On the deck, it’s getting a bit chilly; the summer salad is replaced by pumpkin soup. The quest for comfort can also be seen in the choice of wines, which tend to be more full-bodied to suit the more comforting foods.
Pieropan La Rocca Soave Classico 2022
1) 897066 | $39.25
This star of the Soave Classico (Italy) appellation, from La Rocca of the house Pieropan, is essentially made from garganega grapes harvested when over-mature.
Behind its golden yellow colour, there are aromas of apricot, butternut sqush, coconut and vanilla. A silex mineral quality and tonic freshnes accompany a full- bodied – even creamy – mouth. Barrel aging brings elegance and depth.
A pleasurable wine to take seriously in a Burgundy-style balloon glass.
Springfield Estate Albarino 2022
2) 15299869 | $26.70
Let’s follow up with a rather unusual find having a similar bearing. A white wine made 100 percent from albariño, a traditional grape from Spain and Portugal (alvarhinho) which has evaded the borders to take root in the soil of South Africa’s Western Cape.
The eye is instantly captivated by this pale straw-coloured wine with green highlights. The aromas of nectarine, apricot and mineral salts are evident in both nose and mouth, indeed, more so than in its Iberian counterparts. A complex finish without bitterness on notes of lemon, dried herbs and grilled almonds.
Just right with a Tataki of tuna in a sesame crust.
Domaine des Huards Prose 2023
3) 13602941 | $26.75
Alas, the final days of summer approach. All the more reason to end on the sunny notes of a glass of rosé wine from the Gendrier family in Chaverny (Loire).
The Prose: this pretty rosé, salmon pink, made from an assemblage of pinot noir and gamay, results from six months of aging on lees, giving it volume while retaining marked fruitiness on aromas reminiscent of baskets of summer harvests: blackcurrants, gooseberries, whitecurrants, etc.
