The Wines of This Week's Tasting:
Light Summer Whites
July 9, 2025
All White
2023 Quinta de Soalheiro Minho Allo Loueiro Alvarinho;
Most Portugal's Vinho Verdes are thin, light, and simple. This wine takes it to a new level. It comes from a single vineyard on the steep slopes around the town of Minho. There, the premium Loureiro and Alvarinho grapes (just across the border in Spain, known as Albarino and costs much more) make for a wine that is richer, more concentrated, and ample, with a lightly floral complexity. You can drink it by itself, but it will also make a perfect hot-weather companion to most fish dishes.
Aroma: broad a touch lactic, flinty, very dense, and full, pretty, fresh, floral and low toned, with a touch of green; Mouth: fleshy, citric, tactile, lemon lime, bright and full, long; Very Good $16.99; By the case, $14.49
2023 La Mesma ‘Le Rose’ Gavi
A wonderful Italian white wine for your summertime enjoyment as it is light, clean and crisp refreshment to cool down on warm summer days. Great for pairing with fresh garden vegetables, light pasta dishes like spaghetti e vongole and seafood like grilled calamari.
Aroma: Meyer lemon, grapefruit, Mediterranean breeze, citrus blossoms, chamomile and white peach. Mouth: A spicy blend of citrus fruits, mineral texture, vibrant acidity, a touch of salinity, crushed seashells and a long refreshing finish. Very Good Plus $16.99, Case $14.49
2023 Domaine de la Verpaille Mâcon-Villages Vieilles Vignes;
The latest in our burgundian Chardonnays that over-deliver quality at a very reasonable price. Their pie is a new family-run organic estate in the heart of the machine. In the warm 2023 vintage they made a wine that is somewhat lower in acidity and broader in the mouth that many others but very satisfying with a wide variety of dishes.
Aroma: Heady and full, opens to a richer note; Mouth: Clear and rich densely fruited lower acid, broad full, long; Very Good Plus $19.99; Case, $16.99
2024 Les Equilibristes Picpoul de Pinet
In Languedoc, the Picpoul grape was named “lip stinger” because of its past harsh, unripe acidity. Not now, and especially not from the minimalist geniuses Equilibristes. Limestone in the soil supplies a saline note. They harvest only when the grapes are golden-ripe for succulent fruit. Six months aging on the lees makes the wine an expansive, mouth-filling.
Aroma: full, fat, bright acid, firm, lightly herbaceous; Mouth: bright clean sweet fruit, very ripe, a muted lightly saline tropical fruit note, fleshy and broad; Very Good Plus $21; Case, $17.99
2023 Planeta ‘La Segreta’ Sicilia Bianco
Planeta masterfully blends native Sicilian grapes with the noble grapes of France, creating a mosaic symphony of aromas and tastes. The blend of 50% Grecanico, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Viognier and 10% Fiano makes for an excellent beginning aperitif, or pairing with grilled vegetable antipasti, grilled fish like swordfish, tuna, or branzino.
Aroma: Rich and complex tropical fruit, peach, honeysuckle, mandarin orange spiced tea and Mediterranean herbs. Mouth: Round texture, full bodied, balanced acidity, fresh and fleshy fruit notes. Very Good Plus $21.99, Case $18.99
2023 Sophie Schaal Gewurztraminer
We have been singing the praises of Sophie Shaw's find Alsatian wines. Her Gewurztraminer is perhaps the most impressive. Her 2023 makes a very finely delineated version of a grape that is much maligned for its flabbiness. The wine has all Gewurztraminer’s floral character but with a minimal amount of sweetness. It is extraordinarily finely delineated and will go very well with spicy fish and seafood dishes.
A note: Unannounced, we opened her Pinot Gris in our last tasting. People who tasted that were very impressed for some of the same characteristics. We have about two cases left at the same price.
Aroma: light fresh, mineral spice, restrained, fine mineral, acid; Mouth: sedate as gewurz goes, fleshy light in its feet, clean, finely delineated, good acidity, long; Very Good - Excellent $21; Case, $17.99
Light Summer White Case, two each of the wines $175
or
Mix any twelve or more bottles at their case prices
Order by phone at 617.367.8605, or reserve here: order@federalwine.com
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- Len Rothenberg
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