Folk Machine California White Light 2023, 12 percent, $19.99
Folk Machine comes from the excellent Hobo Wine Company, which, under Kenny Likitprakong, offers a variety of labels that showcase different parts of California, all made from organically grown grapes. White Light is a blend of white grapes from all parts of the state, including verdelho, tocai friulano, vermentino, albariño and sauvignon blanc. It’s earthy, savory and crisp.
Red Tail Ridge Finger Lakes Dry Riesling RTR Estate Vineyard 2022, 12.1 percent, $19.99
Here is a wine that tastes like rocks and earth. That may not sound particularly appetizing, yet it’s an ideal flavor for a dry riesling, which, on the scale of animal, vegetable and mineral, is purely about the mineral side. Red Tail Ridge, one of many excellent Finger Lakes producers, ages this wine primarily in big old barrels, which gives it a pleasingly open texture.
Field Recordings Paso Robles Fiction Red Wine 2022, 13.5 percent, $19.99
Field Recordings makes wines from the Central Coast of California, buying grapes from a wide variety of vineyards. Fiction is a mix of eight grapes, akin to field blends of old, primarily zinfandel, cabernet franc, alicante bouschet and charbono. But it’s got a modern sensibility. It’s easygoing, spicy and juicy, another good wine for cookouts, whether in backyards, roofs or parks.
