I love red wine but this presents me with a dilemma when summer arrives as I really don’t want to drink a heavy California cab or worse, an even heavier Australian shiraz.  So what to drink, what red wine to drink, when both the temperature and humidity are approaching triple digits?

My solution is to seek out light, fresh and fruity wines, and briefly chill them in the refrigerator. I don’t want them ice cold, but I don’t want them at mid-summer “room temperature” either, so half an hour to an hour in the cooler makes them infinitely more palatable.

A good candidate for such unconventional treatment is Nick’s Wine of the Week Five Star rated Domaine Lavigne-Saumur Champigney 2008 ($18). The Saumur AOC is famous for its dry whites and sweet wines, along with some excellent sparklers, but the small sub-appellation Saumur-Champigney specializes in an unusually light and fresh version of the cabernet franc grape.

This bottle shows the grape’s charming virtues to full effect – it’s smoky yet fresh, earthy yet lively;  in short pulls of the rather clever trick of being a light wine that is anything but insipid.

Zesty enough to be sipped cool at an al fresco lunch or as an aperitif on a sultry evening, but with enough punchy flavor to stand up to BBQ.  A delightful combination that makes it the perfect light, fruity wine for summer chillin’.