Seasonal Drinking Variations

S

Steven Spielmann

Steven Spielmann
I am wondering if other people find themselves tending to drink different wines at different times of the year.

Many people drink cool rose during the summer and not often otherwise, for example. And of course those who drink Beaujolais Nouveau tend to do it in the late fall and early winter.

My most striking pattern is with southern Rhone wines. Every Spring there is a warmish day later on when I drink something I thought I liked and it suddenly tastes horrible to me. Suddenly my 'palate has evolved away from Grenache' or some horseshit like that. And I don't touch it all summer.

But then a cold day comes at the beginning of winter and I look at my racks with horror, lamenting the total absence of Vacqueyras or Rasteau. What I need is a warm stew and a southern rhone blend - but it's nowhere to be found!

Luckily there is always some Beaujolais to see my through to the next trip to the store. Gamay goes with almost all food and every season.

My relationships with liquour and port are somewhat similar. I go through maybe 2 bottles total from May to November and then 2 a month from December to April.

Any interesting seasonal drinking variations out there among the disorderlies?
 
Other than preferring Port during the Winter months, my wine preferences basically don't vary from season to season. Air conditioned dining venues are supportive of this approach.

And I like Southern France wines year round.

. . . . . Pete
 
Steven,
Pretty much what you mentioned.
FWIW, Brian O'Donnell at Belle Pente winery in Oregon told me that he thought pinot noir actually tasted better in the summer months than in the winter - whether he felt that as a off-shoot of preference or as a chemical fact, I do not know.
Best, Jim
 
I personally drink pink year round, but I seem to be an exception in this, although I suspect much less so around here than elsewhere.
 
Brian O'Donnell at Belle Pente winery in Oregon told me that he thought pinot noir actually tasted better in the summer months than in the winter
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I wonder if that's a function of cool summer months where he lives or (relatively) heavy pinot noir.

Certainly red Burgundy doesn't taste that good in the hot humid summer months we get in the Northeast. But of course air conditioning can allow one to scratch the itch regardless.

Other than that delicacy/humidity issue, I don't really drink wines that are too heavy for the summer. So I have no problem and don't really factor in weather to my wine plans. Maybe summer food is more likely to go with white wines, but actually probably not.
 
As Herb Caen correctly noted many decades ago, San Francisco has only one season -- late autumn, so the question is moot out here.
 
Never thought that Herb had that right unless you divide late autumn into 2 seasons: Wet and Dry.

I don't tend to drink Rose during the Wet season. However, with 2 btls of '09s left from my Dry season stash, I'll probably break that rule. I also drink more Riesling during the Dry season.
 
well, i dont know what happened there, i accidently entered a post when i didnt want to.

now that i am here, yes i tend to have pretty stubborn seasonal tendancies. So for some reason i think scheurebe goes great with christmas trees, nebbiolo when it is an early fall day when it is foggy, pinot noir on high pressure days with few clouds, syrah when there are thunderstorms, grenache when, well i dont really love grenache, and gamay anytime.
 
Thinking about it all I can say is that, other than jeebi, I don't drink much wine at all in the summer months other than perhaps a bit of moscato d'asti. And I take out the armagnac for colder weather.
 
Summer where I am means temps up to 48 degrees C (though we've only been as high as 43 this year) and it's pretty much all white drinking... lot's of riesling...Meyer-Fonne, Binner, Willi Schaefer, Reinhold Haart and some local stuff. Also been tucking into some Domaine de Collier Charpentrie,Domaine de Bellivière Les Rosiers & Calligramme, 2009 Le Ptit Blanc du Tue-Boeuf etc.....ohhh...and Champagne and Renedart-Fache Bugey-Cerdon.

Summer reds so far consist mainly of lighter styles....Chignard Fleurie, Foillard CdP, Dard et Ribo Cést les Printemps, Tue-Boeuf Cheverney...sometimes chilled slightly to beat the heat.

In Winter I tend to lean more towards heavier styles....Northern Rhones, Italy, etc.
 
originally posted by Steven Spielmann:
I personally drink pink year round, but I seem to be an exception in this, although I suspect much less so around here than elsewhere.
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Here's to pink year round. New Year's Day lunch for us, in chilly, snow on the ground, Woodstock, NY, was a lovely '98 Lopez de H rosado Tondonia with left-over leg of lamb that I managed to turn into a ragu of sorts for rigatoni (mezza maniche, actually) with a little tomato paste, black-eyed pea pot liquor and some chopped and braised collard greens.

But perhaps that is the exception that proves the rule. (And when that bottle ran out, we did turn to '96 Bachelet Charmes; both were exceptionally nice with the pasta and lamb; the collard greens in the pasta matched just a bit better with LdH than the Bachelet ....)
 
I have observed once or twice that collards and meat - even fried chicken - pair very well with spicier red burgundies. But the LdH match makes a lot of sense too.

I probably drink more red than anything else, though not by much, but I almost never drink reds as pre-meal wines (except, as usual, Gamay). If it's not sparkling and it's an apertif it's usually pink, for me, sun or ice, rain or shine.
 
drinking that bachelet charmes now was a waste.

i'll leave the child abuse metaphors to yixin and the monkey, but, fwiw, i'm not sure this is the sort of behavior you want to be admitting to in public.

fb.
 
originally posted by fatboy:
drinking that bachelet charmes now was a waste.

i'll leave the child abuse metaphors to yixin and the monkey, but, fwiw, i'm not sure this is the sort of behavior you want to be admitting to in public.

fb.
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Perhaps, but delicious nonetheless. And doubtless it will delevop further, but it was no Lolita. (And Lolita herself was no child.)
 
having had the 96 bachelet charmes recently, I can agree with both of you - it really needs more time but it still tastes pretty good. I've drunk a bit of bachelet charmes over the past 6 weeks - the 93 (needing more time and really), the 96 (needs a bit more time for the fruit to come back out and balance the acidity), the 00 (ditto re time but it's a bit of spikey tannin still on that one), and the 99 (delicious - sure it may get better but it's pretty damn delicious now and I have a bunch so don't begrudge me this babykilling).
 
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