An Ode to a Fleeting Summer

I do remember a brief spell of warm weather in July and a couple of warm evenings in August but what about the ongoing concept of three months of warm days and warm nights.

I read in this paper earlier this week that September was going to be our summer, and while that may produce a few warm days, there will not be many warm nights and with the light fading earlier and earlier it's the last two weeks of August that count if summer is going to get a passing grade from me.

This week I looked back at the several hundred wines I have tasted since May in search of the ultimate summer sipper, perhaps to inspire better weather. As you know the summer sipper has come a long way over the past decade. Fresher, cleaner, skinnier wine is in fashion. One with more fruit, less oak and better minerality but there is now another factor at play that you may or may not be aware. It's called lees contact.

Battonage or stirring the spent lees at the bottom of a barrel or tank is hardly a new concept in France, where Burgundians have been doing it for ever but its role in texture development and flavour and its recognition by consumers is something much more recent.

In the same way that consumers have come to know the flavour of oak, or to understand the concept of cool-climate wines, understanding the basics of lees stirring in white wine allows you to further expand your knowledge of why it tastes the way it does and more critically why some are better than others and worth paying a bit more money for.

So without too many details, (you can read about Battonage on your own time), lees stirring can give a wine a much creamier texture in the mouth, a smoothing affect if you like, without really reducing the acidity, thus leaving the wine fresh and balanced.

Other additional affects include reducing fruitiness and slightly reducing the influence of the oak, in effect "complexing" the wine's flavour by releasing things like yeast polysaccharides, amino acids and esters into the wine. That's less primary (I can't finish this bottle) flavours with more secondary (can I have another glass) flavours.

Some refer to it as the umami taste or the delicious-ness factor. Today I've chosen six delicious wines that should help you celebrate the end of summer.

One of the world's best value chardonnays is Casillero del Diablo Chardonnay 2007 from Casablanca Valley, Chile. The nose is cool and laced with green apple, light garlic lees, vanilla, nectarine skin, and citrus rind notes. The attack is round, the palate fresh with a bit of oiliness and more green apple, grapefruit, vanilla, buttery, honey lees flavours. Perfect for a pasta salad or a veal dish.

Another impressive Chilean effort is the newly released De Martino Legado Reserva Chardonnay 2006 from the Limari Valley. Look for a fresh, buttery, nutty nose and with a fine mineral undercurrent. The soils, said to be the only containing calcium (fossils) in Chile, give this chardonnay plenty of chalk and minerality to support the buttery, peach, green apple and vanilla notes. Fine value in a 100 per cent organic wine.

A vineyard in transition this almost-organic Cono Sur Chardonnay 2007 from Colchagua will please with its green apple, lime, lees, vanilla, floral, honey, nectarine aromas. It is deliciously fresh and crisp offering elegant styling with floral, peach pit, mineral, green apple and lime flavours all with a touch of lees and butter in the finish. Light, zesty and full of finesse for the price.

It's year two for the Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling 2007 made by the white winemaking team at Penfolds under the direction of winemaker Oliver Crawford. The nose is fresh with obvious petrol notes, lemon lime and oyster liqueur scents. The attack is bright and crisp with green apple/fruit salad, mineral lees flavours and a crisp clean finish. It's drinkable now but will improve under screwcap for years. Think sushi, chicken, pork and seafood wine.

Champagne must spend a minimum of 15 months on its lees but the best spend more time on the yeast. At Heidsieck they share that information with you noting when the bottle was placed on its lees in the cellar or mise en cave. The current release Charles Heidsieck N/V Brut Reserve is Mis en Cave 2004. The nose is fresh and toasty with nutty notes of baked apple and spice and bright apple, pear and citrus flavours. Fine intensity if a tad soft. A solid, richer style for food.

Finally, we alert you to an outstanding Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur 2006. Light lees notes mixed with lemon, green apple, floral, butter, oyster shell all flecked with vanilla.

So rich and fresh it is awash in texture, intensity. And flavours of seaweed, lemon, green apple skin, butter, light honey all with a touch of butterscotch and lime rind on the finish. Great length and finesse.

Price: $13

UPC: 07804320256900

Score: 87/100

Remarks: Solid value, best with food.

DE MARTINO LEGADO RESERVA CHARDONNAY 2006, LIMARI VALLEY, CHILE

Price: $20

UPC: 07804395000323

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Fresh, buttery, nutty nose and a fine mineral undercurrent.

CONO SUR CHARDONNAY 2007, VALLE DEL COLCHAGUA, VALLE DEL RAPEL, CHILE

Price: $14.50

UPC: 7804320242699

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Excellent finesse for the price.

PENFOLDS RIESLING BIN 51 2007, EDEN VALLEY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Price: $30

UPC: 012354072558

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Versatile sushi, chicken, pork and seafood wine

CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT RESERVE MIS EN CAVE 2004 N/V, CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE

Price: $60

UPC: 03037900002787

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Toasty, nutty, spicy, baked apple, pear and citrus flavours.

DOMAINE CHRISTIAN MOREAU CHABLIS GRAND CRU VALMUR 2006, CHABLIS, BURGUNDY, FRANCE

Price: $67

UPC: 089744423931

Score: 94/100

Remarks: Fresh, elegant, crisp palate, but good texture and intensity.