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When I pull a cork or twist a screw cap, I’m not just opening a bottle of wine. I’m revealing a time capsule to another place, and a year that may have been sunny and hot or cool and rainy. I’m joining a conversation of sorts with a winemaker who may no longer be alive but is still able to tell me, through the wine, something of their life, land and culture. Learning to understand these conversations is a lifetime endeavor, expensive but rewarding.

Wine is also a passport to travel, if only in my imagination as reflected in my glass. This time of year as the temperature soars and the humidity squeezes the air from my lungs, I long to escape on a Mediterranean vacation. I start in Provence, quaffing rosé and munching fougasse dipped in olive oil at a cafe in a hillside town while watching old-timers slinging boulles and slugging pastis. A side trip to Nice for a pan bagnat is in order, and over to St. Tropez for the glitz and glam of the Côte d’Azur with a striking Hollywood star or stranded Russian oligarch. Maybe I’ll hitch a ride on someone’s luxury yacht to Sardinia for some vermentino and Sicily for the crisp, minerally white wines grown on Mount Etna’s southern slopes.

Next I head to the Greek islands. Santorini beckons, its whitewashed homes with cerulean roofs perched precariously above the Aegean Sea, on rock thrust from the sea by a volcanic eruption about 3,600 years ago, its assyrtiko vines curled in basket shapes to protect the grapes from the Aegean winds.

Alas, Santorini is overrun by tourists, and its wines have become prohibitively expensive, so I may wander instead to Cephalonia, an island in the Ionian Sea off Greece’s west coast. Here the wines are expressive, exuberant and much more affordable.

“Mountainous nature ends in the sea,” Cephalonia boasts. It’s a claim many places could make in this part of the world. It suggests a tumultuous character in the wine, and I try to suss that out as I sip one made from the robola grape, by Orealios Gaea winery. Cephalonia, thought by some to be Homer’s Ithaca, has had a tempestuous history, fought over and ruled by Athenians, Mycenaeans, Romans, Turks, British and Nazis (I’m telescoping history here, like the last few weeks of your world civ class in high school.) The island has seen peace only since about 1950, as part of modern Greece.

Is that history reflected in the wine? I’d like to think so. At the very least, the wine prompts me to ponder its context and learn about a part of the world I might never have thought of visiting.

No Mediterranean sojourn would be complete without a stop on the Italian boot for Italy’s amazing variety of white wines. Fiano, falanghina and verdicchio are made for seafood, salads and the lighter dishes of summer. Grazing wines.

You no doubt realize by now that my summer vacation is imaginary, aside from the wines and the fougasse, which is from Trader Joe’s and quite good, actually, when crisped in the oven or the grill and dipped in good olive oil. Some olives for noshing, fresh veggies from the farmers market served with homemade aioli, and a caprese salad fill out the menu. Or maybe those tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden will find themselves in a fattoush, paired with hummus for a taste of the Mediterranean further east.

My patio is my yacht, my pool – the Mediterranean.

This is wine as escapism, to be sure. But it’s also wine as a connection to history, culture and people on the other side of the world. What kind of person produces a wine that tastes like this? From what sort of land or time? To get wine’s message, we must listen and be receptive.

“Wine is just fermented grape juice,” some people say. They’re wrong. Good wine at least is an invitation to a wider world, its history and its culture.

Here are three delightful white wines from the Mediterranean, perfect for your virtual vinous travel this summer. Enjoy them with grilled fish, seafood salads or pesto-sauced pasta.

Orealios Gaea “R” Robola of Cephalonia 2022

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Robola is a grape you probably haven’t tried, unless you’ve explored the wines of Greece and traveled its islands. It’s a native of Cephalonia, a mountainous mass off Greece’s west coast in the Ionian Sea, studded with olive trees and grapevines among the rocks. “Where mountainous nature ends in the sea,” the label of this wine proclaims somewhat dramatically. The wine itself speaks of citrus and olives, its acidity a refreshing coda to a warm summer’s day. Alcohol by volume: 12.5 percent. Bottle weight: 540 grams (Average).

Imported and distributed locally by Salveto.

Audarya Camminera Vermentino di Sardegna 2020

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I’ve been impressed by several wines from this excellent producer on Sardinia, imported by Baltimore-based Wide Roots. This is their high-end vermentino, with extra body from an overnight cold soak on the skins followed by 10 months’ aging on the fine lees. The overall impression is texture, as if the evening breeze off the Mediterranean caressed your cheek with its breath of salt and limestone, whispering a memory of the peach you ate earlier in the day, ripe and juicy with summer’s warmth. ABV: 13.5 percent. BW: 540 grams (Average).

Imported and distributed locally by Wide Roots.

Vini Ocone Bozzovich Bianco 2021

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This is a field blend of Italian white grape varieties, mainly falanghina, fiano and greco. As such, it speaks of ancient winemaking before grape varieties were isolated and bottled alone, even if the art on the label shows a more modern sensibility. Jasmine, hyacinth and lemongrass highlight the aromas, with nectarine and sage filling out the palate. ABV: 13 percent. BW: 625 grams (Average).

Imported by Scoperta Importing Co. Distributed locally by DMV Distributing.

Prices are approximate. For availability, check Wine.com, Wine-searcher.com and the websites and social media feeds of the wineries, importers or distributors. You can also ask your local retailer to order wines from the distributors listed.

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Source link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/07/20/mediterranean-wines-greece-italy-provence/