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Wines That Pair With Fall
Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: September - 2022
The change of season brings us a sweet lineup of reds and whites.
September has arrived – heralding the cusp of fall, whenthe leaves turn red, and we turn to red wine. As thethermostat registers lower numbers, hardier disheshelp us adjust to the cooler temperatures, and the taste forwines begins a transition too. More buoyant now, I am readyto explore, to discover livelier wines with bolder flavors andbracing freshness – wines to knock me off my feet.In coming up with a list of recommendations, I settled on someground rules. I suggested wines that are not your everydayvarietals. Surely a new season signals a time to venture outsideour comfort zone.In balancing cost with value, I am in complete agreementwith the practice of writer A. J. Liebling, who buys wines“between the insulting and the superlative.” The recom-mended wines: three whites, and three reds, are all lightenough for end of summer and substantial enough for fall,and as importantly, delicious.Chenin Blanc, the white grape of France’s Loire Valley haslong struggled to achieve the respect and audience in the US itdeserves. Perhaps a taste of the L’Ecole No. 41 Chenin BlancYakima Old Vines will change some minds. Its fresh and prettywith beeswax and melon and a crisp lingering finishDifficulty in pronunciation may account for why most folkshave never tried Gewürztraminer. Delightfully fragrant, theHugel Classic Gewürztraminer is fresh and balanced withflavors of white peach and candied grapefruit peel.Its best known for its affinity with oysters – but it can doso much more! Its Muscadet – the Chateau de la RâgotièreMuscadet Sèvre-et-Maine is crisp and classic with lots ofgrapefruit and surprising intensity.It’s mostly the red wine grape Mencia, but this regional winefrom Castilla y Leon, Spain, achieves unheard levels ofcomplexity and nuance. It’s the Descendientes de José Palacios,Pétalos Bierzo. As one wine critic proclaimed, “It should be thefirst wine people drink from Bierzo.”The Grenache grape, long championed in France’s SouthernRhone produces rich flavorful red wines and is now beingplanted with splendid results in California. In the Santa YnezValley, the Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Estate is a world classwine with a nose of sweet red cherry and a savory undercurrent.The Italian grape Dolcetto translates to “little sweet one”because it’s an easy sipper where tannins play second fiddle.The Ceretto Dolcetto d’Alba Rossana is a succulent red perme-ated by a beam of cherries.
by Marlene Osteen
