2022 Adega Ponte de Barca, Lindeza Loureiro Vinho Verde

About the Producer: These vineyards are located in the Lima Valley in the North of Portugal, bordering the Minho River and Galicia. It is a region of deep valleys crossed by clear water streams and a rugged terrain of enormous beauty and biodiversity. This unique and traditional landscape is marked by small vineyards and quaint villages. The cooling influence of the Atlantic Ocean and the granitic soils produce elegant wines with delicate aromas and freshness.

Winemaker, José Oliveira has been working in the region for more than 30 years. Born and raised in Ponte da Barca, wine was always his passion.

About the Wine: Vinho Verde, baby. Literally meaning “green wine”, the Vinho Verde name actually refers to it being a wine usually drunk “young.” The low alcohol content and slight effervescence make them excellent as an aperitif or for an afternoon spent in the backyard.

If there were such a thing as “The Riesling of Portugal” this would be it. One of Portugal’s top home-grown white wine varieties, Loureiro produces fresh, aromatic and crisp white wines.

Tasting Notes: Fresh, intense aromas, with notes of tropical fruits. Fresh on the palate, good acidity and a lengthy pleasant citrusy finish. Serve around 55º with salads, seafood, vegetables, and rice dishes.

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2021 Zingara Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

About the Producer: Zingara – a wanderer, a nomad, a gypsy. It’s a fitting name for wines discovered by Uva Imports founder Adam Richard as he traversed the Italian countryside. Zingara wines are crafted with hand-picked grapes from family farms — places where history, pride, and passion go into every phase of the winemaking process. Sustainable farming practices.

About the Wine: Harvested in late October, maceration and fermentation for 7-10 days in steel tanks with local yeast cultivated from the vineyards. Rests in steel tank for one year before bottling. Clarification with clay, cartridge filter – no animal products are used, vegan. Sustainable and integrated farming with the propagation of natural predators of harmful insects and microorganisms.

The Bove team oversees 40 hectares with diverse elevations around Chieti and the Colline Teramane regions, between 650-1,300 feet a.s.l. South, southwest exposures with rocky, dense calcareous clay-based soils. 10-20 year old vines with a mixture of Abruzzese Pergola and Guyot. Hand-harvested estate fruit, 2,500 case production.

Tasting Notes: This is fresh, balanced Italian red wine at its best. A medium bodied wine with a combination of bright fruit and hints of earthy, savory undertones that make it a perfect food pairing. Serve 60-65° in any glass with pizza, pasta, burgers, roasted meats, comfort foods, and sausages.

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2021 Domaine Lafage La Retro (1 liter)

About the Producer: Jean-Marc’s start in the wine business was not an overnight success. While his family has been growing grapes and making wine in the Roussillon since 1791, it was Jean-Marc’s early insight into the potential for the Roussillon to make a wide range of dry wines at very affordable prices that established his “new” estate. For most of the 20th century, the region was famous for its fortified dessert wines – Rivesaltes, Banyuls & Maury. Most of these wines were made at large facilities that purchased grapes from local growers, including Jean-Marc’s ancestors. While his grandfather and father made wine for the family, Jean-Marc was the first to break away from the cooperative model to make his own wine commercially. Over the generations, his family had amassed scattered vineyards throughout the region, which now totals over 160 hectares of vines, most of them in excess of 50 years in age.

About the Wine: Mainly Grenache (60%), Carignan (30%), a little Grenache Gris (7%), and a touch of Lladoner (3%). Grenache for the jubilant fruit, Carignan to keep it fresh, Grenache Gris to lighten things up, and Lladoner.

What’s Lladoner? It’s only 3%, so really, who cares, but if you’ve read this far, you’re probably the sort that likes details. Lladoner is Grenache with fuzzy leaves and smaller clusters of fruit. It is generally spicier and less flash than its smooth-leaf cousin. Genetically it is identical to Grenache, but some genes were scrambled in the past resulting in these changes. Like all things this obscure, it has a cult following.

As the grapes are picked and brought to the cellar, they are lightly crushed and placed whole-cluster into a fermentation vat for a short undisturbed fermentation with minimal extraction. After pressing, it is kept in tank until bottling.

Tasting Notes: Rather than tell you what we think it tastes like, I’ll leave you with this expert opinion from Tamlyn Currin after tasting the 2020 La Rétro for jancisrobinson.com:

Cheeky, cheeky, cheeky! Ping-pongs around the mouth, paintballing cherry wine gums and raspberry fruit chews and Parma-violet candy in all directions. (Don’t get me wrong, though – the wine is dry, not sweet; just so packed with such cheerful fruit that it’s like being flash-mobbed by singing strawberries!) The tannins are not even an afterthought. They were abandoned in the press along with all pretensions and all thoughts of tomorrow. I love it!

TAMLYN CURRIN, JANCISROBINSON.COM

Serve around 60º with the foods of summertime. You can’t go wrong.