Summer is a time for memories, for remembering past summers and for making new memories on which to reflect in future summers. A cool glass of wine on a hot summer evening encourages reminiscing.

Recently PBS featured the Kingston Trio, perhaps the most important folk music group from 1957-1967. Listening and watching them, it brought back such memories that I wanted to cry. In June of 1967 I was at the Hungry I in San Francisco at their final public performance, and I did cry then. Our wines at the time were Bali Hi and Hearty Burgundy. Now today, that makes me want to cry!

A few years later, while we were away house hunting because of a job transfer, friends of our son decided to party at our home. They drank the case of 1972 Robert Mondavi Cab, given to us as a going away gift, and they mixed it WITH SEVEN-UP! I don’t know which made me angrier, the partying or the mixing of the Cab with the Seven-Up. It was a real occasion for tears, as our wine tastes had improved by then.

The Sangria years followed. Almost any red or white jug wine, when judiciously augmented with citrus and soda or 7-UP, made up a splendid pseudo-Spanish drink which graced many a summer party. Sangria seems to be making a come-back; now, where are the Kingston Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, and Joan Baez?

After a day of heat and work, what better than to relax in the cool of the evening with a glass of cool, refreshing wine. I just tried a German Riesling, Struktur, from Grocery Outlet. At $4.99 it’s a great buy; deliciously fruity and acidic, it paired well with a salad of finely shredded cabbage and carrot, with cilantro, mint, and scallions in a lime juice dressing. Topped with a sliced teriyaki chicken breast, it was all we needed after a 100+’ day. I found another good white, Kamiak from Gordon Bros,in a G.O. on the Other Side, and at even better prices. And our own TOP Foods has had several Chateau Ste. Michelle whites at under $7. Last week I picked up six bottles of Dry Riesling for $5.39 each . The State Stores have it at $5.97, with a 10% discount for a case purchase. In general, you can’t beat the State Store prices.

In temperatures such as these, when a white wine just won’t do, cool that red. Even a red wine seems better slightly chilled….not refrigerator cold, but around 55” to 60’. And when a wine isn’t as good as you had hoped, drop in an ice cube. You may be amazed at how it helps the wine. Try it and see.

Summer isn’t a time for sniffing and swirling, for examining and evaluating. Is it good? Do you like it? Is it satisfying? That’s all that is necessary. Enjoy it while recalling other summers, other warm evenings, and good times.

When did you begin to “look for something” in a wine, other than as a way to a happy evening? At what point did you find yourself a part of the wine culture which requires a detailed analysis of a wine before enjoying it? Too often we find ourselves “looking for something” in each wine we drink. Must we look for anything each and every time? If you like it, it’s good. That’s enough.

For a summer time – or anytime – red, Tres Picos Borsao Garnacha/Grenache is an excellent choice. Very food friendly, it goes with barbecue, Basque Lamb (a recent dinner), tomato based dishes, snapper Vera Cruz and lots else. At Pete’s in Bellevue, it’s around $10.right now. Argentina’s Santa Julia Malbec, under $10 at Esquin, is also great with grilled foods.

We have many wonderful wines right here in our own area; unfortunately, many aren’t budget friendly, and not always affordable for everyday consumption. While I believe in shopping locally to support our local economy, it isn’t always practical in today’s world, where families are often struggling with rising food costs, gas prices and mortgage difficulties.

Joanne Saliby

Kathy and I look forward to the summer. We spend lots of time at Lake Chelan in our 30+-year-old single wide at a very comfortable family resort. We can barely see the lake from our little abode, but it is just a short two minutes or less walk to a nice grassy beach. We do a lot of wine tasting during this time, either visiting the local wineries or just enjoying a nice Wapato Cellars’ Pinot Grigio or Tsillan Cellars’ Bocciolo d’Rosa down on the beach in the late afternoon.

Most recently we visited a new winery in Chelan called Four Lakes, which has only been open for about 3 or 4 months. It took a little work to find it, as it is located out near the airport (yes Chelan has an airport) on Howard Flats Road. The tasting staff was not working that day, but the winemaker had opened up the winery for tasting just before we arrived. Their facility is their operations building currently, but they hope to open their tasting room in Manson sometime in late August. We had my mother with us, who doesn’t drink much wine, but we were about to show her how to determine what she liked and disliked.

The name Four Lakes comes from the future site of their tasting room where much of their grape vines are grown. It sits on the top of a hill that overlooks Wapato Lake, Roses Lake, Dry Lake and Lake Chelan: thus, Four Lakes. Their wines are good and their Merlot has just won an award in Southern California. I was partial to their Cabernet Sauvignon. My mom enjoyed their Riesling and took a bottle home with her. The winemaker is probably in his late 20’s early 30’s and it was fun conversing with him.

We finished the day by visiting Benson Vineyards, one of our favorites, and had dinner and wine at Wapato Cellars. We learned that Lake Chelan Winery had a large number of guests for their Falling Cow Country Wine Festival, which featured Ray Sandidge’s new releases named after the cow that fell on a vehicle near Manson a little over a year ago and received national recognition. All in all it was our typical, nice relaxing day enjoying wine and food at Lake Chelan.

Bruce Campbell