Quenard’s bracing Alpine whites have long been favorites of the staff here at KLWM. I remember seeing a colleague post a photo of a bottle of Chignin while aboard a sun-drenched sailboat last year, and I thought, I would like to do that! The following weekend, I brought a bottle to a picnic at the Berkeley Marina—not quite a boat, but close enough. Most recently, I enjoyed a glass while watching the day turn slowly into dusk. We often tout Quenard’s wines as perfect après-ski, a nod to their idyllic mountain roots, but this aromatic bottling of Savoie’s Jacquère strikes me as distinctly apt for warm weather.
     Redolent of summery white peach, it’s lush and perfectly tart, finishing with a chalky freshness that recalls the limestone soil in which it grows. Notes of white flowers—somewhere between jasmine and citrus blossom—evoke the turn of the season. I’m a fan of any bottle that’s versatile enough to go from boat, to picnic, to dinner table, and this blanc delivers. It has an energetic glow and goes with just about anything at the table—a canned sardine and green garden salad was a recent knock-out. And this delicious season with its long, lazy sunsets makes a good match for a cold glass all on its own.

When we pulled the foil packets out of the campfire coals and served up the juicy steelhead filets and crispy potatoes contained within, their delicious aromas melded with the enchanting, cedar-tinged bouquet unfurling from the Cahors in our wine glasses to create a woodsy, smoky sweetness that mirrored our forested surroundings. The Cahors we were enjoying, from Château La Grave in southwest France, is a far cry from the tannic Cahors of old. This thoroughly elegant expression of Malbec is silky and medium-bodied, with vivid black cherry and blackberry fruit that paired wonderfully with the roasted flavors of the meal.