While Hawaii is blessed with picnic weather year-round, summer's long weekends and restless keiki make it a particularly popular time to load up the coolers and head for your favorite picnic spot. Light, fruity wines
complement casual
picnic fare
Whether your next picnic is a family affair or a romantic outing for two, our wine panel has composed a selection of versatile wines to complete your menu.
Richard Field, owner of R. Field Wine Co.
Picnics foods are usually uncomplicated and served cold. While some sandwiches can be hearty and pâté and cheese are rich, the wines should be light, refreshing and unintimidating.Bera Moscato d'Asti, Italy, $14.99
This is a great time to have wines with a lively sweetness, as opposed to a heavy dessert style syrupyness. The perfect light sweet wine should be low in alcohol. The wine I'm describing comes from northwest Italy near the town of Asti; it is moscato d'Asti. The first wine people think of when I say this name is Asti spumante. And while there are some similarities, the differences are greater. Unlike the spumante, our picnic wine is very low in alcohol and production is tiny, making it relatively difficult to find.
Gionelli Pinot Grigio, Italy, $6.49 for a double bottle
My other recommendation also comes from Italy. It too is refreshing, uncomplicated and unintimidating. Pinot grigio (or pinot gris) is the name of the grape and the wine. There are many good tasting and appropriate pinot grigios available in the market, but the best buy is the Gionelli Pinot Grigio 1.5 liter size (double the usual 750 ml wine bottle). It is not a classic style, but the terrific value and the lightly crisp and versatile flavors make it one to buy for your next picnic or party.
Lyle Fujioka, owner of Fujioka's Wine Merchants
1998 Argiolas Vermentino "Costamolino," Sardinia, $8.95Accessing virtual Sardinia: 1) Place an icy cold bottle of Argiolas "Costamolino" in your picnic basket. Bright, light and minerally clean, this '98 Vermentino will keep your palate fresh with its zippy character. 2) Grab your significant other and basket then drive to Donato's Ristorante in Kahala. Have Donato prepare one of his killer antipasti platters, which will include fresh Sardinian pecorino and his homemade mozzarella. 3) Head immediately to your favorite secluded beach. You'll soon find yourself adrift in the Mediterranean with a basket full of virtually all the right stuff.
1997 St. Clement Sauvignon Blanc/Muscat "Kobu," California, $6.25
"What's Kobu?" We consider it a baby Caymus "Connundrum," a palate pleasing blend of white varietals. In "Kobu" you will encounter a balance of ripe sauvignon blanc fruit offering slightly grassy/citrus hints softened with a skosh of fragrant, slightly sweet muscat. Pack a well-chilled bottle then stop at your favorite sushi or dim sum stand. Find a place cool and shady to spread the blanket and enjoy your bounty. Your first sip of "Kobu" will make you feel yoro kobu (very happy).
Chuck Furuya, president of Fine Wine Imports
For me, picnic wines are light, crisp, fruit oriented and totally refreshing. Some examples we've discussed previously are Bonny Doon's Pacific Rim Riesling ($11.99), Laurel Glen's Reds ($10.99), and Carchello Monastrell ($12.93). They are worth mentioning again because they are so apropos, but I do have two new discoveries to offer:Mosel River Selection, Germany, $11.99
This ever so slightly sweet white wine is incredibly well suited for local spicy or salty foods (poke, Thai salads and even teriyaki), as well as a myriad of "gourmet" cold cuts. Sipping this wine is like biting into a well-chilled red apple. Is that too sweet? I don't think so.
Bonny Doon's Vin Gris de Cigare, California, $12.45
Don't let the color fool you! This is a dry, wonderfully tasty, deliciously fruit-driven rosé that is well-suited to local foods. This is the wine we took with us on the "Local Grinds" show of "Emme's Island Moments." It was great with Leong's sensational beef luau and pipikaula, the oxtail soup at Kam Bowling Alley, and Helen's (of Kapahulu) fabulous duck noodle soup. An odd name, a pink color, but a very tasty wine nonetheless.
Jay Kam, president of Vintage Wine Cellar
1997 Schloss Schonborn Johannisberger Klaus Riesling Kabinett, Germany, $12.99This is a perfect potluck picnic wine because it is versatile. It will go with chicken salad sandwiches, douse the flame on kim chee, wash down the poke and even delight with fruits. It is satisfying by itself after tossing the ball around. Good German wines are great picnic wines because they are light, fruity and refreshing. Young German wines like this one have delicate flavors of peach and grapefruit and are low in alcohol, which is a plus if you are out in the sun.
1996 Storybook Mountain Zinfandel Mayacamas Range, California, $21.49
If you have a hibachi at your picnic, you'll love this. Zinfandel is a fruity, slightly spicy and robust wine. Storybook Mountain is a family-run winery that only makes one kind of wine -- zinfandel. This zin's black fruit flavors go well with kalbi, teriyaki chicken, sausages, burgers, just about anything you can throw on the grill. If you have room after that, try it with brownies. Yum!
Values on the Vine is published on the last Wednesday
of each month. The Star-Bulletin asks each panelist to recommend
a pair of wines, at least one of which must retail for about $10.
Retail estimates on Chuck Furuya's recommendations
are provided by Richard Field.
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