Summer is here!

Here in Canada,  nothing is quite anticipated like the first day of summer.   Maybe it’s because we live in Canada and the winters tend to be a little long.  This coming Wednesday, is not only Wine Wednesday, but it is the official kick-off to Summer.  What does Summer look like to you?  Getting together with friends on the patio sipping wine, barbecues (with wine of course), and a full list of activities that somehow include the outdoors.  Let me tell you about some of my favourite Summer time wines.

I love  Rose wine.  It’s perfect for Summer.  It’s a great appetizer wine, it’ a great sipping wine, and it’s very food friendly overall.   The one I’m featuring today is a Canadian wine from Nova Scotia, Lightfoot and Wolfville.  I believe this is Nova Scotia’s newest winery and only started producing wine a couple of years ago.  The Lightfoot name goes back eight generations in the Wolfville area of Nova Scotia, and the name Lightfoot and Wolfville is meant to reflect the people and the place.  Their  Rose wine is made from delicious Pinot Muenier, and is crisp with beautiful berry flavors.   This is a staple in my wine rack since I first tried it last Summer.

Summer is also a great time for Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine.  I picked this Ruffino Prosecco up for the first time last weekend.   I wanted to make Italian spritzes for the ladies in my apartment building .  I discovered the wonderful summer drink spritz when I was in Rome.   Made with orange bitters Prosecco and  sparkling water .

 This Prosecco by Ruffino had gorgeous  citrus notes and it was fresh and lively on the palate.  This is great all by itself or pair it with cheese, hors d’oeuvres, charcuterie boards, and in Sangria or Spritz’s.  Prosecco is very versatile and tends to be A LOT less expensive than Champagne.

Summer doesn’t mean I put away the red wine.  For new readers, you may not realize I am the grilling Queen of Nova Scotia.  I love barbecued foods, and I love doing the barbecuing.  I do everything from vegetables to chicken wings, to ribs, and as the picture above shows, sometimes all of those things in one night.    This is an actual picture of my barbeque one night last week    Needless to say I fed a few people I work with at the radio station.  So with barbecue foods as a staple, I don’t kiss the red wines good-bye over the Summer.  I mean, what’s a steak without red wine.   And a steak is what I enjoyed last night with this beauty and my new wine of the week ..

My steak had a 3 oepper blend so many red wines would have done the trick .   I could have chosen a Cabernet Sauvignon or a spicy Syrah!   Instead I chose an old Vine Zinfandel .   It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed an old vine Zinfandel,  I practically lived on them last summer.   Wine Enthusiast gave this wine 91 points  and called it a great wine value.  All the old vine Zinfandels tend to be very fruit forward with hints of pepper and spice.  Perfect for barbeque foods and it is my favourite wine to have with baby back ribs.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Till next week, Cheers

Darlene