Summer Wine Part Three: Red

Officially, we have ten more days until it is fall, so we end our summer wine series with red. Summer to me is fresh bell peppers and sausages. You can get fresh peppers year-round these days, but there is nothing like the height of ripeness fresh from the farmers' market. I grew up on a farm, and in summers, my father and I would not get home before dark, and my mother wanted to get my sister fed and off to bed. On many of those long days, she would put on a skillet of potatoes O'Brien and a big kielbasa, and after she and my sister would eat, she would turn the heat to low. When my father and I got home, the bottom was super crispy and caramelized with fresh pepper notes with the spice of the sausage. With those flavors in mind, I chose my summer red.?

Bodegas Muga Reserva Rioja, 2018. I have a soft spot for this wine. When the 1994 vintage was on the market, the restaurant I worked at was purchasing the wine for $8 wholesale. Now 1994, in retrospect, was one of the five finest vintages of the last 50 years. The wine was simply stunning, and 1995 was truly good. It makes me wish I had stocked back several cases of 1994. Who cellars $8 wines? Live and learn. The last time I had their 2017 was at a summertime al fresco dinner. After not visiting the wine in a while, I was still amazed how it had that indulgence without heavy balance that good producers in the Rioja can achieve. I have not personally tried 2018, but James Suckling named it 94 points and featured it on his top 100 value wines in the world.

If your plans go for lighter fare in the summertime than potatoes O'Brien and Kielbasa, I recommend garlic and lime glazed salmon with red cabbage and Honeycrisp apple slaw. Or a charcuterie board with hard cheeses, and for a treat, I suggest authentic Speck ham; the smoke will go great with an earthy wine.?

Sleight of Hand Cellars, The Conjurer, Columbia Valley, Red Blend, 2018 recently awarded with two places in Wine and Spirits Magazine's top 100 list, Sleight of Hand Cellars is on a roll reminiscent of the Charles Smith Wines run in the early 2000s. The Conjurer is a blend of Bordeaux varieties with more than 30% of each Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. I always get a touch of blueberry from Cabernet Franc wines that speak of summer flavors. Wine and Spirits gave this wine 92 points. If you cannot find 2018 on the shelf at your local retailer, 2019 is available on Sleight of Hand Cellars' website.

Luma Chequén, Valle del Maule, Chile, Pinot Noir, 2019 Chile has long since been the best source of value-priced Pinot Noir in the world. Luma is an estate bottled from high in the Maule Valle Mountains, where the sea air moderates the temperatures into the cooler zones that pinot noir needs to thrive. This wine is made in the traditional French style with open-top fermenters and manual punch downs. The resulting wine is soft enough to be enjoyed on its own and has flavor sufficient to accompany late season line caught California salmon.

We toast to you as the weather begins to change and pumpkin spice becomes the flavor of choice for any and everything, and luckily only for a limited time.

John