet, Domaine Vacheron and Thomas-Labaille. Rieslings can be superbly refreshing, whether the light off-dry style of a kabinett riesling from the Mosel; the späese-style late-harvest riesling of Hermann J. Wiemer in the Finger Lakes; or the dry mineral flavors of Ravines, a Finger Lakes riesling of a totally different style. For many people, chardonnay remains synonymous with white wine. Summer or winter, I.ll never say no to Chablis, the most distinctive chardonnay in the world, and out in the Santa Rita Hills of Santa Barbara County, Rajat Parr, the Bay Area sommelier, sells deliciously balanced chardonnays under the Sandhi label. What, you.ve graduated to pinot grigio? Well, I have nothing against good pinot grigio. (Relegate the insipid ones to the mediocre restaurants of the world.) For good ones, producers like Elena Walch and Alois Lageder of Alto Adige have much to offer. You know, I.m really just getting started. With any luck, it.ll be a long, hot summer. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *