Recently, I had an epiphany. There it was, late March, and I stepped outside in the morning to let the dog out. The wind blew and I couldn’t breathe. I shut the door, grabbed my phone and opened the weather app to discover it was 19 degrees. IN THE SPRING! I accept where I live and the fact that it gets cold here, but seriously? Enough is enough. My epiphany: C-o-l-d is a four letter word.
SoCal folks, count your blessings. Needless to say, I’m a bit impatient for Mother Nature to realize that we’re days away from April and she’s yet to give us poor souls out east a 3-day stretch of warm weather. It’s nice to know, though, that Ponte has realized this! New to the online store are three wine flights that align perfectly with spring and every good thing that comes with it, like the sun, colorful flowers, grilling and gardens.
Great for Grillin’ Flight: My grill has sat idle since September – we grilled ribs on Labor Day. Since then, it has weathered snow, rain, tons of wind and a torn mutilated grill cover. It’s time to fire her up again and I can’t wait to start pairing up all the smoky good food that comes from it with some killer wines. The Great for Grillin’ Flight includes one bottle each of Meritage, Barbera and Tempranillo, three reds with great fruit character, mild tannins and bold structure. In my experience, Meritage tastes heavenly with anything coated in barbeque sauce; Barbera enhances a perfectly cooked steak or veal chop beautifully; and Tempranillo is delicious with grilled salmon and halibut.
Purchase here
Spring Essentials Flight: Sometimes in the winter, I dream. I dream about planting my tiny garden with tomatoes and herbs and then sitting in a lawn chair in the sun with a glass of wine, admiring my hard work. Any of the wines in the new Spring Essentials Flight would do. Ponte’s just-released Vermentino may just be the perfect white wine. It bursts with flavors of passion fruit, melon and white peaches and finishes smoothly, brightly and crisply. Mama-mia, is it good! Juliet is Ponte’s ever-popular sweet and delicate rose wine. Served chilled, it is wonderful with spring salads and fruit desserts. Sangiovese rounds out the Spring Essentials Flight as a red wine that is neither too bold nor too light. It’s fantastic with thin-crust pizzas, grilled bruschetta and any red sauce pasta dish.
Purchase here
If you want to liven up any spring meal or add a little sweetness to your day, the Sweet Spring Treats Flight is for you! Rose Spumante is one of Ponte’s three sparkling wines. It comes alive with flavors of crisp apple, pineapple and refreshing strawberry. Try it with prosciutto-wrapped melon for a real treat. Beverino, the darling wine of Ponte, makes an appearance in this new flight because, well, it’s great no matter what season we are in. In the spring, Beverino is particularly good with smoky grilled chicken. Finally, the lovely Isabel completes Sweet Spring Treats with its delightful peach and apricot essences. It’s wonderful with lemon mousse, strawberry-spinach salad and spicy cuisine.
Purchase here
Wine Club Members, don’t forget that all of Ponte’s wine flights are currently 25% off for you! Stock your shelves for spring and save some major dough.
–Which wines make up your ideal spring wine flight?
No comments yet. You should be kind and add one!
By submitting a comment you grant Ponte Winery Blog a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.