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Food and drink

Twist and shout: Summer is here!

Summer arrives in less than week so I thought it might be fun to inspire Whistler's wealth of restaurants, especially those with outdoor patios, to start thinking about something lighter, fresher and fun to drink as warm weather descends on the village.

Not to put too fine a "twist" on it, but a delicious selection of screwcap wines is more than enough to turn any restaurant patio into a lunchtime oasis or the place for an al fresco evening bite. Yet, in a province that rightly boasts of a food and wine culture like no other in North America, I'm amazed at how entrenched some wine lists can become and how often they fail to be retooled in the spring and summer to reflect the style of food and wine we crave.

Frankly, it's time to lighten up and get out of the cellar and onto the patio where the sunlight and warm breezes will transform your thinking and your list.

For those of you still debating the merits of screwcaps, get over it. Screwcaps are here to stay at some level, especially if the grapes in question are sauvignon blanc, viognier, pinot grigio, rosé and most un-oaked white and you can add a certain sector of red wines to that list too.

I've just returned from tasting some 1,200 wines under $25 at the Wine Access 2009 International Value Wine Awards where nearly 60 percent of all the entries submitted were closed with a twist top. The experience of tasting so many screwcap wines only heightens your sensitivity to what I call "scalped" wines that are missing the top five percent of their most delicate and aromatic fruit aromas.

Why anyone would make an enticing aromatic wine and then remove the best part of its aroma by inserting a cork in the bottle and scalping off the very finest of esters and aromas no longer makes any sense to this taster. Forget about the dreaded TCA or "corked" wine issue, it's the scalping that's even more widespread and occurs with sound corks.

Of course, screwcaps have an even broader appeal for those of us fed up with wines suffering from the dreaded cork taint and its mix of mildew, mould and wet basement odours. All of us appear to be quickly accepting the easy-to-open twist-offs and in many cases opting to choose a screwcap over a corked wine because it's simply too easy to open and serve. All the more reason to head for the patio as the weather improves.

Here's a current list of twist-off favourites that will brighten any outdoor party, lunch or dinner and you won't need a cork screw to get started.

Arrogant Frog Ribet Red 2007, Languedoc, France $14

Expect a clean and bright nose with black fruit, coffee and a pleasant earthy, mushroom, vanilla note. A solid grilled meat wine, but would be fine with a selection of cheese, too. Very good value.

Arrogant Frog Ribet White Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Languedoc, France $14

Another solid effort from the Paul Mas folks. Crisp, aromatic mineral, citrus, grassy notes mark the nose, with bits of nettle and grass and passion fruit. Pure and fresh with crunchy citrus fruit and a touch of lime rind make it perfect with West Coast Kushi or Kumamotos oysters.

Burgans Albariño Rías Baixas 2007, Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain $24.50

Finally under screwcap, this Albariño is crisp and bright with a mineral, nectarine skin aroma. The palate is juicy with creamy, green apple, melon honey notes. Made for curious wine drinkers and seafood.

Casillero del Diablo Chardonnay 2008, Valle de Casablanca, Chile $13

Clean, zippy, fresh style with bright acidity and green apple fruit up front. Thirty percent is fermented in French oak and aged eight months on the lees but you hardly notice it. Well-made and affordable.

Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Region del Valle Central, Chile $13

Clean and fresh with bright gooseberry flavours and flecks of peaches, honey and citrus. It finishes crisp with a touch of minerality and lime rind. Crazy quality for the price. Oysters, anyone?

Chat-en-Oeuf Dry Rosé 2008, Côtes-du-Ventoux, Southern Rhone, France $14

From its appealing, super pale, eye-of-the-partridge colour to its fabulously floral, fruity nose this is as impressive as rosé gets for $14. Its citrus, strawberry, red currants fruit flavours meld with a just a twist of lemon in the finish. Serve with local Dungeness crab.

Domaine Le Pive Gris 2008 Côtes du Rhône, France $15

The colour is spot on pinky/orange with an aromatic nose of dried herbs and berries. The palate is fresh with strawberry, citrus leafy notes and a dry crisp finish. A classic summer rosé that shines with food.

Domaine du Clos du Bourg Sauvignon Touraine 2008, Loire, France $15

I love the floral chalky, passion fruit aromas with bits of salt and mineral to enliven the palate. Similar freshness and fruit marks the flavours with a citrus, figgy fruit finish. Great value.

Gunderloch Fritz's Riesling 2007, Rheinhessen, Germany $17

Eminently sippable, this screwcap riesling packed with fresh fruit is tailor-made for the bustling Pan-Asian cuisine of Vancouver or, even better, with barbecued or pulled pork dishes. Stock up by the case.

LoTengo Torrontés 2007, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina $14

Good spicy, ginger, lemon oil, melon, floral aromas with a touch of pine. Crisp, fresh, round, slightly sweet palate with lemon oil, mango, ginger, spicy, slate, melon rind flavours. Zippy, floral finish, good juicy style for Indian or spicy Chinese food.

Road 13 Honest John's Rosé 2008, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada $17

A fruity raspberry strawberry nose combines with a bright citrus undercurrent and a dry finish to create a food-friendlyrosé. Serve well chilled.

Three Winds Syrah 2007, Languedoc, France $14

Spicy, smoked meat, sausage, savoury nose with a touch of tar and black cherry jam flavours. A rustic red that will pair well with barbecued foods.

Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com