As the weather warms, chilled wine become more and more popular — some sommeliers argue there’s more to enjoying wines seasonally. Metropolitan Grill’s Director of Wine Aaron Wood-Snyderman shares his tips to get the most enjoyment out of your wines during the warmer months.
First and foremost, you should drink whatever wine you like. But wines pair so effortlessly with the season, it’s easy to transition to a more suitable wine for the weather. I’ve talked about my love of fuller bodied wines in the winter, but in spring I move to more medium bodied wines, something flexible that matches the season.
My favorite spring wine and pairing at The Met? While I am normally a ribeye guy, I like leaner steaks in warmer weather. I love our skirt steak with a bottle of W.T. Vintners Winery Gorgeous Syrah. From the Destiny Ridge Vineyard in Horse Heaven Hills here in Washington, it has a beautiful depth and complexity to it, yet a fantastic acidity that compliments the deep flavor of the skirt steak.
W.T. Vintners in Woodinville is in our own backyard, but the grapes for this wine come from the Destiny Ridge Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills appellation of the Yakima Valley. It’s a great spring wine because it still has some weight to it but the acidity keeps it from feeling heavy, or like you’re drinking an entire entrée. The acidity also allows it to pair wonderfully with food and its complex aromatics — black cherry, smoked meat, crushed stones and olive tapenade — bring so much to the table.
We’re also starting to see all kinds of seafood coming in from Alaska, like King salmon, halibut and black cod, and Pinot Noir pairs amazingly well with these dishes. I recently had a bottle of 2015 Domaine Serene Yamhill Cuvée Pinot Noir with black cod and it was stunning.
As summer rolls around and it gets hot, rosé is the move! There are wonderfully dry rosé wines from all over the world, but we do such a good job in Washington that I rarely find myself straying from our own homegrown yields. There are so many that I love.
We serve Kerloo Cellars rosé by the glass here at Metropolitan Grill, but I always have a bottle or two of Côte Bonneville rosé at home and one of Gilbert Cellars rosé as an alternate. If I had room for them in my fridge, I would have more! Nothing beats a cold glass of rosé out on the patio on a hot summer day.
~Aaron-Wood Snyderman, Wine Director – The Metropolitan Grill
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