Try These Wines: Chill-able Reds Edition
Because summertime calls for light red wines that you can serve chilled.
Just because it’s hot out doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy red wine! Look for these light reds that you can serve chilled. They’re all natural, and they’re all refreshingly good.
Unfiltered Vino Rosso by Angelo Negro is made with 100% Brachetto, a grape native to the Piedmont region of Italy that cannot be grown under the same name anywhere else. This wine is made the way I love: with local grapes, using native yeasts, and no filtration. It tastes like cherries, strawberries, limeade, flowers, yeast, yogurt, and spices.
Unfiltered Vino Rosso is high acid, bright, and very tart: serving it chilled only enhances these bright flavors. I love drinking it on a warm summer evening with dinner. The bright flavors and high acid contrast rich foods very well. Try it with cheeseburgers!
Uivo Renegado by Folias de Baco is the perfect entry-level chill-able red. If you’re on the fence about this whole chilled red wine concept, try this one. It’s very balanced: bone-dry, light, tart yet earthy, ripe fruits meet minerality.
Perhaps the balance comes from the grapes in the wine. Uivo Renegado is made from a field blend of red and white varieties found in the Douro region of Portugal. The winemaker, Tiago, grew up in the Douro watching his grandfather make wine. After obtaining a PhD in Viticulture and Enology, he returned to Portugal where he carries on the traditional, low-intervention way of winemaking in this region, honoring these native grapes and the mineral terroir.
I love Uivo Renegado with food! It pairs well with high-flavor foods like grilled steak salad or roast garlic chicken and veggies.
Domenica Amato’s Fresco is a beautiful light red wine from California made in an old-world style honoring the winemakers’ Italian roots. This winemaker sources the grapes from small farmers and crafts the wine by hand in a very small operation with lots of care.
Fresco is 100% Grenache; it tastes like strawberries, cherries, dried fruit, and leather. It’s juicy, light, and mild— perfect for a bit of a chill and perfect with dinner! If you want an easy-drinking light red that can hold up to food but isn’t overly bright or acidic, this is the wine for you. Pair it with pasta salad or paninis!
I saved the best for last this week: Pineau d’Anis by Les Athlètes du Vin is one of the best wines I’ve had in a long while. It’s mouthwatering, and you must try it! Made from the elusive Pineau d’Anis grape, this wine tastes like ripe strawberries, raspberries, fig jam, pepper, and earth. Yet it’s still so very light, dry, and chill-able with medium body, medium tannins, and high acidity.
Les Athlètes du Vin is a project in which a group of French natural winemakers called Vini Be Good produces wines typical of the Loire Valley. This group of winemakers seeks to honor the terroir and tradition of the Loire Valley while using little intervention in the winemaking process and respecting the environment. Their standards are high, and the wines they’re creating are excellent. The Pineau d’Anis grape almost went extinct at one point (which would’ve been a tragedy), and I appreciate that these winemakers are investing the time and effort it takes to grow this delicate variety and share it with the world. Enjoy this one with a cheese and charcuterie board or a goat cheese salad.
I hope this post inspires you to seek out a beautiful light red wine that you can enjoy chilled: they’re perfect for summertime. Let me know what you wines you end up trying!
P.s. today is my birthday! To celebrate, I would love it if you would like or share this post, or if you’re not already subscribe to Food & Travel with Courtney Jill. Cheers, friends!