Raise a glass to lunch

Here is a fact that is so clear-cut and so obvious that it must simply be said: Any good lunch is made better with wine. I’m not talking about lunch with Carl Jr. or the Colonel or the King, and I’m not talking about a tub of yogurt and a Ziploc crammed with celery sticks, or anything that comes from a machine, or for that matter a lunch in any place that doesn’t have wine or serve it. But I am talking about any civilized occasion, whether at home or at a restaurant, where lunch is something more than an act of snarfing. For any lunch that’s lingered over, any lunch where food and conversation are spilling over the table, the meal’s not complete without wine.

If you’re buying into this at all, you know how much you’d like your life to resemble the leisurely la-di-da that a glass of wine at lunch signifies. And yet for many the very notion is taboo, and people can invent dozens of excuses:

“It makes me less sharp,” some say. (Perhaps, but how sharp do you need to be, really?)

“It projects the wrong image.” (Which, if true, must hold for the entire continent of Europe.)

“It puts me to sleep.” (I have one word for you: espresso.)

So many, in the guise of discipline, say simply that they would not, could not, imbibe at lunch. Well, consider unratcheting your tightly wound discipline. Against whatever excuse you’re harboring, place the pleasure of sipping something light, clean, brisk and invigorating, a beverage that makes a smoothie seem thick and clumsy, a soft drink childish and designer water as plain as a rag.

Keep it light

For this, not just any wine will do. A lunch wine is particular: It is facile and light. It lubricates the conversation, adding to its energy without bogging it down or dissipating its focus. If lunch is with a friend, wine enlivens the meeting. If lunch is about making an impression, wine adorns it. Its accents are clear and lucid, as transparent as a well-applied spice.

Very often these are little wines: not trophies, not showy, not over the top, not expensive. They are from out-of-the-way places like Minervois, Bizkaia, Kamptal and Dogliani. They are not lavishly oaked or tannic. As if to stress their lack of gravitas, they are often pink. Above all, they are light in alcohol. “You need a wine that is friendly and easy to drink,” says Claudio Blotta, of 3rd Street’s La Terza. “Lighter wines are best -- nothing heavy.”

Lucques’ Caroline Styne agrees. “You don’t want to be drinking a Turley Zin or some giant Italian red,” she says, “or even an overly heavy white. Those wines are clearly geared for later in the day and more serious meals. Lunch isn’t so serious.”

Naturally, the ideal lunch wines at La Terza are Italian, specifically the Alpine whites of Alto Adige and Friuli. “They’re dry, crisp, fresh wines,” Blotta says, “and really express the grape variety by being so fresh.” And many are well off the beaten path. “I have a great Sylvaner from the Alto Adige,” he says, “a 2001 called Abbazia di Novacella.” The Sylvaner grape makes a crisp, lemon-scented wine that no one tends to clamor for at dinner, but it has perfect pitch at lunch. “Even with a little age,” he says, “it’s still very fresh and firm.”

Blotta likes bubbles too: pretty, low alcohol Proseccos and Franciacortas, and especially Lambrusco, the lightly fizzy red from Northern Italy that would almost certainly be scoffed at if uncorked at an evening meal. At lunch, however, it strikes the right tone. He recommends a nonvintage NV Lambrusco Grasparossa from Barbolini in Emilia Romagna. “Lambrusco has tiny bubbles and is fairly dry. The effervescence is nice, refreshing; it’s the perfect wine with salumi.”

Styne eyes France for her inspiration. “I like the qualities in white Burgundy for lunch,” she says -- though not necessarily the crus. One of her favorites is a village wine from a grand cru producer, the Monthelie from Domaine du Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet. “It has a lean structure and very clean minerality, with great elegance; it’s not overly showy.” Another favorite is a lightly oaked Graves from Chateau de Beauregard Ducasse. “It’s one of the most versatile wines I sell. It’s not one of those overly grassy Sauvignons, but it has great body and texture.”

If red is your route, make sure it is light and low in alcohol. Styne sells a lot of Pinot Noir at lunch, and likes to recommend Arcadian’s Bien Nacido bottling. (Arcadian’s Joe Davis has somewhat obstinately kept the alcohol in his wines well under 14%, unlike most of his peers.) And Styne considers herself a poster child for Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc, a low-bombast red from the heart of Napa Valley.

At your leisure

In general, red wines from sunny California tend to be higher in alcohol than reds from the cooler regions of France and Italy. And both Styne and her guests are wary of this: “I know what people are afraid of,” she says. “I’m one of those people for whom a glass of wine can dull the rest of the day. But there are definitely times when I say, ‘You’ve just got to have a glass of wine with this lunch; it’d be a shame not to.’ ”

For those who balk, Styne is more than happy to offer a half glass. “For some it’s just the right amount, and you can enjoy the food and savor the wine and not have to take a nap.”

Both Blotta and Styne note without too much surprise that people are much more likely to take wine with lunch on Friday, when the week has nearly run its course.

Which brings us to Saturday, the ideal time to practice what you preach in the pursuit of leisurely la-di-da. It’s also an ideal time to reacquaint yourself with your patio, which tends to miss you when you’re gone. It loves throwing parties. It loves a warm grill and an active ice bucket. It especially loves the sound of bubbles in the shade, a fact that is not lost on a seasoned restaurateur like Styne. “Champagne,” she says, “really fits the feeling.”

And that’s a feeling one should be willing to have as often as is humanly possible.

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Fresh and friendly

2003 Robert Weil Rheingau Kabinett Halbtrocken Riesling. From a forward vintage in the Rheingau, this is an off dry with lovely fresh peach aromas, broad and lush on the palate, with rapier-like acidity (8.5% alcohol). At Morton’s Steak House. Also at Wine Country in Signal Hill, (562) 597-8303; Le Petit Vendome in Pasadena, (626) 396-9234 ($29).

2004 Uriondo Bizkaika Txakolina. An ideal daylight wine, says Campanile’s David Rosoff, with clean grapey scents and a fresh mineral tang (11% alcohol). At Campanile in L.A. Also at Liquid Wine and Spirits in Chatsworth, (818) 709-5019; Cheese Store of Silver Lake, (323) 644-7511; Wine House in West L.A., (310) 479-3731 ($18).

2003 Francois Chidaine Montlouis sur Loire Clos de Beuil. A marvel of light and composure, this Chenin Blanc from the Loire has a clean lime-zest top note accenting clean green apple fruit. Grown biodynamically, you can really feel the life of this wine (12.5% alcohol). At Monsieur Marcel at the 3rd Street Farmers Market; Cafe Figaro near Hillhurst. Also at Wine Country; Liquid Wine & Spirits ($18).

2001 Abbazia dell Novacella Alto Adige Sylvaner. Floral and lemon-scented, with a very firm texture and brisk acidity (13.5% alcohol). At La Terza in L.A. and in later vintages at Enoteco Drago in Beverly Hills. Also at Wine Expo in Santa Monica, (310) 828-4428 ($17).

2001 Chateau de Beauregard Ducasse Graves Blanc. A mostly Semillon blend with light almond aromas (from oak) with firm and brisk golden apple flavors (12.5% alcohol). At Lucques, Little Door in L.A., Shiro in South Pasadena. Also at Wine House; Liquid Wine and Spirits ($16).

2002 Domaine du Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet Monthelie. Gentle, light and mildly nutty like good white Burgundy, with hints of citrus and straw and plenty of minerality (13% alcohol). At Lucques, Little Door. Also at Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese in L.A., (323) 856-8699; Fireside Cellars in Santa Monica, (310) 393-2888; Wine House; Wine Country; Le Petit Vendome ($30).

2004 Robert Sinskey Carneros Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. A gorgeous, coppery wild salmon color. Scents of apple blossom and flavors of cherry compote seasoned with orange rind, firm on the palate (13.8% alcohol). At Firefly Bistro in South Pasadena. Also at Wine House ($16).

Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Barbolini NV. Unlike most Lambruscos, this nonvintage isn’t a Kool-Aid color; purple plum in color with a plummy flavor and a mildly bitter finish that lends itself to charcuterie (11.5% alcohol). At La Terza. Also at Woodland Hills Wine Co. in Woodland Hills, (818) 222-1111; Wine Expo; Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, (949) 650-8463; Wine House ($10).

2002 Pecchenino San Luigi Dolcetto di Dogliani. As sophisticated as Dolcetto gets, from a region in Piedmont that makes the grape its specialty. Lightly smoked, with a blue-black cherry fruit core and sufficient acids to finish (13% alcohol). At Pecorino, Campagnola, Opus Bar & Grill in L.A. Also at Wally’s Wine & Spirits in L.A., (310) 475-0606; Wine Expo. ($20).

2001 Arcadian Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard. Fully developed with an aroma that hints at sea air, and light cherry cola fruit; the flavors are lean and elegant, on the less extracted side with a finish of cinnamon spice (13.4%. alcohol). At Lucques. Also at Liquid Wine & Spirits; Sepulveda Wine Co. in Manhattan Beach, (310) 318-9080; Wades Wines in Westlake Village, (818) 597-9463 ($25).

2003 Lang & Reed Napa Valley Cabernet Franc. Intoxicating Loire-like scents of herbs and cassis fruit. Its flavors are mildly meaty, with elements of smoke and cassis with a lightness of touch with tannin (14.5% alcohol). At Lucques; the Hungry Cat; Chateau Marmont. Also at Hi-Time Wine Cellars. ($19).

2003 Domaine de Courbissac Minervois. A blend of Carignane, Grenache and Syrah, this simple wine leads with slightly smoky aromas of dried meat and an almost jammy cassis core and light, fine tannins. Young and fresh and biodynamically farmed; serve slightly chilled (13.5% alcohol). At Topline Wine & Spirits in Glendale, (818) 500-9670; Woodland Hills Wine Co. ($12).