Summer Wine-Down into Fall

August to Labor Day is traditionally the tail end of summer when many take a vacation, invite friends over for swim parties and barbecues. It’s a time to drink great wines with family and friends and discuss Back-to-School activities, and how life will start accelerating again.

Here are some of my summer favorite wines to savory and cherish during the slower pace of summer, before gearing up for Fall and upcoming holidays.

Celebrating 40 years, the California winery Sonoma-Cutrer is led by a team of female winemakers. Just released is their 40th Anniversary Winemaker’s Release Chardonnay a blend in collaborating between past and present sustainable winemaking. Each bottle is  Certified California Sustainable. This wine offers a fruit forward bouquet of melon, pear, and lemon meringue flavors that mingle with hints of nutmeg, clove, toasted nuts, and oak. It’s a full-bodied Chardonnay with a creamy mouthfeel highlighting a signature citrus acid. Pair this ideal end of summer white wine with pasta, poached salmon, grilled lobster and fresh crab. Sonoma Cutrer is also an great gift to bring to fall and holiday soirees. This elegant bottle is $70 or $55 for Club Members.

What makes Proud Pour unique is that the company supports 22 environmental nonprofit organizations protecting coral reefs, bees, soil, wild oysters and sea turtles. Sipping Proud Pour enables one to feel good that they are helping Mother Earth one sip at a time. The company offers Pinot Noir made from sustainably grown grapes and works with an organization to help plant wildflowers, a favorite habitat for native bees and honey bees.

The Sauvignon Blanc is shipped and adorned with a recycled oyster shell, giving the bottle a decorative touch. Proud Pour’s environmental partners recycle used shell from raw bars and they plant baby oysters on them, which they then put back in the water to rebuild the wild reefs. Pairings for this wine is ideal with farm-raised local oysters, cheese plates and grilled shrimp.

The Rose’ is made with organic grapes growing in Southern France. With each three cases sold, new baby coral is planted to restore damaged reefs. So far, over 200 baby corals have grown in coral reefs on the ocean floor supporting 25% of all marine life. Coral scientists collect large amounts of spawn coral from wild reefs and then breed the corals to produce genetically unique baby corals. This genetic diversity can make the reefs more resilient to climate change and other threats.

Proud Pour Syrah helps support U.S. farmers and the American Farmland Trust who are transitioning to regenerative farming. When farms use regenerative practices that include no-till and cover cropping, the result is healthy, living soil filled with worms, fungi, and microbes. This type of farming removes carbon pollution from the air, counteracting climate change. It also protects wildlife, water, and farmers’ bottom lines. This Syrah is made with organic grapes in the South of France, with bright minerals that offer light and balanced tannins.

Licence IV offers fresh, high quality and a perfect pour French canned wines. Debuting in the U.S., Licence IV is changing how French wine can be intimidating to some, and making it fun and so easy to sip. The wines are made from small, family-owned wineries in the Loire Valley and Provence. Founded by award-winning sommelier Gregory Castells, a native of Provence, France who trained at Escoffier Restaurant School and Tain L’Hermitage Sommelier School, his Blanc and Rosé wines are available in a box of 4 cans.

The Rosé is made with a blend of Grenache (80%) and Merlot (20%) from organically grown grapes in Provence. Aroma notes include blood orange, fresh strawberries and pink peonies on the nose, with a fruit forward and bright palate of strawberries and pomegranate. It pairs perfectly with a fresh tomato Caprese salad, charcuterie or a marinated octopus salad.

The Blanc is the first-ever Muscadet offered in a can. It features the aromas of freshly cut grass and salty lime zest. This vibrant, dry wine is refreshing with citrus and oyster shells to the nose and a saline and herbal finish. It is best paired with seafood, oysters and clams, marcona almonds, salted butter with bread and anchovies. Each can is $5.99 and retails in a 4-pack for $23.99.