Top 5 Best Wines for Spring
Want to embrace the sun with a smile and a glass of wine? Spring is a season of rejuvenation and renewal. It’s a time to shake off the winter blues and embrace the warmer weather and longer days. What better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than with a glass of wine? Here are Eat Drink Fun’s Top 5 Wines for Spring (actually, the top 9 … enjoy the extra suggestions).
ROSÉ
Iconic, fresh, pink, and versatile - rosé earns its well deserved moment each year. Rosés are also versatile: light-bodied styles pair well with salads, charcuterie and lighter seafood dishes; full-bodied rosés with bigger fruit and sturdier structure pair superbly with grilled meats and vegetables, as well as spicier dishes.
#1: Treat Yo-self (yes, there are high-end rosés!): Domaines Ott, Etoile, from Bandol, France ($165)
Notes
Raspberries, red apple, cherries, medium-plus acidity, some salinity, dry, medium body, high alcohol (14%)
Grapes
Grenache/Garnacha, Mourvédre
Pairings
Pork, fish, vegetables, and poultry
Source: Vivino.com
Value: F. Schatz, Rosado, from Sierras de Málaga, Andalucia, Spain ($40)
Notes
Deep ruby color, fresh cherries, rose petals, strawberry, and raspberries, dry, medium body (13.5%)
Pairings
Grilled meats, sausage, chicken, shellfish, or as an aperitif.
Source: Vivino.com
Be brave and explore rosés beyond Provence. Spain, Italy, Germany, and Greece all make delicious blush wines from indigenous grape varieties.
WHITE
Spring is the perfect season for bright, fresh, aromatic, and vibrant whites. We want something vibrant, fresh, and beautiful to leap out of the glass. Naturally, Sauvignon Blanc makes our list for the top-5 best wines for spring.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp and refreshing grape variety with flavors of citrus, green apple, and grass. Again, these wines pair well with lighter fare such as salads, seafood, and poultry.
#2: Treat Yo-self: Didier Dagueneau (Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau, Silex, from Pouilly-Fumé, Loire Valley, France ($199)
Notes
Smoke, flint, wet stones (Silex is a unique soil type), honeysuckle, elderflower, lime and lemon zest, green grass, dry, high acidity, medium body and alcohol (13%), long finish.
Pairings
Goat cheese, salads and vegetables, shellfish, spicy foods
Source: Vivino.com
Value: Greywacke, Marlborough, New Zealand ($24)
Notes
Tropical fruits, gooseberry, guava, green apple, passion fruit, fresh peaches, and lime zest, dry, high acidity, medium body, medium-plus alcohol (13.5%)
Pairings
Goat cheese, shellfish, salads, or as an apéritif.
Source: Vivino.com
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Grigio (aka Pinot Gris or Grauburgunder) is another choice variety for the top-5 best wines for spring. Pinot Grigio is light-bodied with flavors of pear, apple, and lemon. Depending on the grape clone and style, it can be simple and light (Veneto), complex, lifted, and vibrant (Alto Adige), or creamy and lusciously sweet (Alsace Vendange Tardive (VT - late harvest) or Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN - selection of the best berries)).
#3: St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio, Südtirol/Alto-Adige, Italy ($15)
Notes
White peach, apple, pear, grapefruit, lemon zest, honey, wet stone minerality, dry, medium-minus body, medium alcohol (13%)
Pairings
Shellfish, pork, mushrooms, vegetables, hard cheese, or as an apéritif.
Source: Vivino.com
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is the most popular white grape in the world, which makes it a rather obvious choice for the top-5 best wines for spring. A medium to full-bodied white wine, many of us associate chardonnay with the creamy flavors of vanilla, butter, and oak. But fresh unoaked versions can deliver the bright, crisp, fruity flavors we seek in springtime.
Chablis is a great example, and you have flexibility to choose from simple village-level Chablis or Petit Chablis, (simple, fresh, and light), to Premier Cru Chablis (better plots, more complexity), to Grand Cru Chablis (the best vineyard plots, some neutral oak treatment, still a great value!). As always, Chablis is 100% chardonnay - it’s the only grape permitted to be gown there.
#4: Treat Yo-self: Domain William Fèvre Grand Cru Les Clos from Chablis, Burgundy, France for an incredibly delicious experience ($175)
Notes
GC Les Clos presents fresh limes, lemon curd, yellow peach, freshly cut white flowers, chalky minerality. It often receives a little neutral oak treatment - not enough to make it heavy, but enough to make it rounder and more complex on the palet.
Source: Vivino.com
Value: Domaine William Fèvre Chablis ($50);
Notes
The baseline, village-level Chablis presents lemon and lime peel, green apple, flinty minerality, dry, high acidity, light body, medium alcohol (12.5%). Only stainless steel for this wine, which ensures its fruit forwardness and acidity vibrate in your mouth.
Pairings
Pork sausage, heavier fish like salmon or tune, pasta dishes, oysters, and soft cheeses.
Source: Vivino.com
RED
Pinot Noir is a light to medium-bodied red wine that is an ideal selection for the top-5 best wines for spring. It delivers bright red fruit flavors of cherry, raspberry, and red plum. European (Old World) Pinots offer more earthy and mineral notes, whereas Pinot Noir from the US, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and New Zealand (New World) will deliver more fruit, body, and likely less acidity.
$5: Treat Yo-self: Domaine Drouhin Louise Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon ($200)
Notes
Dark ruby, ripe red fruits including black cherries, warm raspberries, strawberry jam, black pepper, and a small hint of earthy brettanomyces (think of a horse barn - trust me, it’s nice), dry, medium acidity, medium-plus alcohol (13.5%), medium body, long finish.
Pairings
Beef filet, veal, venison, rich poultry dishes, and soft cow cheese.
Source: Vivino.com
Value: Joseph Drouhin Pinot Noir, Burgundy, France ($25)
From the same legendary Burgundian negociant family, but this is their standard Pinot Noir blend commonly found in grocery stores.
Notes
Light ruby, cherries, strawberries, cranberries, subtle oak and earth notes, dry, medium-plus acidity, medium alcohol (12.5%), medium-minus body.
Pairings
Chicken, pork, study fish like salmon or tuna, and cow cheeses like comte and brie.
Source: Vivino.com
Final Note
In conclusion, these are 5 (actually 9) beautiful wines to put on your shopping list this spring. Whether you prefer rosé, white or red wine, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Cheers to a new season!
