While most people we know were heading east (to the shore) or west (to the mountains) Gabe and I spent Friday doing a whole bunch of nothing. We slept late, watched the Vuelta à España, and recharged our batteries. By dinner time, though, I was ready to shift into active mode: my perfect summer ingredients were waiting for me in the kitchen.

Seasonal produce and local seafood are the hallmarks of summer, in my opinion. My grandparents had a garden, and my sister and I helped tend it: weeding, watering, and – the best part – picking the ripest beans, corn, and tomatoes for the night’s meal. No, I don’t have a garden, but I do know how to select the freshest items at the grocery store.

Here’s what I bought:

Fresh Jersey Corn. It’s white, sweet, and perfect with a slather of butter and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook it the same day you buy it; no need for fancy preparation, just a quick dip in boiling water. It’s all the more delicious because its season is so short. Sigh.

Lobster, Shrimp, and Scallop Kebabs. Sourced from Long Island fishermen, the seafood doesn’t spend days on a truck. It smells sweet, with a briny tang. The flesh is plump and firm to the touch. All it needs is a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you like a bit of citrus and spice, sprinkle a bit of Tajín (a chili and lime seasoning) on top. Grill outside or on a grill pan in your kitchen. You can probably guess that we did the latter.

Fresh Arugula Salad. Nothing difficult about this. Dress the leaves in a simple blend of olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper. At this point in the season, the arugula starts to get a bit stemmy. I look forward to the cooler weather, and the next crop of leafy, spicy arugula.

Montenidoli Tradizionale Vernaccia di San Gimignano

My original thought in selecting a wine was to go with a Chardonnay. Chablis maybe, or even a Blanc de Blanc Champagne. Great idea but I had neither of those options at hand. But I did have one last bottle of the aforementioned Vernaccia, from a case I bought last year. As I remembered its creamy, savory flavor profile I imagined how nicely it might pair with my meal. The complexity imparted by extended skin contact (see the deep golden color?) turned out to be exactly the right match with the rich, slightly sweet seafood and the buttery, caramel-like Jersey corn.

About the Winery

When Elisabetta Fagiuoli’s family arrived in 1965, the property had been abandoned: the woods had encroached on the fields, the olive trees were overgrown, and the vines were obscured by bushes. They literally started from the ground up, focusing on the health of the soil. They bred rabbits, using their manure as fertilizer. They introduced worms to the fields to make humus and soften the earth.  Cuttings from winter pruning were ground and fermented to make a compost to go back to fertilize the plants. They “followed the rules of nature that are dictated by the weather, the days, the seasons.” Now, the 200 hectares of vines are certified organic by the ICEA.

As for the soil where white grapes are planted, it originated in the Quaternary period, when the Ligurian Sea covered the region. Crustaceans and mollusks thrived here and are the foundation of the rich, calcareous soil on the lower part of the hill (250-400 meters above sea level.) This is where grapes for all of their white wines are cultivated.

Tasting Notes

Color: deep gold

Nose: super-aromatic with notes of almond, freshly mown hay, apricot, citrus, and beeswax.

Palate: similarly complex with a rich, almost unctuous texture. Dried apricot, orange peel, almond. Moderately high acidity provides perfect balance to the richness. Damn, I love this wine!

Takeaways: I will explore other opportunities to pair this wine with seafood, especially sea bass and similar fish with a “fatty” texture in the mouth. As for its affinity for fresh corn, I look forward to making my Fresh Corn and Cheese Soufflé before the summer corn is gone. I already know it will be the perfect match!