It’s June, people. Summer is but days away. Already your shoulders have taken on an unhealthy pink tinge. Already the grill shows signs of wear, and the water in the wading pool you got out for the kids on Memorial Day has warmed to some uncomfortably tepid degree. Soon the sun will rise and seem never to set, 
baking, melting, or desiccating everything in its path. The edge of the lawn will take on the color of an old cigar, and the back porch will resemble a stage set for the seventh circle of Hell. What, please God, is in the fridge to stave off the torrid days to come?
If you’re smart, it’ll be wine, and it’ll be white, crisp, cool, refreshing, and high in acid. A classic summer white will be there to rescue your mouth, stimulate your taste buds, and revive you. And the life vest, in this instance, is acid. A summer wine is a high acid wine.
Nearly every summer beverage–lemonade, apple cider, and every soft drink from Coca-Cola to Pocari Sweat–is refreshing because there’s enough acid in the drink to balance the sweetness. If, God forbid, you were to taste a Coke without the citric acid that balances its massive payload of sugar, you’d certainly gag from the sweetness.
A good rule of thumb for finding high acid whites is to get out a map and pinpoint some wine regions on the fringe: extremes of latitude, altitude, and marine exposure. That’s where you’ll find the coolest growing seasons, and grapes that have a harder time ripening are usually left with mouth-watering acidity, and are naturally brisk, tart, palate-cleansing. So here is a highly opinionated and hopelessly incomplete tour of some fringe areas for you to troll for high acid whites.
Old World, Old School Fringe
France is home to the most northerly wine region on earth–Champagne–and aside from the Riviera, it’s a pretty cool place. High acid wines are the norm here. That is certainly true in the Loire Valley, where two summer white grapes, Sauvignon Blanc and Melon, achieve their pinnacle of expression. The crisp, mineral-inflected Sauvignons of Sancerre, Pouilly Fume, and Touraine are renowned for their racy spine of acidity, and are especially versatile with food, pairing beautifully with everything from summer green vegetables to grilled fish.
A great many Loire whites come from vineyards in and around the city of Nantes, near the country’s cool, western Atlantic shores. These are planted to a grape called Melon de Bourgogne–a variety that bears some resemblance to Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon–and is made into a wine called Muscadet Sèvre et Maine. This inexpensive white is known for its minerality and nerve, as well as a clean, arresting neutrality. Muscadet has long been considered the ideal pairing with oysters, precisely because both the food and the wine share a subtle saline quality. I can’t really imagine oysters without it. At $10-15 a bottle, you can probably afford to try several.
For a racy spin on Chardonnay, consider Chablis, a region among the coolest in the world where that grape is grown. Vines there strain toward ripeness, rarely achieving the tropical flavors found in California or Australia. Instead, the wines maintain cool, green tones, with a lovely crispness. The single vineyard wines are planted on chalk or limestone, imparting a high tone to the texture or ‘mouthfeel’ of the wine. But for summer afternoons, look for reliable classics from negociants like Joseph Drouhin and William Fevre, or the relatively inexpensive Petit Chablis from producers like Jean- Marc Brocard.
On the other end of Burgundy is the Mâcon, where comparably brisk wines can be found in mild vintages. Slightly richer and creamier than Chablis, wines from the Mâcon also have the virtue of being clean and unadorned expressions of Chardonnay; they’re nearly always made without appreciable oak. Most of the better Burgundy negociants have an inexpensive Macon bottling, from Georges Duboeuf to Bouchard and Jadot.
Another wonderful fringe place for crisp whites in France is Alsace. It’s a region well-regarded for rich, unctuous whites as well, but on the lower end of the price spectrum you’ll find lovely inexpensive blends called Edelzwickers, blended from Riesling, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, even Chardonnay. These crisp, appley wines have a little extra heft and sweetness for grilled food. One of my consistent favorites comes from the well-known producer Albert Boxler.
Italy, meanwhile, sports more coastline and more exquisite coastal towns wherein one might enjoy white wines than any other country in Europe. Lately I’ve been enjoying wines from the Adriatic side of the boot, in the Marche, south of Venice.
Verdicchio is the Marche’s signature wine, grown almost nowhere else but here. It thrives on the sun-soaked hillsides rising from the coastal city of Ancona, a D.O.C. called Verdicchio di Castelli dei Jesi. A good Verdicchio has a bright, lemony scent and pretty pine and citrus aromas, with fresh snap to the flavors. Two of the easiest to find and most reliable renditions come from the producers Bucci and Sartarelli.
I’m not much in the habit of recommending Italian Pinot Grigio; there’s too much of it in the world, and much of it’s generally pretty uninspired. But if there’s inspiration to be had, you’re going to find it in the Alto Adige, the high altitude slopes in Northern Italy where the grape can retain a thrilling acidity that does wonders for refreshing your palate on a summer afternoon. I’d recommend almost anything from that region–you’ll also find the odd Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay there, or try an aromatic Goldmuskateller if you’re feeling really adventurous. But even if you just stick with Pinot Grigio, you’ll be satisfied. Look for bracing examples from J. Hofstatter, Alois Lageder, and Elena Walch especially.
New Worlds, Southern Climes
In the U.S., for summer whites, it’s necessary to go down the ABC road–Anything but Chardonnay. Nothing against Chardonnay, really; it is just that better thirst-quenchers are available.
Start with the summer white grape that once dominated vineyard lands: Sauvignon Blanc. For those of you who haven’t tried a Sauvignon Blanc from Napa or Sonoma in recent years, you owe yourself a return visit. Thankfully, styles have veered away from oak-tinged Chardonnay look-alikes, to crisper, high-acid wines, tinged with flavors of melon and lime, like those of Honig, Duckhorn, and the Napa Wine Company. Others draw their inspiration from the distinctive Sauvignon Blancs of New Zealand: grassy and lean, with an extra dollop of ripe fruit–a profile that the Sonoma wines from the Sauvignon Republic, fits perfectly.
Another variety that’s gaining some traction in California, particularly in the Central Coast, is Grenache Blanc, which shares some of the weight of its fellow Rhône variety whites like Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne, but is generally lighter and more nervy. There aren’t many out there at the moment, but two worth seeking out are the wines from Epiphany and Spencer Roloson. And finally, consider Oregon Pinot Gris. Gris from Oregon tends to come in two flavors, lean and racy and rich and ripe, but two of the more refreshing choices in recent years have been King Estate, the largest producer of Gris in the state, and Chehalem, whose 2006 is especially fine.
Outside of Pinot Grigio, by far the biggest success story among lean aromatic whites in recent years has been the Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand. Tense and lively, with exotically green scents, New Zealand Sauvignon has captured the world’s imagination since its recent introduction to the market. I’ve always admired the Sauvignons from Kim Crawford, Kumeu River, and Kathy Linskey.
Australia is rightfully lauded for its reds, which often means its whites are completely overlooked. And this is a crime because all over the country there is a thrilling newfound interest in Riesling. And they are exceptional: most exhibit a clarity and precision that hardly seems possible in the land of Rosemount and Torbreck. Though these wines share a slatey minerality with their German counterparts, they’re considerably drier, and are the epitome of a high acid summer white. Two that I’ve enjoyed recently: the edgy Clare Valley wine from Pike’s, and the lime-tinged Riesling from Leeuwin, in the Margaret River.
Finally if you were to make one foray to South America, it should be to try Torrontes, a grape that’s coming to be a signature white for Argentina, and an exotic export. These are lean, aromatic wines with unusual tropical flavors of peach, melon, and a hint of lime. Seek out Susana Balbo’s wonderful white from her label, Crios, or the reliable wine from the Bodega J&F Lurton.
Here are some examples of particularly worthy thirst quenchers:
Marc Ollivier, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine (Loire Valley, France) ‘Clos des Briords’ 2005 ( $12, Louis Dressner): From a single, old vine vineyard composed mostly of schist, planted in 1930. A natural wine with mineral scents and hints of white pepper, rose petal, and lime, this is mostly about texture on the palate, with a dense saline feel and a bright, key lime citrus flavor. 88
Paul Thomas, Sancerre (Loire Valley, France) ‘Les Comtesses’ 2005 ($20, Langdon Shiverick): Exceptionally graceful, this is a generous Sancerre without being excessive or loosely knit. It leads with gooseberry aromas and an herbal, tarragon note, but its flavors are ample, with pure ripe apple tightened up by a touch of citrus. 90
Alois Lageder, Alto Adige (Italy) Pinot Grigio 2005 ($16, Dalla Terra): This delicate wine has a hint of smoke to accompany soft, green-grape fruit aromas. But the wine is all about texture, with its salty, racy mouthfeel to gird flavors of green apple and freshly cut pear. 91
Sartarelli, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico (Marche, Italy) 2004 ($13, Domaine Select): Generous and inviting, this wine’s beautiful straw gold color makes it seem like it is gathering light. A pretty, mild herbal scent gives way to flavors that fall between citrus, orange oil, and ripe peach, with a zippy, creamy finish. 88
Chehalem, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Gris 2005 ($18): This generous wine is rich without being at all fat or flabby, with inviting pear scents, and ripe fruit accented by marzipan flavor; but the wine’s lean mineral base and crisp acids hold all that rich fruit in suspension. Serve with something French continental, like Parisian ham and roasted potatoes. 92
Pike’s, Clare Valley (South Australia) Riesling 2005 ($18, Australian Premium Wine Collection): One of the driest of Australian Rieslings, this austere white leads with a lean fragrance of lime and grapefruit pith. Its texture is cool and angular, with a salty tang to accent its fresh lime flavors. 90
Kim Crawford, Marlborough (New Zealand) Sauvignon Blanc 2006 ($17, Phillips Hogue): A wine that marries lean gooseberry scents with richer, riper tropical accent in its flavors, this has a fine balance and poise from its lime-scented mineral aromas to its richer flavors of melon and passion fruit. Fresh, bracing and delicious. 89
Susana Balbo, Cafayate Valley (Salta, Argentina) Torrontes ‘Crios’ 2006 ($15, Vine Connections): A wine that shows off the charms of Torrontes, this is clean, brisk and fresh, with a light floral scent, a flavor of quince and a clean finish. 88