Despite the longer days, Chicago remains in the midst of a "prolonged cold snap," cold enough to freeze standing water on the streets and keep the winter coats close to the front of the closet. So, yesterday, hoping to fool ourselves into believing that things really might come back to life, we celebrated the Spring holidays by buying a couple of pounds of asparagus (imported from warmer climes) and some hydroponic basil and making a simple risotto, flecked with zest from a Meyer lemon from my brother-in-law's tree back in California.
With it, we had a Dirty and Rowdy 2014 Yountville (Napa Valley) Semillon, the "Good Ol' Direct to Press" one, not the skin-contact, concrete-egg fermented one. Too cold at first, which muted the flavors and made it taste dilute, but once it came up from fridge temp, it proved to be pretty good: mildly but not aggressively green, lemony, slightly floral, and nicely balanced. It didn't have any of the waxy, oily, rich mouthfeel that Semillon can have, and even after it warmed up it still seemed a little thin, but it was good, and would have been even better in hot weather -- though for that kind of simple summer quaffer, I still think I prefer the Familiar Blanc.
