I don’t believe in the old idea that summertime is necessarily the season for drinking cheap and cheerful wines. After all, a perfectly grilled hamburger deserves great wine to enjoy alongside it just as much as a filet mignon cooked sous vide and then seared in rendered foie gras fat. Just last night, at the end of a day in which the heat index soared to nearly 100 degrees, my parents came over for dinner and we savored a cinnamon- and cumin-spiced pork tenderloin alongside every last drop of the glorious Cliff Lede Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 (kirsch, hoisin sauce, creme de cassis, eucalyptus, blackberry, and flowers—it’s a wine that is excellent enough to make you cry right now with every sip and yet, amazingly, promises another three decades of evolution; the SRP is $185).
But Labor Day weekend, for all its associations with the end of summer, leisure time near a body of water, and casual gatherings of friends and families, does seem like the kind of holiday that’s particularly well-suited to relatively inexpensive bottles that you can drink in quantity.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you should be opening up the same old bottles that you and your guests have seen a thousand times before. Which is why I tend to use Labor Day weekend as an excuse to introduce my friends and family to wines that they may not have had in the past, or to grape varieties or regions that are somewhat less familiar, or at the very least to bottles that confound expectations and that will possibly spark an interest in expanding their food-pairing preconceptions as the autumn rolls on.
These Wines of the Week do exactly that. The Illahe Viognier 2017, from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, is an absolute steal at less than $20, and it offers the kind of unexpected freshness that this particular holiday weekend requires. Viognier, after all, can tend toward the richer, more glycerine end of the texture spectrum—a style that I love, but that I generally gravitate toward more in the slightly cooler months. This one, though, is bursting with freshness, its acidity charging up the stone fruit and citrus notes and allowing the spice and mineral aspects of it to shine. It would make a perfect aperitif, easily accompany simply prepared fish and seafood, and (this is how I recently enjoyed it) partner brilliantly with a salad of mixed greens, feta cheese, and roasted peaches, all dressed in a simple honey-dijon vinaigrette.
My red Wine of the Week is a bit more expensive, but still reasonable enough to open multiples bottles with guests, preferably over heaping plates of grilled meat. The Early Mountain Vineyards Eluvium 2015, a blend of 82% Merlot, 17% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, is a balanced and generous glassful, with blueberry and black cherry to spare, all conveyed on a silky texture spiced with pink peppercorn, mint, cardamom, allspice, and a hint of tamarind paste on the complex finish. It’s the kind of wine that you can easily drink on its own, but those spice notes seem to call out for an equally lifted pairing partner. Jerk chicken or glazed ribs come to mind, as does a casual cheese plate and perhaps even a not-too-sweet chocolate dessert.
Frankly, though, I wouldn’t stress about finding the perfect pairings for these two wines. It’s the holiday weekend: A time for enjoying the last few (unofficial) days of summer and squeezing one last drop of joy from the quickly disappearing season. These bottles will certainly help with that, and I recommend them highly.
Illahe Viognier 2017 Willamette Valley, Oregon
The nose here shows the more mineral side of Viognier, with subtle flashes of smoke, honey, and apricot. On the palate, the fruit is ripe and quietly honeyed, with grilled white nectarine, mandarin orange, spice, and a touch of white tea. So versatile, and a great deal. SRP: $19.
Early Mountain Vineyards Eluvium 2015 Virginia
Aromas of black raspberry and hints of boysenberry are joined by blueberry and a touch of vanilla spice. These transition to a silky palate with a solid core of black cherry, blueberry, and mint, with pink peppercorn, cardamom, allspice, and tamarind paste ringing through the complex finish. SRP: $38
