My grandma taught me at a young age that to properly rosé all day, one has to start first thing in the morning. Thankfully, it’s summer, when such silly mantras can truly be tested. But there’s more to seasonally appropriate wines than just pink-blushy ones. I reached out to a few of OC’s best sommeliers to learn what their picks are for sipping poolside.
Kristin Morgan (Ocean at Main, Laguna Beach): “My personal favorite is manzanilla sherry. . . . Not what people think. It’s bone-dry, with notes of green apple and a saline minerality. . . . It’s amazing with oysters and olives. It’s also great super-chilled!”
Ali Coyle (Fable & Spirit, Newport Beach): “‘Pet Nats’ = summertime radness! I’d go with Folias de Baco ‘Uivo’ PT Nat, Alto Douro, Portugal. Nerdy stuff: ‘Pet Nat’ is a cute way of saying ‘Petulant Natural,’ meaning naturally sparkling. This wine is ridiculously refreshing and is made completely naturally, without additives. It’s got some nice green apple, grapefruit, and notes of white flowers. It’s also available at Dublin 4 Gastropub and Wine Works for Everyone [both in Mission Viejo] by the bottle.”
Michael Cox (Napa Rose and Falling Bright Wine Merchants): “It’s hot, of course, right now. Rosé and light whites work great. For those fun evenings at the grill, zinfandel and malbec work beautifully. Ferren and Luli rosé are perfect—great with salads and those tomatoes that are ripening beautifully in the garden right now. The Setting sauvignon blanc and Pax chenin blanc are wondrous with oysters and other shellfish.”
Greg Nagel has been writing about beer since 2011, is an avid homebrewer of wine, cider, and beer, is a certified Cicerone Beer Server, level 1 WSET in Wine, a podcaster with the Four Brewers Show, and runs a yearly beer festival called Firkfest happening on June 29th in Anaheim!