Nothing makes summer better than a great wine to sip on your porch as you watch the sun melt into the horizon. White wines top the list for summer: They’re cool, delicious, and crisp. And this makes them the perfect complement to a summer evening.
To help make your summer complete, we’ve put together a list of the best summer wines along with food pairing ideas.
Let’s get pouring!
Summer Wine #1: Gewürztraminer
First on our wine list is the Gewürztraminer (guh·vurt·struh·mee·nr). The Gewürztraminer has a light body, medium to low acidity, and an off-dry sweetness. It’s well known for its intense floral aromas and has flavors of lychee (think sweet rose), grapefruit, pineapple, apricot, orange, and cantaloupe.
Just like another fan favorite German varietal, this grape is very versatile! It can be succulently sweet or crisp and dry. Regardless of your sweetness preference, this wine always presents on the palate with a luscious body.
Serve your Gewürztraminer fridge cold, and as you sip, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to a resort in the Alps (this wine’s place of origin) enjoying your wine after finishing a hike through the Italian countryside.
Grand Gewürztraminer Summer Food Pairings
The flavor and slight sweetness make this summer wine a good choice to pair with unique dishes, so think exotic. Gewürztraminer is often famously paired with spicy Thai foods – and really any spicy food for that matter.
But it also pairs nicely with Middle Eastern and Moroccan dishes. These foods pair wonderfully with Gewürztraminer since they often use nuts, dried fruits, and roasted meats that bring out the wine’s flavors of rose and ginger. The lamb and apricot tagine is a great dish to try.
You can even enjoy this with artichoke, which is a more difficult food to pair wine with!
Check out Rove Estate’s 2021 Gewürztraminer for your next wine & food pairing.
You’ll discover classic notes of lychee, grilled pineapple, and delicate rose petals followed by flavors of apricot, mango, and a hint of ginger. The texture of this wine is soft and silky, with concentrated fruit notes.
Summer Wine #2: Pinot Grigio
The Pinot Grigio is a luscious white wine with a refreshing sparkle of acidity. This summer wine has a medium body and is dry with a medium-high to high acidity.
With each sip, you’ll encounter flavors ranging from lime, green apple, and lemon to pear, white nectarine, and white peach. With its zesty and refreshing personality, it's one of the best summer wines to pour at your next party.
Perfect Pinot Grigio Summer Food Pairings
Pinot Grigio is often referred to as a “high-acid white,” so keep the food pairings light. It works well with seafood like crab cakes, shrimp scampi, tilapia, scallops, perch, trout, mussels, clams, and oysters.
This summer wine also works with light pasta dishes and risottos, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables like cucumber, celery, jicama, kale, green apples, and cauliflower.
Check out Rove Estate’s 2021 Pinot Grigio for your next wine & food pairing.
You’ll encounter fresh peaches, yellow pear, and delicate white flowers on the nose. The palate is well rounded and soft with flavors of apple slices, cantaloupe, and nectarine, followed by a clean and pleasant finish.
Summer Wine #3: Pinot Blanc
The Pinot Blanc is often confused with the Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris since all 3 of these wines come from the same mutated pinot noir grape. But it’s definitely its own flavor.
Think of Pinot Blanc as the middle flavor between Pinot Gris’s opulence and Pinot Grigio’s light, refreshing crispness. It makes Pinot Blanc the best summer wine to sip in July, right when you’re in the middle of your summer.
Pinot Blanc presents flavors of pear, peach, raw almond, lemon zest, and crushed gravel. It has medium acidity and is dry with a light body.
Pleasant Pinot Blanc Summer Food Pairings
Pinot Blanc can handle many of your favorite summer foods like roasted chicken, citrusy salad dressings, flaky fish, and pasta that’s acidic or tossed in a creamy sauce.
Check out Rove Estate’s 2021 Pinot Blanc for your next wine & food pairing.
It has aromas of fresh orchard fruits, lemongrass, and tart citrus. And you’ll discover flavors of juicy pear, exotic star fruit, and lemon zest complimenting the mouth-watering acidity.
Summer Wine #4: Rosé
No wine is more iconic of summer than a Rosé. And it’s often considered the BEST wine for summer sipping. Whether you’re poolside at a hotel or sitting on your porch swing, a glass of Rosé is the perfect partner for summer.
Rosé has lots of different facets and, depending on the region, you’ll encounter flavors of strawberry, honeydew melon, rose petal, celery, and watermelon to grapefruit, stony minerals, and gooseberry. This wine is dry and light-bodied with medium acidity.
Ravishing Rosé Summer Food Pairings
Rosé is perfect for summer because it pairs well with light, refreshing summer foods. Think charcuterie boards, salads, light pastas, fresh fruit, or cold appetizers such as potato or pasta salads. It’s also great alongside slices of bruschetta, like this version topped with prosciutto, ricotta, and arugula.
Check out Rove Estate’s 2020 Ragaire Rosé for your next wine & food pairing.
Ragaire is a Gaelic word meaning “someone who enjoys wandering by night,” invoking an image of a person talking long into the early hours. Our Ragaire Rosé pairs perfectly with a beautiful sunset and bonfire, and will make you want to “Rosé all night.”
The Ragaire Rosé has aromas of white cherry, lemon, and delicate sweet pea flowers. The acidity zings from start to finish with vibrant flavors of peach, strawberry, cassis, and watermelon.
We hope you found inspiration for your next summer celebration or quiet evening with some great wine and food.
And if you’re looking for more wines to enjoy this summer, check out our 2021 Unoaked Chardonnay, 2021 Select Harvest Riesling, or 2021 Dry Riesling. We’ll be clinking glasses with you from Leelanau Peninsula!
Want more food and wine pairings? Dig into our Food and Wine Pairing 101. And if you still prefer your reds even during summer, we have a winter food and wine pairing guide you’ll find helpful.