Wine to drink when your tree falls down

The picture pretty much tells the story. The biggest tree in my front yard finally succumbed to old age and the Texas heat last week, leaving a gaping spot on my lawn.

So what does one drink while commemorating the yeoman job the tree, a Bradford pear, did over seven years of blocking the sun and doing what it could to keep the house cooler? Obviously, nothing with oak:

• Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Bernkastleler Riesling Kabinett 2010 ($21, sample, 7.5%). The high temperature was 104 the day the tree fell, so it was a trifle warm when my neighbor, Dave Hangar (perhaps the best plumber in Dallas) sawed while I gathered most of the branches out of the street. The Dr. Pauly was everything German riesling should be -- lovely and balanced and off-dry, with low alcohol, candied lemon fruit, and a little petrol. A beautiful wine.

• Bodegas Valdesil MonteNovo 2010 ($18, purchased, 12.5%). I bought six bottles of this Spanish white (made with the godello grape) for $4 each at a sale, little knowing how handy it would come in over the past couple of weeks of 100-degree weather. It’s still fresh and lively, with enough lemon and citrus to be noticeable and refreshing. More sophisticated than less expensive Spanish wine, and more of a food wine -- seafood paella, perhaps?

• La Fiera Pinot Grigio 2012 ($8, purchased, 12%). The Wine Curmudgeon’s antipathy to pinot grigio is well known, but I also have tremendous respect for La Fiera, which makes some of the best $10 wine in the world. In this case, the producer won out: This is quite possibly the perfect pinot grigio -- a little lemon fruit and a restrained, quinine-like finish, three flavors, and not overdone in any way, Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame.

Comments

[brian burns]

Bradford Pears are notorious for splitting apart.
My vote is for the Godello.

[Jeff Siegel]

The godello was good, but the riesling was about as close to sublime as wine gets.

The Bradford will be replaced by a crepe myrtle.