Call Me Zelda

A long weekend in the Hamptons with Laura has become a summer ritual for me. I know, "the Hamptons" -- but really, it's pretty laid back. Mostly.
Some highlights from last weekend included seeing a rainbow and a deranged high tide at Atlantic Beach (side effects from Hurricane Bill) on Saturday; touring the house in Amagansett that Laura and Jonathan are buying (!); attending my first polo match, above, in Bridgehampton (no one watches the action -- they're all at the bar at the back of the big tent); and having dinner with our friend Noel in Hampton Bays.
For dinner, Laura and I brought over a saucy little rosé, the 2008 Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence ($11). The aroma had notes of pear and cucumber, and I noticed a slight effervescence; and of course, I love the ease of the screw-top. Noel cooked everything at the grill and it was fantastic: clams with a shallot-lemon-garlic sauce, asparagus and halibut. Cherry pie from the farm stand topped off a very chill poolside evening.

Georgia (the Other One)

We had a potluck at the office this week, and one highlight was some wine from Georgia, brought as a gift recently by some editors from Tbilisi.
This was a Saperavi red dry wine produced and bottled in the Kakheti region of Georgia. (I found this adorable slide show about the area on YouTube. Apparently, Georgia has been making wine for centuries.) The Saperavi grape is used throughout the country, according to Wikipedia, and Saperavi means "paint" or "dye" owing to its dark color.
So the wine was nearly opaque, with an aroma of raisins, no vintage listed but obviously young. I found it well-balanced (12 percent alcohol), and pleasant but not a show-stopper. It was, however, not universally liked. Scott adulterated his with crushed fresh rasbperries and said, "The more you drink the better it gets."
I love reading labels, but I think something was lost in translation: It described the wine as having 'a sorted aroma and a pleasant acerbity.'
But this was my first experience with Georgian wine, and I definitely look forward to more.