Wine Focus: July - what are your wine alternatives?

[David M. Bueker]

I know, shocking. Wanting to discuss non-wine options for Wine Focus. Well blame Larry G. who posted about his G&T in the F&F Forum.

Anyway, summer just hits differently, at least for me. I want a beer after a hot day of yard work. A gin & tonic is refreshing. From an NA standpoint, my wife and I have discovered some artisanal sparkling teas.

So what are your non-wine options?

[Robin Garr]

Being in Louisville, that Bourbon city, I’ve been known to indulge in the occasional glass, with ice or a splash of water. Negronis are nice, usually in the restaurant where someone will make it for me. Mary is a fan of G&T’s. And morning coffee or a tall, unsweetened fresh iced tea are always welcome for those NA choices.

Good topic! A nice change of pace.

For hot weather I'm partial to gin & tonic or iced tea.

-Paul W.

Yep, G&T is one of my non-vinous go-tos. Also will have a traditional (i.e., non-slushie) Margarita and in hot weather will sometimes opt for a well-made sangria.

[Jenise]

None! When I drink wine, I always have a water chaser. No wine? Just the water.

I'm impressed by all you G&Ters, though. I don't dislike them but to me it's a cocktail and cocktails of any kind are pretty rare for me.

Like Jenise, I'm pretty much wine and water (seltzer). I have maybe 2 beers a year. Never drink cocktails or spirits (tasted a 1865 cognac Saturday, but spit). Betsy likes an occasional mocktail or cocktail.
NA- besides water/seltzer,I probably drink 2-3 sodas and 2-3 glasses of iced tea a year.
I do drink a coffee each morning,but that is not a wine alternative!

I regularly drink NA beer now (as well as a lot of water: plain tap, tap "con gas," and canned flavored sparkling). I tried a couple of NA wines and hated them. Phony Negronis are okay but mostly too sweet for my taste. But Athletic Brewing "Run Wild" and "Free Wave" IPAs, as well as Brooklyn Grapefruit NA beers, and a handful of others I've tried, are really, really good, and I don't miss the alcohol at all. I do still also regularly drink cocktails; I just drink petite ones (Andrea's remain full-sized) to stay within my prescribed weekly limits while still leaving room for wine.

[David M. Bueker]

Yeah, those Athletic Brewing NA beers are quite good.

Also will have a traditional (i.e., non-slushie) Margarita and in hot weather

That's one of my favorites, too.

-Paul W.

I don't look for an alternative to wine during warm weather. However, just as the food served is modified in a lighter direction, so too my wine choices are likewise modified, i.e. towards more crisp whites, pinks and lighter reds served cool. And I do drink more water. I love beer on a warm afternoon and Norman cider can fill a similar role but I rarely drink them nowadays as it adds to the day's alcohol load and most of the suitable occasions are away from home when I am the driver. As for G&T, it was ubiquitous in my younger days into the 70s but I don't think that I have had one for at least 50 years.

Until recently, I often had an after dinner drink in the form of Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, whisky or a clear coloured fruit brandy (eau-de-vie blanche) such as poire, framboise, quetsche, kirsch, etc. Most spirits taste muddy, prickly and burning in a high ambient temperature but the eaux-de-vie blanches respond well to fridge temperature and used to be my go-to on warm evenings. Alas, in the last year, in the interest of restricting alcohol intake, I have cut back severely on this little vice.

Like Tim, I don't have a wine alternative warm weather, but I do put red wines in the fridge.

[David M. Bueker]

I do that as well. Keep them closer to 65° (18°C) than the 74° summer room temp of our house.

[Robin Garr]

I do to, but to clarify, I don't leave them in the fridge until they drop down to refrigerator temp. That's not a nice thing to do to a decent red wine. Pop it in for a half-hour or 45 minutes, or in desperation, 15 minutes in the freezer with an alarm set so I don't forget, then take it out at a nice cool drinking temp.

This is probably what you guys both meant, but for the benefit of lookers-on I felt like spelling it out.

[David M. Bueker]

Nah. I prefer Cabernet popsicles.

[Robin Garr]

I do that as well. Keep them closer to 65° (18°C) than the 74° summer room temp of our house.

I like warm weather reds cooler than that. 14-15°C (c.58°F) achieved by taking them out of the wine fridge (c. 11°C) only quite shortly before consumption and keeping them in a passive cooler. For me that rules out tannic reds like left bank Bordeaux and my choice falls on lighter reds like a lot of Beaujolais, some Burgundy, Sancerre and Alsace reds (pinot noir), Loire Gamay, Loire CabFranc from sandy sites, Marcillac, Dolcetto and some Barbera and some lighter and less alcoholic Côtes du Rhône.

I do that as well. Keep them closer to 65° (18°C) than the 74° summer room temp of our house.

I like warm weather reds cooler than that. 14-15°C (c.58°F) achieved by taking them out of the wine fridge (c. 11°C) only quite shortly before consumption and keeping them in a passive cooler. For me that rules out tannic reds like left bank Bordeaux and my choice falls on lighter reds like a lot of Beaujolais, some Burgundy, Sancerre and Alsace reds (pinot noir), Loire Gamay, Loire CabFranc from sandy sites, Marcillac, Dolcetto and some Barbera and some lighter and less alcoholic Côtes du Rhône.

Tim, who are your favorite Marcillac producers? I am a devotee (to use a polite term) of Fer Servadou.

[David M. Bueker]

Tim, who are your favorite Marcillac producers? I am a devotee (to use a polite term) of Fer Servadou.

Me too! Me too!

Tim, who are your favorite Marcillac producers? I am a devotee (to use a polite term) of Fer Servadou.

I take what I can find, Mark. Here in Normandy, not many people offer Marcillac. The easiest to find are Domaine du Cros and the négociant Lionel Osmin. The Nicolas chain used to offer Les Vignerons du Vallon but I haven't seen them there lately. The Cros range shows somewhat more personality than the other two IMO. It contains three cuvées in ascending order of sophistication and price-

Lo Sang del Païs
Vieilles Vignes
Les Rougiers

My preference goes for Lo Sang for its extra exuberance and even for its extra rusticity which I think expresses most convincingly the tangy exuberance of Fer Servadou (AKA Mansois or Braucol) in the Marcillac terroir.

FWIW the RVF's 2026 edition of its annual guide rates higher Domaine Matha and Domaine des Boissières but I've seen neither in shops within a 100km radius.

I always reach for a bottle or three of Marcillac when I see them and have never been seriously disappointed.

Tim, who are your favorite Marcillac producers? I am a devotee (to use a polite term) of Fer Servadou.

I take what I can find, Mark. Here in Normandy, not many people offer Marcillac. The easiest to find are Domaine du Cros and the négociant Lionel Osmin. The Nicolas chain used to offer Les Vignerons du Vallon but I haven't seen them there lately. The Cros range shows somewhat more personality than the other two IMO. It contains three cuvées in ascending order of sophistication and price-

Lo Sang del Païs
Vieilles Vignes
Les Rougiers

My preference goes for Lo Sang for its extra exuberance and even for its extra rusticity which I think expresses most convincingly the tangy exuberance of Fer Servadou (AKA Mansois or Braucol) in the Marcillac terroir.

FWIW the RVF's 2026 edition of its annual guide rates higher Domaine Matha and Domaine des Boissières but I've seen neither in shops within a 100km radius.

I always reach for a bottle or three of Marcillac when I see them and have never been seriously disappointed.

Merci, Tim. Dom du Cros is a known quantity as it has a US importer. I get it whenever I can, but sadly my supplies have depleted. Their VV takes quite a few years in the bottle to come around in my experience. The other two are new names for me, and I see that a 2014 Dom Matha is supposedly available from a store in Seattle, whereas a 2024 Dom. des Boissières is for sale by a store in Portland, OR. I will look for it the next time I'm out visiting my relations there.

[David M. Bueker]

Lo Sang del Pais is the one I bought back when I could find it.