Too hot to drink

Here in New England we love to talk about the weather. I suppose people everywhere fall back on the weather as a means of making mindless small talk. But here it goes beyond small talk. We really get into it. And we're always surprised by the weather too... good or bad. If it's really nice outside, we can't believe it

"can you believe how gorgeous it is out there??"

If the weather person predicts 10 inches of snow, and we get 10 inches of snow... we can't believe it.

"can you believe all this snow??"

Right now, it's about 90 degrees, and really humid. It's been like this for a few days. Even though it's mid August, and this is typical for mid August... I just can't believe it.

I hate this weather... mainly because I don't enjoy drinking wine when it's this hot and humid. Fortunately, it hasn't stopped me! and I've enjoyed 5 great bottles of Muscadet in the past week or so!

If you're not really into muscadet by now.... it's time for a wine lobotomy. At the most basic level these are bright, fresh, food friendly wines that are just plain fun to drink. In the hands of a very good producer, expect a finely etched, assertively dry wine with profound minerality and the potential for short/medium term bottle age. These are fairly subtle wines that always convey a sense of place more so than grape variety. I like that. I can think of at least 10 top-quality producers that are available in various US markets... I'm sure there's more than 10. And plenty more not available in the US... Not yet anyway. There's just no excuse folks!

Here's the tab I've run up so far this August:

05 Dom. Pepiere, Clos de Briords

06 Guy Bossard, Granite*

07 Guy Bossard, cuvee classique*

08 Dom. Pepiere

08 Michel Delhommeau, cuvee st Vincent

This last one is new for me. The other two guys are old favorites by now.... I don't know much about M.Delhommeau, but the wine is good. Not quite as intricate as the other 2 producers, but still very good. The website for Jon David Headrick says it's a cuvee from vines grown on gneiss and grabbo. (grabbo is rock formed from lava... right??) Again, great stuff, and it sells for 9-10 dollars retail. In fact, the combined retail price of all these bottles would be about $72... give or take a few bucks. Thats $72 for 5 kick-ass bottles of wine. There's just no excuse. Of course, I have to tack an extra $72 onto my electric bill this month because I drank all these bottles while sitting directly in front of the air conditioner. I just can't believe how hot it is!

*I sell these wines in MA. (see disclaimer)