Gil Kulers’ Wine Pick

Refreshing floral aromas with lots of citrus and orange zest. Zesty citrus flavors abound with a touch of peach iced tea and a mineral quality. Not complex, but just right for unfussy warm-weather meals.

At a recent assembly of the Wine Hep-Cats Union, my fellow wine hep-cat, Blaze Boswell asked me: “Hey, Daddy-O, what’s going to be the groovy wine this summer? Rosé?”

To which I replied: "Blaze, Baby, that pink wine stuff is like so last year. You've got to get your mind around something called torrontés."

“Cool, man,” she said. “Why don’t you dish the down-low on torrontés, wine dude?”

“Torrontés comes from a mixed family,” I said. “One parent is the four-square-boring criolla chica grape, once loved by Spanish missionaries throughout the Americas. Its other parental unit is the exotic muscat d’Alexandrie, which once was the happening grape of the Mediterranean.”

“These two grapes crossed paths, if you know what I mean, in Argentina and it’s been all good ever since. It has the body of sauvignon blanc, but you can really dig the fresh peach, citrus and floral qualities it gets from the muscat. It chills out nicely, too, with bright acidity that makes it a hit with the BBQ set. Best of all, it comes at a perfect price for poor poets and artists.”

“Rock on, wine dude!”

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator and a wine consultant with Tower Beer Wine Spirits. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging up from Thumbs Down, One Thumb Mostly Up, One Thumb Up, Two Thumbs Up, Two Thumbs Way Up and Golden Thumb Award. Prices are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents, a local distributor or retailer.