Summertime citrus quaffers

Pucker up and prepare for the summer citrus! Keeping on the theme of summer wines that wont break the bank, and that you may not have had, here are two of real interest to me. One, the Torrontes grape from South America, I have mentioned before and have become a fan of. The other, Aligote from Burgundy, defnitely left its mark as a fun quaffer for the summer seekers. And I thought all white Burgundy was Chardonnay...

Norton Torrontes 2007 - I blogged about Torrontes before. What can I say but that I think this is a great lightly chilled white wine. It can be had any time but the typically pale gold color and summertime ripe fruit tastes will likely have you thinking of warm July days and sultry nights. Standard Torrontes scents and flavors in my limited experience are of white peaches and grapefruit. Check and check again with this year's Norton. In the glass its a spoonful of fresh scooped white grapefruit on the palate. Tart, dry, and fruity it finished with a bit of the white peach. This is an easy to drink quaffer and certainly I don't think it will have you searching for layers or descriptions. Its a simple unsweetened summer fruit salad. I think it would be wonderful with picnic faire or some white fish or scallops straight off the grill. Not often is it so much fun to drink a ten buck quaffer. $

Roulton Burgogne Aligote 2005 - Hey hey Aligote! (Al-ee-goat-tay) You ever suck on a lemon? Well that's what this Aligote was for me. Bright straw yellow in color, this quaffer had scents of toast tips, lemons, and lemon tree leaf. In the mouth its a puckering quaff of citric acid. Did you like lemon drops as a kid? Remove the sugar and pucker up. I was told this is a wine the French love as a quick way to liven up the mouth and senses and it certainly didn't fail. In fact, it brightened a long dreary day for me. Thin and short bodied this is a chiller summer fun lemon that gives a quick summer yellow hello. Apparently a wine for wine geeks - whatever that means... If you get a chance, see what you think of the summer citrus that may you puckering for more. $ 20/bottle